National Stress Awareness Day 2019
Andrea Ng, Digital Marketing Intern
I remember going to the dentist at 13 and finding out that I was grinding my teeth in my sleep, something I needed to stop because it was bad for my oral health. “But how do I stop it?” I asked the dentist. “Don’t stress!” was his ingenious answer. Great, I remember thinking, but how?
Stress is something that everyone experiences — even if the origins of stress are different, even if some of us are more prone to stress than others, we all deal with it. It almost is one of those words that you throw around without much thought, which can lead to us thinking it isn’t important — “Oh, it’s just stress.” The truth is, without proper management, stress can cause huge issues both mentally and physically. So in honour of National Stress Awareness Week, I thought I’d write about how I manage my stress!
For those who don’t know me, I’m a LLB student at King’s College London and an intern here at Uptree. I’m also an international student, so most of my family is in Hong Kong or Malaysia. I also want to admit first off that I am no stranger to stress. Stress has been lurking around the corners of my life for years now and it’s only been quite recently that I’ve learned how to manage my stress.
- Don’t bottle it up.
When you’re under stress, it can be so easy to ignore it or suppress your feelings. Although this seems like the easier option, don’t do it!! Even if it works to keep the stress at bay for today, this week, or even this month, it will come out at some point or another. Instead of bottling it up, talk to someone! It can be a friend, a family member, or even a stranger. To let go, you need to release, and that can be in the form of journaling, speaking, ranting… whatever works!
2. Accept the things you can’t change, but make a plan for the things you can!
A lot of stress comes from things that you can’t change or circumstances you can’t fix. So instead of worrying endlessly or letting that stress pile up, just tell yourself “I can’t change this, and it is what it is.” But whatever you can change, you should! Start with a to-do list or an action plan — baby steps. If you want to change your eating habits, make small attainable goals and start from there.
3. Take a breather when you need it.
Sometimes you can just feel suffocated or overwhelmed. In that case, you can’t really make a plan or start mapping out what you want to improve on. If you feel like you are (or if you are) at your breaking point, then just stop what you are doing. Hit pause on life for a second, and just take a breather. If you need to physically remove yourself from a stressful situation, do it. If it is mental, then take a brain break! Give yourself a set amount of time to do something else and relax. Take a bath, watch a movie, read a book, paint. Then come back refreshed!
4. Think big picture!
Sometimes stress can create an “Alice in Wonderland” type situation where it can feel like we’re falling down the rabbit hole and there is no escape. Take a second and step outside the situation which is causing you stress. Remember that it isn’t life or death! Your life, your worth, and your identity is more than just this one task or one test or one project at work. On the grand scheme of things, with your entire life as your perspective, this isn’t going to break you. This relaxes me enough to attack the task again, rejuvenated!
5. Exercise, meditate, sleep earlier, and eat healthy!
There are little things that do help us manage our stress like making sure we’re sleeping enough, exercising, meditating, and eating healthier. Our actions and behaviour affects our body which affects how we cope with stress. Think of it like arming yourself for battle — you wouldn’t walk onto a battlefield with zero armour, would you? No! So think of these things as weapons or tools or armuor that will give you that much more protection as you continue on in your fight to manage stress.
These are some of the things that help me, but find out what works for you! Stress is something that you’ll have to deal with for the rest of your life, so why not start figuring out what works for you now?
