Healthy Habits for Stress Management
Stress is the emotional, psychological and physical reaction to the many demands we face in todays world. While a small amount of stress is actually healthy and may even motivate you to improve your performance, many challenges like traffic jam, work deadlines and at times many bills to settle can push us beyond our capacity to cope.
Human beings react to stress in ways that were originally meant for protection against predators and many other dangerous situations. However, although most of us no longer have to protect ourselves against dangerous animals, we still face stressful situations that affect our bodies and our mental health. Its therefore important for us to understand stress and also learn healthy technics to manage our stress.
To manage stress, we must begin by understanding it. When we face a stressful situation our brains signal our bodies to release hormones that increase our heart rate and blood pressure. Stress also changes our bodies immune response system affecting our digestive and reproductive systems and even our growth processes. This is a complex reaction that changes how our brains control our moods, fears and motivations.
We individually react to stress differently, with some friends looking relaxed about almost anything while others get worked up easily. This is very natural, as stress is mostly controlled by our unique genetic makeup and our life experiences.
Importance of Healthy Stress Management
Our body’s answer to ending a stressful situation is by stopping to send more hormones so that the levels maty return to normal. Therefore if your stress level remains high, then your hormone levels as well remain elevated affecting your health negatively in the following ways:
- Inability to sleep or oversleeping
- Headaches
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Problems in digestion
- Muscular pains
- High blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks
- Gaining weight
- Lack of concentration and memory loss
- Healthy ways to manage stress
Stress should never be managed through temporary measures like taking alcohol, drugs or even food. Its therefore important to learn some healthy stress management technics that work for you. Experts suggest the following:
- Eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly and getting adequate sleep
- Practicing relaxation techniques that include deep breathing, yoga, meditation and massage
- Write journals about your thoughts and what you have been grateful for.
- Spend time on hobbies such as watching movies, listening to music or reading.
- Having talks with friends and family
- Have humour and laughter in your life watching comedies or jokes.
- Plan and prioritize what you want to accomplish and do away with unnecessary tasks.
- Talk to a professional counsellor who can assist in establishing appropriate ways to manage your stress.
It takes time for us to learn our stressors and the best ways to deal with them, but with time, we can learn and make good progress. Once we start enjoying less anxiety, good health, and fulfilling relationships, we shall have managed to control stress in ways that work for us.
Reach out today and take the first step towards a brighter future!
Resources
HelpGuide.org - Provides strategies for managing stress, including mindfulness, relaxation techniques, and lifestyle changes to reduce stress triggers and improve resilience.
Mayo Clinic - Offers practical techniques like exercise, relaxation, and time management to help cope with stress effectively.
Mental Health Foundation - Offers insights on managing and reducing stress by improving emotional health, building support networks, and adopting relaxation practices.
American Heart Association - Offers three key tips for managing stress.
Peter Mugi is a qualified Family Therapist, based in Kasarani, Nairobi, Kenya.
With a commitment to mental health, Mr Kuruga provides services in English and Kiswahili, including Counselling (Career), Counselling (Divorce), Counselling (Family), Counselling (Marriage), Individual and Couple Therapy, Marriage and Family Therapist Associate, Mediation, Online Counselling / Phone Therapy, Relationship Counselling and Stress Management.
Mr Kuruga has expertise in Addiction (Drugs and Substances), Adolescent Counselling, Behavioural and Emotional Problems, Bereavement and Loss, Divorce and/or Separation, Family Problems, Parenting Issues, Pre-Marital Counselling, Relationships and Marriage Problems and Suicide Ideation / Survivor.
Click here to schedule a session with Mr Kuruga.
Important:
TherapyRoute does not provide medical advice. All content is for informational purposes and cannot replace consulting a healthcare professional. If you face an emergency, please contact a local emergency service. For immediate emotional support, consider contacting a local helpline.
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