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Alyssa Henderson

PSY 1010

Kimberley Meyers

27 April 2020

Semester Stress Project

Everyone will experience stress in their lifetime, from daily frustrations to life-altering

experiences of stress. So, what is stress? Stress is the body’s reaction to any change that requires

an adjustment or response. Stress is a normal part of our lives. That is why it is important to find

ways you can unwind and relax. Ways to help cope with the stress in your life better. As a full-

time college student who also holds a very stressful job, I experience a lot of stress of my own

and was excited to try out some new coping strategies in hopes that I could bring some more

peace into my life. I decided to go with three new strategies. The first being picking a new hobby

and developing my skill. I have a sewing machine and love to sew but don’t have much

experience, but over the course of a month, I have begun sewing in my free-time and have made

a quilt, a makeup bag, seat cushions for my van as well as masks during this pandemic. The

second way I decided to cope with stress was adding more exercise into my life. I challenged

myself to find an at-home workout routine I enjoyed and to consistently workout every day. I

have done this for about two weeks now. Lastly, I took on a 30-day challenge of healthy eating.

This included only eating whole foods, not processed as well as no gluten or sugar. Here is my

experience on how these new strategies impacted my daily life.

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Let’s begin with picking up the hobby of sewing. This seemed to be a great outlet for me

but only under certain circumstances. What I mean by this is, if I was just doing it for fun in my

free time, it was a great way to release stress and unwind. But if I had a time frame (like the quilt

I made for my sister’s birthday) it became more of a task and ended up putting more stress on

myself because I was rushing and felt I was being forced to do it instead of doing it out of my

own freedom. I quickly learned that this strategy is only helpful when I am doing it for fun and

have no guidelines. My new workout routine has also seemed to follow the same kind of pattern.

Overall, the exercise has really helped my energy levels and helped me feel great, in turn

decreasing my stress levels. It has been a great way to release stress. But if I have a busy day and

fitting in a workout seems stressful it can do the opposite for me. I can start to feel more

overwhelmed when I have too much on my plate, but I have found a way to work with this as

well. I workout every day when I have the time. If I am flooded with responsibilities, I skip it for

that day and instead make smaller goals, like taking the dogs for a walk or just getting outside.

Finding this balance has really been so beneficial for me. Exercising helps my energy levels and

I have noticed that it keeps me in a better mood overall. I have really enjoyed this strategy and

have felt stronger and more confident in myself and in my routine. I had not realized how much

exercise could help release stress. I found that I liked to work out the most when I was anxious or

stressed because it gave me an outlet for those feelings to go into something productive! Finally,

onto my 30-day healthy eating challenge. This one really has helped my stress levels as well. I

had not realized how much of a difference it can make on your mental health and physical health

when you eat healthy and fulfilling foods. Though this challenge has ended, I am continuing

these healthy patterns and really reaping the benefits, including clear skin! Eating high-fat and

sugary foods really got me down, making me feel depressed and I would end up feeling tired and
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feeling so overwhelmed and stressed I would stay in bed most of my days. This challenge

completely changed this around. I was feeling more positive, more motivated and in turn not as

focused on things I did not need to be stressed about. Overall, I was able to let go of some

control and take on what the day had for me with a positive outlook and this really dissipated

much of my usual stress. A lot of stress can come from your environment and cannot be

controlled. I found when you let go of that control and instead focus on what you can control,

your attitude and outlook, that source of stress can decrease a whole lot even if it is still

technically there.

When looking back at the three strategies I have tried, the strategy I found most helpful in

reducing my stress was healthy eating. Unlike the other two, there was never a time this caused

me any stress. Eating better never felt like a task. I think when I began to feel the benefits of

healthy eating it was much easier to crave and reach for healthier options because I did not want

to lose out on feeling this good again. Overall, it made me feel accomplished, energetic,

motivated and confident. My skin began to clear up, I had so much more energy during the day

and I just felt great! All of this helped me have a better outlook on my daily stressors and helped

me cope with them easier. I will be continuing these healthy eating patterns because they have

really made my life brighter and more stress-free. In the end, I really enjoyed all my strategies

and they all seemed to be good options of coping skills for me and my life. It was important for

me to find a balance though, that is why I am thankful for this project because it allowed me to

experiment and find what worked best for me. I was able to tweak things around to make them

work perfectly for my unique life and schedule. For example, I made sure to use sewing when in

my free-time and not to add any time frame to what I was making. I also made sure not to

pressure myself and set an exact amount of time I needed to work out in a week, instead I just
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worked out when I felt I had the time. So far, I can say with confidence that I will continue using

these strategies because I already have. I began using these a while back and am still using them

currently because of how good I feel. Especially with the current pandemic, these strategies have

been helping me cope with the overall chaos around me. I wouldn’t mind trying more coping

strategies to continue to benefit from them in my life.

Now that I have shared my personal experience with these strategies, I wanted to dive a

bit deeper and choose one of my strategies I used and research more on the health benefits it has

had on others and how well of a stress-reducer it really is. I will be discussing the effect exercise

can have on your mental and physical health. I ended up finding a lot of fascinating information

surrounding the benefits exercise can have on your health. I have always known exercise was

good for your physical health but the fact that it is also beneficial to your mental health gave me

more of a reason to stick with my new work out routine. For example, David S. Holmes, PhD,

professor of psychology and health states back to one of his past studies that “aerobically fit men

and women who experience a period of high life stress are less likely to become physically ill or

depressed than unfit men and women under the same amount of stress” (DeBenedette). It is well

known that high amounts of stress can cause people to become ill, since stress can be damaging

to our immune systems. I found this information to be highly uplifting that we can decrease those

chances when we move our bodies and stay active, we can protect our overall health. I don’t

know about you, but I hate being ill and it usually just adds to my stress and makes me feel

horrible. Knowing exercise can help avoid the chances of getting sick really motivates me to

stick with it. Another article I found very interesting that also relates to my journey of finding

balance myself, is making sure to have a recovery time in between exercise. The article states

that extreme long-duration exercise, even in superbly trained individuals, the body can suffer
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serious exhaustion that could endanger the health of that individual. But under normal

conditions, exercise bouts are followed by rest periods where the body has the capability to cope

with the exercise “stressor” and as a result, adaption takes place (Camiletti-Moiron). Which in

turn helps us build up our coping skills and stress management. Like anything, finding a balance

is so important. I discovered on my own that having rest periods were helpful to my body and

mental health. While continuing my research, I found that according to the World Health

Organization, stress is the second most frequent health problem and that there is substantial

research connecting stress to cardiovascular disease (Varvogli). Exercise can be a great way to

reduce your chances of cardiovascular disease and stress.

All in all, exercise and other physical activity produces endorphins. Endorphins are

chemicals in the brain that act as natural painkillers, in turn improving your sleep. This then can

lead to reducing stress in your life. All this information and research has continued to show me

the amazing benefits exercise can have on my health. I have already noticed this in my personal

experience, but I feel a sense of relief knowing that my exercise routine is also reducing my

chances of major health issues along with making me feel amazing and reducing my stress! I am

glad I have developed these skills for dealing with my stress and I hope to continue these

strategies as well as discover new ones to continue to improve my physical and mental health.

Stress is something we all deal with every day of our lives, taking simple steps and finding new

strategies can really help your overall happiness and mood. Take the jump and try some new

strategies out. It is worth it!

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Works Cited

Camiletti-Moiron, D, et al. “Does Exercise Reduce Brain Oxidative Stress? A Systematic

Review.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 15 Mar. 2013,

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/sms.12065?casa_token=EInZg2d3jr0AAAAA:l

8j_oF0AzOPfvK6hqUXjhOobCkkU84d5RDb8XMir7f9avifn7u_VAnPd6iyaTMHnoEFt

_3OUJSFQ.

DeBenedette, Valerie. “Getting Fit for Life: Can Exercise Reduce Stress?” The Physician and

Sportsmedicine, Taylor & Francis, 12 July 2016,

www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913847.1988.11709538.

Varvogli, Liza, and Christina Darviri. Stress Management Techniques: Evidence-Based

Procedures That Reduce Stress and Promote Health. Health Science Journal , 2011,

citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.851.7680&rep=rep1&type=pdf.