The Steps to Reducing and Eliminating Stress

Unfortunately, stress is very common in the workplace and in public life today, and these tensions can carry over into other aspects of life. A key reason for this is the pressure of our competitive, success-oriented age.
Here are the basic steps to reducing unwanted stress:

1. Calm Down with Relaxation Technique.
Develop a trigger for yourself, so whenever you feel sensations of stress coming on, you can catch yourself and remain calm and relaxed.

2. Understand the Sources of Your Stress.
To find out the reason you feel tense, get in a relaxed frame of mind and mentally ask yourself the question: Why am I so tense right now? Then, listen to whatever thoughts immediately pop into mind or notice any images that appear.

3. Decide What You Need to Do to Get Rid of This source of Stress.
Once you have determined the reason for your stress in a particular situation, the next step is asking yourself what you should do about it. Ask the second question; What do you need to do to stay calm?

4. Chase Away Any Worries About the Problem.
The final step is to chase away any worries about achieving the results you want.
If you've got any worries standing in the way of overcoming your feelings of tension, you've got to eliminate them, and you can do so in four ways:

a. Come up with an alternative , so you can act to affect the situation.
b. Visualize the outcome you want, and your focus on this will help bring about the desired result.
c. Remind yourself that you will do it to build confidence.
d. Affirm that whatever happens is what should happen, so you can accept what comes and feel satisfied with it.

Depending on the situation, use any one or a combination of these techniques. Then, when you are done, turn your thoughts to something else, unless you have planned to take a specific action, so the inner powers released by your concentration can work within you to help create the change you want.

Tips on How to Reduce Stress

As we all walk this road called life, there will be different challenges that will confront us. And one such challenge or obstacle may be of a physical nature. Because of the complexity of our bodies, there could be several people with some sort of a physical aliment, yet, each situation completely different from the other. Each individual could relate to their own situation, and at the same time, know nothing at all about another person's physical condition.

However, I have discovered that there is a common condition, situation that most of us at one time or another have suffered from, some individuals have on a daily basis, and it is called stress! Now, I have been in the ministry for over half my life, along with being a pastor for nearly ten years. Also, I have been a chaplain at a maximum security prison. So, I qualify to know what it is to deal with stress. Anytime you have to deal with the public, people in general, it will always involve encountering stress. I remember once telling my doctor, during my annual physical, that I was wanting to reduce the stress in my life. He knows that I pastor a church and asked, how was I going to that-retire?

Therefore, I have come to the conclusion, unlike a physical condition that could be a temporary situation, stress is here to stay. Since I am not going to change what I do in life as far as work is concerned, I one day determined in my heart to learn how to reduce the stress level in my world.

Now, one good motivator to learn how to reduce stress is this thought: Reducing stress will lengthen your life! All kinds of things can develop due to stress, such as for example, your heart, blood pressure, and even your cholesterol level to name a few, can be effected due to not learning how to reduce the stress in your life.

There are numerous ways that are very effective in reducing stress, and in this article I want to share with someone what helps relieve the stress level in my life. First of all, I am married to a wonderful woman, who is my best friend, who is always in my corner. She is on my side, and is there for me when I need moral support when things get rough. However, I have found that it is good to have a friend that you can relate to besides your spouse. I have been blessed with a older pastor,who is a father figure to me, a mentor, who I can call and talk to, which helps me to deal with stressful issues. Also, going to church, participating in the services has helped me to deal or reduce my stress level. The idea of just being with other people has a way of relieving stress in a person's life. Many times I have gone to a church service with a heavy load on my mind, but was helped, able to better cope with what was going on in my world, the stress for a short time had gone away. I must include, that what greatly reduces my stress level is my daily prayer and Bible reading.

The next two techniques that have always worked for me, which I enjoy very much, is a great stress reducer for me. I love being around children. They have a way of helping you to forget everything that may be going wrong in your life. Perhaps a phone call to one of my children or the children in my church will come and give me a hug, and tell me that they love me. This has never failed to help me deal better with the current stress in my life. Then, there is my extended family, my dogs and cats. My pets, these friends of mine have always been able to reduce the stress in my life. I do have a indoor cat named Aaron or I should say Sir Aaron. He is not your typical independent cat. But, he needs my attention, and I must say that I need his attention as well. On any given day, Aaron will jump on my lap and purr himself asleep. Once in a while he will pat me with his paw as though he is telling me, it's going to be alright.

Here are a couple of other ways I have found useful in helping to reduce stress in my world. I have discovered that playing a game on the computer, such as solitaire, helps reduce stress. Now, this next technique is going to seem hard to believe. I have three acres of grass that I mow, and cutting the lawn has become a great stress reducer for me. When I am on my riding lawn mower, this has become my outlet of getting away or occupying mind on something else other than the stress related issues in my life.

I know that we are all different individuals who deal with stress on an on going basis. Also, I acknowledge the fact that what may help reduce stress in one person may not work in another. But, the important thing to remember is this, find something that does help you to reduce your stress. Your life depends on it.

Hello, my name is M. Lee Miller, I have a Doctorate in Theology and a Ph.D in Religious Studies. Being in the ministry for nearly 30 years, along with being a pastor for over nine years, there have been many problems, situations that have needed to be confronted in regards to what different people have to face in their lives. It has been very challenging, along with being very satisfying, to have a opportunity to be able to help an individual to cope, deal with the problems, situations that sometimes arises in our world. If I had my life to live over again, I have to say that I would still choose the position that I currently hold, that God has placed me in, and that is helping people to get through tough times in this life of ours.

Learning to Manage Stress

Have you ever had one of those days where it seems like the world is out to get you? Your to do list is too long, your bank account is empty, the kids are driving you crazy, and you just want to curl up into a ball and hope everything fixes itself. These are all examples of stressors. Stressors are an unavoidable part of life and each person reacts to situations that provoke stress differently. Having the right attitude and knowing how to manage stress is an important task because stress can take a toll on your health.

Not all stress is bad. Actually, some stress keeps us safe. For example, if a woman sees a strange man while walking alone to her car after work, she may go back to her place of employment and ask somebody to walk with her. In this case, the strange man was her stressor and she reacted by asking for help. When we encounter a situation that stresses us out, it's our fight or flight response taking action. Some people will choose to run from the problem, others will face it head on.

Stress can display itself as a behavioral, physical, and/or emotional symptom. During my final year of college I went to the doctor because my jaw hurt so bad that I could barely open it. I was surprised when "stress" was my diagnosis. When stress becomes unmanageable, people are setting their bodies up to be more prone to colds and infections, restless nights, problems with their stomach, muscle tension, and fatigue.

There are a lot of situations that cause stress. It's important to build healthy relationships, so you have a support system during stressful times. You should also avoid being overwhelmed by creating realistic daily to do lists. Also, make sure these to do lists are not full of "have to be done" items like taking out the garbage, doing the dishes, finishing laundry, and scrubbing the floor. Include something for yourself everyday, whether it is to finish a chapter from your book, get a facial, or take a class.

Meeting goals can also cause a great deal of stress. For example, somebody may have the goal of losing 20 pounds by the end of the month. This goal is too aggressive to happen in one month. Instead, goals should be broken down into small and manageable steps. For example, the goal could first be to stop eating fast food and to eat fewer calories. Now, the goal is more manageable because the expectations are more realistic. From here a deadline goal could be set to lose 4 pounds by the end of the month by sticking to your small steps.

Delegating some responsibilities is another way of reducing stress in your life. If you need help from your coworkers, family, or friends then you should ask for it. Also, if somebody is delegating a responsibility to you, it's okay to say no. In fact, you should say no if you already have an overwhelming number of things that need to be done. Some people end up with more than they can handle because they say yes every time they're asked to do something.

When stress takes over, avoid drugs and alcohol which can make everything worst. This would also be a time to practice relaxation techniques such as yoga and meditation. Don't let stress take over your life and remember that it's a temporary state. Things will get better.