In therapy, I sometimes receive questions that require me to reveal something about myself. Some questions I cannot answer for ethical and professional reasons, but if they serve the person’s well-being, I allow myself to respond. Recently, at the end of a therapy session, someone asked me: How do you manage stress? This question inspired this post.
The tools I use and teach in therapy are the same ones I apply for my own well-being. How could I support others if I don’t practice them myself? What I implement personally and in my services is based on studies and professional experience.
The Importance of Managing Stress
There are different types of stress. In this post, the focus is on the stress we face when dealing with life’s challenges. A literature review describes stress as an increase in effort by an individual to maintain personal and environmental balance in response to external or internal factors (Naranjo Pereira, 2009).
Stress is a necessary part of the human experience, and both its absence and excess can lead to illness. That is why it is important to learn how to manage it in a healthy way.
“Toolbox” for Healthy Stress Management
This toolbox is filled with what works for me. It includes alternatives that vary in difficulty and time commitment. Here’s a brief description of the tools I use:
- Self-assessment and recalibration: From time to time, I identify my sources of stress and how they manifest in me so I can make adjustments that help me manage them in a healthy way.
- Emotional regulation: I take time to acknowledge and experience my emotions, then release them through breathing exercises, journaling my thoughts and feelings, connecting with nature or my support group. I also practice art therapy. In particular, I create mandalas to give my mind a break from stress and to help me achieve my goals. In Mandalas para Activarte, I explain how to use this tool.
- Taking care of my body: I have a set of exercises that I practice to relieve muscle tension, energize myself, or promote relaxation, which I can do on the floor, in a chair, or standing. I pay attention to my eating and sleeping patterns and how they relate to my stress levels.
- Setting boundaries: I avoid falling into thought and behavior patterns that I know increase my stress. For example, when writing, I become very focused, and if I don’t set limits, I won’t stop to stretch or eat. The consequences negatively impact my physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Ignoring my own limits doesn’t work for me because recovering takes days, reducing my ability to complete tasks (and increasing my stress).
- Being present: I talk to myself. When I notice I’m having stressful thoughts, I tell myself to stop. Whether I do this out loud or in silence, I use the moment to reflect on what I’m thinking, why it matters, and what I can do for my well-being.
- Monitoring myself: I keep a calendar to track significant events, lifestyle changes, bodily changes, and nature’s rhythms to identify possible connections between them and my stress levels.
- Focusing and motivating myself: I choose words, phrases, and images as “reminders” to practice what works for me, reinforcing new thought and behavior patterns. Since I enjoy crafts, I create these reminders as an art therapy practice and place them in daily-accessible spots. Every so often, I assess whether what I chose still serves me because what worked in the past may not be effective now.
- Balance: I strive for balance in my life. Achieving a balance between my professional work and personal life is a dynamic process involving several elements: self-awareness, healthy stress and emotion management, resilience, effective communication, honoring personal agreements, collaboration, and building connections with others. This balance, which fosters human potential and harmonious coexistence in family, work, community, and educational settings, is the focus of the Vive FAMtástico workshop.
- Emotional self-regulation: I use technology to relax by consciously selecting the content I consume. I keep an updated list of readings, movies, videos, songs, or music that help me reflect on and process my emotions.
- Self-care: At least once a day, I give myself a dose of love by engaging in any activity I’m passionate about.
There are different “toolboxes,” and it helps to create your own. How do you manage stress in a healthy way? If you’re unsure of your answer, consult a mental health professional to help you develop healthy stress management strategies.
If you’d like to read more about these and other topics that support physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being, follow me, share this post, and thank you!
References:
Naranjo Pereira, María Luisa (2009). Una revisión teórica sobre el estrés y algunos aspectos relevantes de este en el ámbito educativo. Revista Educación 33(2), 171-190-42, ISSN: 0379-7082.
Campenni, C. E., & Hartman, A. (2019). The Effects of Completing Mandalas on Mood, Anxiety, and State Mindfulness. Art Therapy, 37(1), 25–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2019.1669980
