Stress Guide

Stress  means different things to everybody, it could be the stress of work, exams or computers misbehaving, many different events make us feel stressed. there are 2 types of stress, good stress and bad stress, good stress or positive stress has been called eustress this type of stress is exhilarating even enjoyable, you would feel eustress for instance if you won the lottery. Bad stress or negative stress is called distress, we feel distress if something we don't like happens to us like unemployment.

Nobody can completely avoid distress but we can learn to control it and become stress-tough. Stress is the failure to cope with stressors- things like  loud music, pain, no money, the mother-in-law plus thousands of other things that could stress us. 

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How to help beat Stress  Back to top

Breathing~ close your eyes and focus on your breathing from your stomach, count to 10 each breath in and out is one count.

Centering~ this method is used by martial arts experts , concentrate on the center of your body, look ahead and go into peripheral vision, relax.

Float~ detach yourself from bad situations like arguments, imagine you are floating out of your body, look down at yourself float as high as you like the higher the more detached you will feel.

Peripheral vision~ look straight ahead, but concentrate on what you can see from the corners of your eyes, relax your jaw and breath slowly, this is excellent for public appearances

Cut down on stimulants~ caffeine, chocolate, cola, sugar, mimic the effects of adrenaline and speed up the metabolism, you experience a quick rush followed by a sharp decrease in energy, cut down on these and you will feel calmer.

Take time everyday to relax~ relaxing deeply allows adrenalin that has been released to re-absorb into the body and drain away. Take a hot bath, a massage, listen to soft music, gardening is also a good therapy for stress relief.

Think positive~ when you face a problem instead of thinking of all the bad things that could happen do something positive to prevent the problem getting worse. If you are stressed because you don't like you job don't sit worrying about it, instead go out and buy a jobs paper take positive action to find a new job, you will feel better. 

Get some exercise~ we all know the benefits of a regular workout, exercise fights bad stress, try a punch bag at the gym and really get those frustrations out.