When you are feeling stressed, agitated or out of control, try some of the following techniques to try and relieve your stress and bring your agitation under control.
Step 1 – Take a few really deep breaths. Breathing deeply increases the oxygen levels in your body. This slows down your heart rate, improves your blood pressure and reduces your adrenaline level. Improved oxygen also improves your ability to think more clearly and come up with logical responses to the situation.
Step 2 – Count to five (or ten or twenty, or as much as you need). Counting to yourself acts as a small ‘time out’ where you can take a few moments to centre yourself. While you are counting, breathe deeply but calmly, ideally in through your mouth and out through your nose.
Step 3 – Walk away. This sounds simple, but it can be harder to do than it sounds. If the stress gets to be too much, just tell everyone, “I’m sorry, but I need a moment, excuse me,” and duck out of the room for a few moments. Take a few deep breaths, think of something really outrageous to make yourself laugh, and try to think clearly and logically about the situation and what options you have to resolving it.
Step 4 – Distract yourself. Sometimes taking a small time out is not enough and you really need to go do something else for a little bit of time. Take a walk, read a book, listen to some calming music, work on another project. Just do something that will take your mind off of what is making you agitated and stressed. Physical exercise is a great distraction because it works off energy from built up adrenaline.
Step 5 – Look at the big picture. What changes can you make in your life to reduce the stress in it? Maybe you can reduce your working hours or take a holiday? Perhaps you can do more exercise, or change your lifestyle habits. Oftentimes when we are stressed we are reacting to unavoidable situations of stress, however sometimes, our stressful lives can be adapted to make them less stressful. Think about a small step you can make to reduce the stress in your life. (This article is electronically protected – Copyright © Associated Counsellors & Psychologists Sydney PTY LTD)
