Stress

Management
Understanding Stress
Stress
What is stress?
It’s the spice of life or the kiss of death
depending on how we cope with it. Stress
gives us the means to express our talents
and energies and pursue happiness; it can
also cause exhaustion and illness,
nervous breakdowns, heart attacks,
accidents. Strictly speaking, stress is
simply the body’s non-specific response to
any demand made on it, and is not
necessarily synonymous with nervous
tension or anxiety….
Anxiety
Anxiety or tension is a feeling of
apprehension or fear that lingers. The
source for this uneasiness is not always
known or recognized which adds to the
distress: "Everything stresses me out.“ "I
am always worried."
Fundamentally, it is not the quality or
intensity of the events that counts. What
matters is not what happens to us, but the
way we take it.
Judge how you are taking the stress in
your life at any particular moment; if there
are too many signs of distress in your
feelings or behavior, there are various little
tricks to minimize these
Tips to Reduce Stress
Practice Relaxation:
¨ Meditation
¨ Deep Breathing
¨ Get a Massage
¨ Visualization
Organize your life: ¨ Take a Bath
¨ Manage your time ¨ Try saying the Serenity Prayer
¨ Make to do lists
Take a break
¨ Plan ahead
¨ Breath deeply Stretch
¨ Set mini goals
¨ Sit back and ¨ Stand up and reach
¨ Learn to Plan
relax up
¨ Do something you ¨ Neck stretch: roll
love Communicate: your head in a half circle,
¨ Read a good book ¨ Express your starting at one
¨ Change your emotions side, then dropping
surroundings ¨ Talk to a friend your chin to your
¨ Learn to Play ¨ Eliminate negative chest, then to the
talk other side
¨ Cry ¨ Watch a cat stretch
¨ Laugh and do the same
Other stress management tips:
¨ Learn to live one day at a time
¨ Improve your appearance
¨ Do something for someone else (volunteer
work)
¨ Allow yourself private time everyday
¨ Learn to forgive and forget
¨ Watch a good movie
¨ Listen too your favorite music
¨ Eat well
¨ Be a positive person
¨ Avoid unnecessary competition
Anxiety Exercises
1. What is your definition of anxiety?

2. Write five examples of how students who cope with anxiety in positive ways
might feel, think, and work toward successfully completing their
coursework.

3. Write five examples of how students who cope with anxiety in negative
ways might feel, think, and work towards successfully completing their
coursework.

Analyzing anxiety:

1. Have you ever gotten so stressed on a test that you forgot the material you
knew?

2. Do you have problems with worrying about how you will do even before you
take a test?

3. Do you ever feel like you are getting so much pressure from others that you
can’t concentrate on your coursework?

4. Are you easily discouraged about your grades?

Your personal reactions to anxiety:
For one full week, record moments when you feel anxiety.
Where were you (in class, at work), what was the situation
(were you being called on in class, ice breaker during an
extracurricular activity, at work), why did you feel anxious,
how did you react physically (did your stomach hurt, did you
shake, palms sweat)? How does anxiety influence your
attitude or behavior? (do you get angry with yourself; do you
have an attitude with other people?) What are some
techniques for dealing with each situation?

Then plan to use some relaxation technique the next time you
encounter these situations. With a little planning you will be
able to anticipate and, therefore, better manage your anxiety.
These two questions should help you get started:

1. I usually feel anxious when:

2. I notice when I am anxious I see these changes in myself:

Better Sleep Guide
We all have too much to do, recharge
yourself by getting a good night’s
sleep. The quality and quantity of your
sleep can make all the difference in
how productive you’ll be the next day.
Tips to get the a good sleep
1. Give yourself “permission” to go to bed. As hard as it may be to put away
your “to do” list, make sleep a “priority,” You’ll thank yourself in the morning.

2. Unwind early in the evening. Try to deal with worries and distractions several
hours before bedtime.

3. Develop a sleep ritual. Doing the same things each night just before bed
signals your body to settle down for the night.

4. Keep regular hours. Keep your biological clock in check by going to bed
around the same time each morning – even on weekends.

5. Make your bedroom a Sleep Haven. Create a restful place to sleep. Sleep in
a moderate (temperature not too hot or too cold), dark room that is free
from noises that may disturb your sleep. Make sure the mattress and
foundation meet your needs for both comfort and support.

6. Sleep on a comfortable, supportive mattress and foundation. It’s difficult to

sleep on a bed that’s too small, too soft, too hard, or too old.

7. Exercise regularly. Regular exercise can help relieve daily tension and
stress – but don’t exercise too close to bedtime or you may have trouble
falling asleep.
Tips to get the a good sleep
8. Cut down on stimulants. Consuming stimulants, such as caffeine, in
the evening can make it more difficult to fall asleep.

9. Don’t smoke. Smokers take longer to fall asleep and wake up more
often during the night.

10. Reduce alcohol intake. Drinking alcohol shortly before bedtime

interrupts and fragments sleep.

11. Exercise. Sometimes exercise an hour or two before bed can relieve
you from the stress gained throughout the day. It not only is healthy for
you, but can help you rest better.

12. Journal. Keep a journal of the day’s activities, highlighting challenging

moments of the day and developing strategies on how to handle such
situations in the future. Also discuss the lessons learned from both
positive and negative interactions with other people, noting blessings
also.

13. Herbal tea. There are several brands of non-caffeine herbal teas
available in your local grocers that are natural sleep aids.
Relaxation Techniques
The information below briefly describes several relaxation
techniques. To learn more about these relaxation techniques,
please visit the LAC Blackboard website, which has links to
various websites.

1.Meditation: this technique involves focusing on something

unchanging (such as a spot on the wall) or something
repetitive (such as repeating a word – a mantra). Then you
realize your mind has wandered, merely return to repeating
the word.

2. Imagery: Imagery can be guided or unguided. When

guided, someone else determines which image you should
keep in mind when trying to relax. When unguided, you
decide what image would be relaxing. If possible, it is best to
choose your own image since you have a better idea of what
you find relaxing than does someone else. Some images
people generally find relaxing are sunshine warming the
body, a day at the beach, a rippling lake, a walk in the
woods, the surf rolling on the shore, birds flying through the
air, a carpeted room warmed by a fire, and a sailboat floating
on the water.
Relaxation Techniques
3. Autogenic Training: Autogenic training requires you to imagine your
arms and legs feel heavy, warm and tingly. By doing this, blood
flow increases to these body parts due to a dilation (widening) of
blood vessels in the arms and legs. This is part of the relaxation
response. After the body is relaxed this way, the mind is calmed
by adding images of relaxing scenes. Imagery that is part of
autogenic training is called autogenic mediation.
4. Progressive Relaxation: Progressive relaxation teaches the
sensation of muscular contraction by focusing attention on the
feeling of the muscles as they are tensed throughout the body. It
then teaches the sensation to your more tense parts. The relaxed
sensation can be imagined to be a warm ball that travels to
various bodily locations warming and relaxing them.
5. Diaphragmatic Breathing: Relaxed breathing occurs as a result of
the diaphragm expanding, as opposed to stressful breathing that
is a function of the chest expanding. Relaxed breathing is called
Diaphragmatic Breathing. To try Diaphragmatic Breathing, lie on
your back and place your hands on your abdomen. As you
breathe you should feel your abdomen riseand your chest remain
fairly stable.
Relaxation Techniques
6. Quieting Reflex: With practice, this technique is said to relax a
person in just six seconds. The Quieting Reflex is done as follows:

o Think about something that makes you afraid or anxious.

o Smile inside. This breaks up the anxious facial muscle

tension.

o Tell yourself, “I can keep a calm body in an alert mind.”

o Let your jaw go loose as you exhale, keeping your lower

and upper teeth slightly apart.

o Imagine heaviness and warmth moving throughout your

body, from head to toe.
Relaxation Techniques
7. Instant Calming Sequence: Another relaxation technique said to take
just seconds to elicit the relaxation response is the Instant Calming
Sequence.

Step 1: Uninterrupted Breathing. In the face of the stressor, keep

breathing smoothly, deeply and evenly.
Step 2: Positive Face. Flash a slight smile as soon as you recognize you
are being stressed.
Step 3: Balanced Posture. Keep your chest high, your head up, neck
long, chin in, and in other ways balanced. Imagine being lifted from a
hook at the top of your head.
Step 4: Bathe in a Wave of Relaxation. “Imagine you’re standing under a
waterfall that washes away your tension.”
Step 5: Acknowledge Reality. Face your causes of stress head-on. Don’t
try to deny it or wish that it hadn’t happened. Think: “This is real. I can
handle it. I’m finding the best possible way to cope right now.”
Step 6: Reassert Control. Instead of fretting about how the stressor had
robbed you of control, focus on what you can control and take
appropriate action. Also, think clear-headed, honest thoughts instead
of distorted ones.