Stressed? Here's How to Cope
By: Breanna Mitchell
Liberty believes not only in financial fitness, but also that your personal health should be planned and cared for as well. For those reasons, we practice what we preach and have our very own wellness program through the YMCA.
Liberty hosts “Lunch and Learn” wellness events, where we learn about different aspects of health. This year, Liberty chose to learn about stress, how it affects us, and what we can do to reduce the stress we feel. We felt compelled to share the information we learned with you in-order for you also to take control of your stress!
When people think of stress, they often think of the negative side-feeling overwhelmed, increased heart rate, over or under eating and constant worrying, just to name a few. But did you know that not all stress is bad?
A small amount of stress can actually help you stay engaged, focused and productive. It’s what helps you give a great presentation at work or what gives athletes the ability to make the winning point in a tied game. The graph below shows the level of stress and the effects it has on your body.
By remaining in the “Eustress” level, you will see the benefits in your daily life. It helps you perform under pressure. But what happens when you move out of the “Eustress” area? Your body begins to react negatively, and you begin to experience exhaustion, and eventually burnout.
The cycle of stress can by a vicious one, but it doesn’t have to be. Learning what causes you to be stressed, as well as learning to deal with stress can get you out of the negative stress cycle.
To help you focus on alleviating your stress, we learned you should start with a list of what you think is your current stressors. Then sort your list into two groups, unavoidable and avoidable/changeable. The unavoidable stressors are ones that will require acceptance and you to learn coping skills to deal with. The avoidable or changeable stressors are ones you can focus your energy on changing.
Once you’ve identified your unavoidable stressors, you should focus on how you best cope with them! There is no one size fits all solution for dealing with stress. Some ideas could be breathing techniques, mediation, or even going for a walk. Whatever works best for you!
The YMCA put together a great list of healthy ways to reduce stress. Check it out below:
