Tame Your Inner Cavewoman & Caveman

From Overwhelmed to Relaxed: 4 Simple Tips to Beat Stress

Avoiding stress without managing its root causes is like putting a Band-Aid on a wound without treating the infection underneath. It may provide temporary relief, but it doesn’t lead to healing. We must address and manage long-term stress at the source.

Stressing Out About Stress

 We know stress is unavoidable, yet we live like we can avoid it. We plan our lives in a false reality where nothing comes up, life doesn’t derail us, and stress doesn’t accumulate. But then the inevitable happens, and we are blindsided by external circumstances and internal pressures that we never anticipated.

We fail to activate good stress to maintain consistency, and we let bad stress build to debilitating levels.

While it’s natural to seek comfort and relief from stress, solely focusing on avoidance is counterproductive. Instead of creating strategies to manage our stressors, we mask them with extra layers of tasks we think will make us healthy. Even worse, we may try to escape them with well-practiced avoidance maneuvers such as binge-watching TV, overeating, drinking or compulsive shopping.

And all the while, those underlying stressors are getting more entrenched in our lives. It won’t be long until they resurface stronger and more debilitating than ever. And they will grow at a pace beyond our ability to cover them up.

So, What’s the Fix?

Stress is unavoidable, and it is also necessary. We cannot survive without stress, and we cannot thrive without it.

Stress is not the enemy. Our response to stress via our coping mechanisms, and a gradual buildup of stress from ignoring our stressors, is what we must gain control over.

The solution is to learn to be in control of our stress. The goal for sustainable health is to use good stress coupled with good stress responses.

The first step is to activate your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which works in contrast to your sympathetic nervous system to “rest and digest.” The PNS promotes relaxation and recovery after a stressor has passed. It facilitates activities like digestion, repair, and energy conservation. Then you can move on to controlling what you can and letting go of what you can’t.

Here are some suggestions you can start right away to create a happier, more relaxed way of life:

Final Word

 Facing and managing stressors can be an opportunity for learning, adaptation, and personal development. In moderate amounts, stress serves as a motivational force, pushing you to work harder, stay disciplined, and achieve your goals. But you can’t stay in fight-or-flight mode all the time.

Instead, it’s crucial to combine stress reduction with effective stress management strategies such as problem-solving, seeking support, and practicing self-care to achieve lasting well-being and resilience in the face of life’s most stressful moments.

Read More

• Read this week’s Educator’s Edge Digest: How to Say “No” and Love Every Second of It 
• Part of this text is taken from Small Wins, Big Health by Bryan Holyfield. Read more:

 Click here to learn more with Bryan’s book Small Wins, Big Health: 10 Simple Hacks to Boost Fitness, Tame Stress, and Build a Healthier Version of You!

Resources:

• Small Wins, Big Gains by Bryan Holyfield
• Primitive man image by jcoope12 from Pixabay
• Quote meadow image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay
• Stressed woman image by Pexels from Pixabay
• Silhouette of a man on the beach image by Pexels from Pixabay