How can I feel less stress?

Coping strategies

There are some practical coping strategies you can use to help decrease your level of stress.

Here are a few to practice:

Positive self-talk
Long-term stress management techniques
Stress Plans

And to avoid:

Negative coping strategies >>

Self-talk

To help decrease our stress, we can first start by becoming more aware of our own 'self talk.' i.e. what we say to ourselves - and the way we think about ourselves. This is accomplished by asking ourselves, "Are these thoughts valid and realistic?" or "Is there another way I can look at myself and my situation that could lead to a more realistic and hopeful conclusion?".

The following are a few examples of how we might replace negative beliefs about ourselves with more realistic and hopeful beliefs:

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Long term stress management techniques: ways to stay healthy

Finding ways to increase our health helps us decrease our stress. Simple ways to do this are:

• Try to get at least 8 hours of SLEEP
• Get ACTIVE. Do something fun and elevate your heart rate.
• Eat more FRUITS and VEGETABLES.
• LAUGH more.
• Apply POSTIVE SELF-TALK & POSTIVE ATTITUDES.
• TALK to people you trust.
• Work at MANAGING YOUR TIME.
• Build in some RELAXATION time.

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A stress plan: what to do when you are dealing with stressful situations

Everyone needs a certain amount of stress in order to get things done, but sometimes it can become too much.

When you recognize that you are stressed, you can feel better by using a stress plan like this one:

1. Identify the stressful situation: What is upsetting you?

• School, work, relationships, family, self...

2. Identify your signals: How are you feeling about the situation?

• What changes in my body, thoughts, emotions & actions do I observe?

3. Brainstorm your options: What can you do?

• CHANGE THE SITUATION: can I say no? can I assert my needs?...
• CHANGE HOW YOU REACT TO THE SITUATION: exercise, sleep, relax, accept support, make time to have fun, laugh...
• CHANGE HOW YOU LOOK AT THE SITUATION: use positive supportive self-talk, look for hidden opportunities in negative situations, and look into the future past the problem...

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