How to get rid of stress
It’s not so much what happens to us but rather our perceptions of what is happening that stresses us out. With this in mind, here are a few ways to help reduce stress in your life and live a more carefree existence.
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Let it go
It’s really not worth going over and over the same thing, thereby allowing it to make you fret. It could be over a past event or over the injustice of someone else’s behaviour. Thing is, the event is past and cannot be changed (or it is in the future and you can’t do much right now) or if it is about a person – you are allowing that person to upset you when they aren’t even present. Let it go. Action the parts you can and then stop thinking about it. Distract yourself…just stop going over the same thing over and over again.
2. Have an anti-stress strategy
Have at least one way to help you reduce stress – for some this is exercise. For others it could be painting or gardening or socialising. I have tried the adult colouring books and have found colouring in a wonderful way to tune the noise of the world out for a while and quieten my mind. It’s a wonderful way to promote mindfulness – being more in the present moment.
3. Find at least one person you can talk to
We are social beings and we all need at least one person to talk to. Someone who understands us and can empathise.
4. Acceptance
Stop resisting the things you cannot change. You create far more stress by trying to control things beyond your reach. Accept what is and focus your energy where you can make a difference. Life has inherent uncertainty in it – some of this we need to accept and learn to work with. “What if” thinking is an example of ‘wasted energy thinking’ – all sorts of possibilities could come our way but worrying about it won’t change anything so get your focus back to real life and real problems. A broken dishwasher is a ‘real’ problem, a possible flat tyre sometime in the future is not a ‘real’ problem. Know the difference.
5. Detach from your thinking
We can all be guilty of catastrophising and making mountains out of molehills. We can also stress ourselves out by making negative assumptions about other people’s behaviour. Learn to detach from your thinking. Thoughts are not facts yet they can cause us untold stress and misery. Learn to disengage from stressful thinking styles.
6. Keep busy
Have an action plan to help resolve the issues that stress you out. Once you have worked through the action list or completed the necessary tasks for that day, distract yourself. Keeping busy is one way to keep stress at bay if you tend to be someone who over thinks. I have noticed how many clients report that they feel more stressed when they have too much time to think. Obviously if the main cause of your stress is having too much to do – this option is not applicable to you.
Stress seems to be unavoidable these days and this is why it is even more important for each of us to devise our own personal plan to counteract stress – yoga, mindfulness, deep breathing, long walks, regular holidays, watching comedies, dancing to music…do whatever works but know what triggers your stress and have a few tricks up your sleeve to lower that blood pressure!
Mandy X
Author: Mandy Kloppers
Mandy is a qualified therapist who treats depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and many other types of mental health issues. She provides online therapy around the world for those needing support and also provides relationship counselling.
