How do you know when you are feeling stressed? If you are unsure of the answer to this question, ask close family and friends – they can probably answer this question for you! Our reactions to stress can be physical, mental or emotional. It’s important to know what our stress indicators look like, so we can do something about them when they arise. Unmanaged stress can lead to cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and a variety of other health problems.

A Relative Named Stress

Stress is relative (and sometimes it could be a relative). Stress can come from a variety of sources: work, family, friends, finance, health challenges and even a pandemic. If we know what our stressors are (those things/situations which cause us to feel stressed), then we can either try to avoid those things or prepare ourselves when we are going to encounter them.

Stress: It’s Not All Bad

Keep in mind that there is “good stress,” such as the excitement one feels when looking forward to seeing someone you haven’t seen in a long time.

I Got Stress; You Got Stress

Most often, it’s not about how we prevent stress, but how we react to stress when it occurs. Stress can be subjective. Each of us has a different stress gauge: what stresses one person may not stress another, and vice versa. Our life experience shapes how we perceive stressful situations.

Finding different ways of addressing stress often involves re-scripting the “self-talk” which plays in our mind. We learn to remind ourselves that we have made it through stressful situations before and can do it again.

Stress Happens

Let’s face it. Stress happens whether we want it to or not. Contrary to television and social media, there is no such thing as a stress-free life. So, when you are feeling stressed, don’t beat yourself up; give yourself the grace you need to cope with what you’re feeling. Even the airlines instruct us, when there is a change in cabin pressure, to place the mask on ourselves before trying to assist others. Your greatest source of support in a stressful situation is YOU.

STOP the Madness

While we may not be able to prevent some sources of stress, we can try to manage our reaction to stress. One such method is the mindfulness practice of the “STOP” technique:

Stop and pause for a moment.

Take a slow, deep breath (or two or three). Deep breathing helps to lower your stress hormone, and relax your mind and body.

Observe what’s going on in you and around you. Check how you are feeling and why.

Proceed with what you were doing in a way that addresses what you are feeling. This could mean withdrawing from a situation, continuing to calmly engage in the situation or expressing your feelings.