Stress to Calm in 4 Powerful Steps

The term stress management refers to a wide range of psychological techniques and treatments aimed at controlling a person’s stress levels, especially chronic stress, regulating lifestyle, and making it realistic and reasonable within the individual’s capabilities to avoid facing psychological stress!

To effectively manage stress, we must know what stress is, what causes it, and how it can be disposed of by turning it into positive energy. Stress is the body’s reaction to any change that requires adaptation or response, and the body reacts to these changes with physical, mental, and emotional responses.

What is stress?

Stress is a psychological and physiological condition that consists of the combination of cognitive, physical, and behavioral elements to create an unpleasant feeling usually associated with discomfort, fear, and hesitation.

During exposure to stress, the body responds by secreting a group of hormones called stress hormones, and this effect causes high blood pressure and blood sugar rate, accelerated heart rate, and muscle contraction, in turn stimulating an increase in physical strength and sharpening the senses and mental abilities.

Stress is a natural response to difficult situations and various stress factors are involved in the experience. For most people, it has become a part of daily life. There is a difference between healthy levels of stress and chronic stress. Healthy stress works to produce hormones that help the body to remain stable, while chronic stress keeps the body in a state of stimulation for a long time, leading to negative consequences.

What are the Causes of Stress?

The causes of stress can be defined as any environmental event or stimulus that may lead to stress. We can look at these events as threats or challenges facing the individual. Stressors can be physical or psychological, and can be classified into four main categories:

1. Crises and disasters.

2. Major life events (marriage, divorce, death of a first-degree relative, dismissal from work, prison sentence, etc.)

3. Everyday troubles.

4. Ambient pressures.

Among the causes of stress are also genetic factors, family disintegration, life stressors, drug addiction, psychological trauma, sexual problems, and exposure to childhood problems.

How to Turn Stress Into Positive Energy

According to Professor Robertson, a leading neuroscientist, and author of “The Stress Test: How Pressure Can Make You Stronger and Sharper”, you can transform your stress into positive energy using 4 simple steps:

1. Use self-affirmations such as “I am excited” to invite you to view stressors as challenges to overcome.

2. Use deep breathing exercises to reduce the associated anxiety. Try breathing in slowly through your nose for five seconds, and exhale for six seconds.

3. Stand with a posture that gives you confidence - fill your chest with air and stand like a superhero!

4. Squeeze your right hand tightly for around 45 seconds and repeat the process. This squeeze additionally boosts brain activity, particularly in the left area.

Channeling stress into positive energy is a mindful approach that can drastically improve performance and creativity, making people smarter, faster, and smarter, while emphasizing that stress is a type of energy that we can harness.

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Biography

Zahraa is a Content Development and Marketing (CDM) Program graduate at the 7 Cups Academy. She has a BA in Psychology and has been volunteering as an active listener at 7 Cups since September 2021.