Stress Management

Recognizing Stress Stress Management is the ability to handle stress in healthy ways. The first step in handling or managing your stress is to recognize that you are stressed.

Common Signs That You Are Stressed Physical Mental and emotional Headaches Dry mouth Teeth grinding Shortness of breath Pounding heart Muscle aches Fatigue Insomnia Frustration Depression Irritability Worrying Confusion Forgetfulness Poor concentration Loneliness

So, What Can You Do? 1. Get rid of the stress causing you problems. 2. Wash your hands often (decrease getting sick). 3. Eat healthy foods and take a multivitamin. 4. Your diet should be low in fats and sugars. 5. Get regular exercise.

So, What Can You Do? 6. Get the right amount of sleep. 7. Cut down/eliminate caffeine intake. 8. Be assertive—protect your time, energy and efforts. 9. Talk with friends and family and use their help if needed. 10. Avoid too many major changes at once.

So, What Can You Do? 11. Find a retreat if necessary. 12. Learn to manage your time. 13. Try to calm down and deal with daily hassles. 14. Reduce noise in your life. 15. Keep clutter to a minimum.

Handling Distress Reframing: changing the way you think about a stressor, and changing your emotional response to the stressor. Asserting Yourself: Telling other people how you feel—speak up for yourself without hurting others. Planning Ahead: Make time to do things you need to do—even if it’s something you don’t like doing. Laughing: Make it a habit to find something to laugh about every single day.

Sharing Emotions Emotions are the feelings produced as you respond to something in your life. They are perfectly natural, but may be very powerful. Sometimes talking about your problem can help you to solve it. Find someone that you trust to talk to—friend, parent, counselor, teacher, etc… Make sure it’s someone that cares about you and will take the time to listen.

Taking Time for Yourself You should have about 30 minutes per day just to yourself. It is hard to find this time because you have so many responsibilities in your life, but it can greatly decrease the stress in your life.

Learn to Relax During the stress response your body loses energy and build up tension. There are a few relaxation strategies to help you. Breathing exercises: taking in oxygen to completely fill the lungs. Inhale slowly until your lungs can’t hold anymore and then exhale slowly. Helps muscles and organs function properly Helps brain stay alert and focused Slows heart rate Tension-releasing exercises: tense and release all of the muscles or muscle groups in your body one at a time. Notice how it feels when you are tensed and relaxed.

Time Management Time management is making appropriate choices about how to use your time. Make a schedule using a calendar, planner or notebook. Prioritize your tasks and activities in order of importance, and do the most important things first.

Time Management Making a schedule: Know and set your limits: Enter your priorities first. Be realistic. Prepare for problems. Make time to relax. Do it. Know and set your limits: Don’t take on more than you can handle. Learn to say “no”

Time Management

The Jar of Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvvw2yy-dn4 5 Minutes

Find Something to Laugh About Everyday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L49VXZwfup8 3 Minutes

Meditation and Relaxing Music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNYcqj8A1Tg

Be Confident The more confident you are, the better you will feel about yourself and the more positive your perception of a situation will be. Remember similar challenges you have met successfully.

Positive Self-Talk Say or think positive things to yourself. It will help you to feel better about situations.

Resiliency Resiliency is the ability to recover from illness, hardship, and other stressors. Resilient people continue to be optimistic when life gets tough. You can get your strength and resiliency from assets. An asset is a skill or resource that can help you reach a goal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_-k_1WQ5As

Eight Assets for Building Resiliency Description Example Support Having family, friends and others to help you You talk to the school counselor about a problem Empowerment Feeling as if you are a valuable member of your community and family You volunteer to start a drug-free campaign at school Boundaries Having a clear set of rules and consequences for school, family and relationships You know that if someone bullies you at school a teacher will speak with them Productive Use of Time Choosing creative and productive activities You join a school club instead of playing video games after school Commitment to Learning Understanding the value of school work You spend time working on school assignments Positive Values Caring, integrity, honesty, self-responsibility, equality and justice You support a friend in telling the truth even though doing so may get them in trouble Social Skills Communicating effectively, respecting others, and avoiding peer pressure You talk out a disagreement instead of yelling and fighting Positive Identity Having high self-esteem, a sense of control, and feeling as if you have a purpose You use positive self talk to prepare for a speech