by Bagia Arif Saputra
Certified Meditation Instructor
Anger & Stress Management Specialist
How often do you experience stress?
How many stressors do you have to face every day?
Does the stress affect your work, relationship, family, or even your health?
Did you know that you could turn stress into strength?
Stress creeps into our lives day and night. During the pandemic, the stress level is inevitably increasing more than ever. American Psychological Association published Stress in America ™: January 2021 Stress Snapshot where 84% of adults reported feeling at least one emotion associated with prolonged stress. However, the services to help people deal with stress are still lacking. According to a new WHO survey in 130 countries, the pandemic has disrupted the critical mental health services in 93% of countries worldwide while the mental health demand is increasing. The thing about stress management is it’s all about skill.
Stress is indeed part of life, it is inevitable, but you can mitigate the downside of being stressed out and instead turn the stress into strength!
Below are some practical tips to deal with stress in a healthy way:
Build up your routines
If stress is not predictable, you can focus the things that are more likely to have control over. "Having a routine is good for development and health," says Dr. Kerry Ressler, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Not only you learn to combat stress with having predictable routines, you also build a good habit and discipline.
Have a quality sleep
"Sleep deprivation makes parts of the brain that handle higher-order functions work less well," says Dr. Ressler. Stress can cause sleep difficulties, and the lack of sleep can make the stress worse. Avoiding caffeine in the evening and creating a comfortable and relaxing sleep environment can help you sleep better.
You can try our restful sleep guided introduction.
Be organized
Create a to-do list of tasks you need to complete. Therefore, your tasks will not seem overwhelming. To-do list also gives you more clarity when you finish certain tasks. "Laying tasks out like this helps reduce the feeling that the brain is being bombarded," Dr. Ressler says. This method can also help you predict when you are likely to be stressed so that you can strategize to balance things out beforehand.
Ask for help
There is no shame in looking for help to train you to be more resilient and manage your stress better, which may ultimately protect your mental and physical wellbeing.
Reprogram your belief system on stress
"A life without stress is not only impossible but also would likely be pretty uninteresting. In fact, a certain degree of stress is helpful for growth," says Dr. Ressler. Therefore, rather than striving for no stress, strive for mastery in responding to stress!
Meditate
Sara Lazar, a neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, found that meditation practice can literally change parts of your brain that deal with stress and thus automatically help you become less stressed out.
The ability to be confronted by your stressors without letting the triggers get to you is one of the strongest skills one can have to navigate life powerfully. You can always choose de-stress, not distress, yourself! Enjoy the meditation!
For quick relief you can try our guided meditation below.
If you are still experiencing stress, kindly contact our practitioners for tailored solution & start your journey to realize your wellness within.