Handling Stress

Stress is a normal part of our lived experience, and in the right doses, can be really helpful. If we’re being chased by a tiger, or have a deadline to meet, it will give us the necessary impetus we need to get going. But too much stress, can be at best unpleasant, and at worse damaging to us mentally, physically and spiritually.

It’s important that we understand more about what stress is, what causes it and how we might best manage it.

Stress is the feeling we have when we are pushed, pulled or poked by life’s circumstances. It’s what happens when our bodies and minds are being asked to manage too much at once. Stress can be the result of one big event that saps our capacity, or more often due to too many different things happening at the same time.

Stress tends to build up in the body and mind, and show up in our behaviour. Our body may feel tense, our stomach unsettled or we may get a headache. Our mind may feel overwhelmed, we may be very distractable, or we may be more forgetful than usual. Our behaviour can become irritable, we can find ourselves seeking out unhealthy treats or we might try and avoid certain places and people. Whilst stress is a certainty, the way we experience it is not as set, and will vary from person to person. It’s important to work out what stress looks like in your body, mind and behaviour so you can notice it when it’s happening.

These resources are designed to help you handle stress and find solutions to reduce it or manage it when it affects you.

Resources and ideas

Check out this library of resources which we think you’ll find helpful.

Featured Article: Breathing out Stress

There’s been a lot written about Breathing exercises and their effectiveness. The reality is that they work for some people and not for others. Use them as part of a tool kit but don’t rely on them too much.

There are lots of different models and formats for Breathing exercises. We’ve found the key is to create something which enables you to be present and able to connect with the moment you’re in now, not worrying about the past or the future.

  1. Sit comfortably, sit with you head upright and in a loose, relaxed posture.

  2. Take a slow breath through your nose. Imagine sucking in physical air particles.

  3. Exhale slowly through your mouth. Imagine blowing a feather gently across a room.

  4. Hold for a moment before repeating steps 2 and 3.

Sometimes you can imagine yourself breathing in peace and calm and then breathing out stress. You might want to exaggerate the outward breath to really let go of the stress you feel.