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Blog posts tagged with "stress"
International Stress Week
What are some things that give us a sense of purpose? Caring for someone who needs your help. Community volunteering. Or being part of a group that connects you with others such as a service club or a church.
Manage Your Holiday Stress into Positive Purpose
The way we celebrate the holidays causes stress, current events are stressful, and COVID-19 is still wreaking havoc on our communities’ mental and physical health. Ask yourself… How are you sleeping? Do you feel a sense of panic? Do you have racing thoughts? Are any bad memories replaying themselves? If your answer to any of those questions was yes, your body is having a stress-response to the things that are causing fear or worry in you. While so many of our stressors may be out of our control, we can still be intentional about our exposure to controllable stressors and how we manage our responses to stress. According to the Good News Science Center, repeatedly consuming negative news stories is detrimental to your health. It keeps you in a constant state of alert (stress!), which is damaging to your body. It can lead to distrust and negative feelings about other people and communities.
Managing Stress and Anxiety
Some of the things that cause us stress relate to questions that do not have answers. Things like “why do bad things happen to us?” In these kinds of situations our coping skills need to focus on giving-expression to our experience and emotions. One of the best ways to do that is to explore your creative side. There are many ways to express yourself. Journaling, writing poetry or songs, drawing, painting, sculpting, playing music or building something. Find your way of creatively expressing what you are experiencing, thinking or feeling. It can provide the outlet you need to process your emotions during a difficult time.
Managing Holiday COVID-19 and Post-Election Stress
With COVID-19 affecting our holidays, schools going more and more remote, and the lingering post-election stress it is important to ask ourselves questions that help us manage our stress response. The Greater Good Science Center poses a few questions to help us think about how we are managing and reacting got what is going on around us (Smith & Suttie 10.2020).
International Stress Awareness Week
One international study published just this month reports that people who had a strong sense of meaning and purpose in their life were more resilient, especially in relation to Covid-specific stress. What are some things that give us a sense of purpose? Caring for someone who needs your help, an activity or hobby that is meaningful such as gardening or cooking, or being part of a group that connects you with others such as a service club or a church. So if you find yourself stressed don't do less, do more of what gives you a sense of purpose.
