Dec 4 Weekly Challenge: Stress Less
themedalist
Posts: 3,218 Member
Theme: Healthy Practices
Challenge: Stress Less
Do you feel you manage your stress pretty well or does stress manage you?
This week, let’s work on reducing our stress. Having a set of stress-busting tools we can reach for when needed is one of healthiest habits we can establish. It’s just as important as a healthy diet or regular exercise. If left unchecked, chronic stress can affect our brains, heart, stomach, pancreas, bones, skin, and reproductive systems. Chronic stress can cause a multitude of health problems, but we can also do something about it. Stress in our lives is inevitable, but its damaging impacts are not.
You may already have a decent set of tools in your stress reduction toolbox. If so, that’s great! I think I manage my stress pretty well by taking frequent short walking breaks throughout the day. Even a two minute walk makes a difference.
But if you know you aren’t managing the stress in your life, if it feels all consuming and debilitating and you don’t even know where to start, I hope this week is a turning point for you. Please take a look at the suggested resources. More than just a bulleted list of ways to cope with stress, these resources will give you a framework for thinking about your stressors and then taking steps to reduce them.
One of the perspectives I’ve gained this week is the difference between worrying about something and caring about it. “Worrying is an attempt to exert control over the future by thinking about it,” whereas caring is taking action.“ When we are caring for someone or something, we do the things that support or advance the best interests of the person or thing that we care about.” Worrying is not taking action. Worrying creates stress. Caring about someone or something puts the focus on the concrete actions you can take and it’s these actions that will reduce your stress.
This Week’s Challenge:
If your stress is generally under control, please tell us how you manage it. What do you do? And why not test drive a few new stress reducers this week and just see how it goes? It never hurts to add a few more tools to your toolbox.
But if stress is overwhelming you or you don’t think you’re managing your stressors well, take a look at the resources below and then identify a few ways to reduce your stress. It takes practice and patience, but you can manage your stress and keep it from damaging your health.
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Suggested Resources:
Using Self-Help Techniques for Dealing with Stress
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-management.htm
10 Practical Ways to Handle Stress
https://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/07/11/10-practical-ways-to-handle-stress/
The quotation about worrying is from Chad Lejeune’s book, The Worry Trap: How to Free Yourself from Worry and Anxiety Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
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Challenge: Stress Less
Do you feel you manage your stress pretty well or does stress manage you?
This week, let’s work on reducing our stress. Having a set of stress-busting tools we can reach for when needed is one of healthiest habits we can establish. It’s just as important as a healthy diet or regular exercise. If left unchecked, chronic stress can affect our brains, heart, stomach, pancreas, bones, skin, and reproductive systems. Chronic stress can cause a multitude of health problems, but we can also do something about it. Stress in our lives is inevitable, but its damaging impacts are not.
You may already have a decent set of tools in your stress reduction toolbox. If so, that’s great! I think I manage my stress pretty well by taking frequent short walking breaks throughout the day. Even a two minute walk makes a difference.
But if you know you aren’t managing the stress in your life, if it feels all consuming and debilitating and you don’t even know where to start, I hope this week is a turning point for you. Please take a look at the suggested resources. More than just a bulleted list of ways to cope with stress, these resources will give you a framework for thinking about your stressors and then taking steps to reduce them.
One of the perspectives I’ve gained this week is the difference between worrying about something and caring about it. “Worrying is an attempt to exert control over the future by thinking about it,” whereas caring is taking action.“ When we are caring for someone or something, we do the things that support or advance the best interests of the person or thing that we care about.” Worrying is not taking action. Worrying creates stress. Caring about someone or something puts the focus on the concrete actions you can take and it’s these actions that will reduce your stress.
This Week’s Challenge:
If your stress is generally under control, please tell us how you manage it. What do you do? And why not test drive a few new stress reducers this week and just see how it goes? It never hurts to add a few more tools to your toolbox.
But if stress is overwhelming you or you don’t think you’re managing your stressors well, take a look at the resources below and then identify a few ways to reduce your stress. It takes practice and patience, but you can manage your stress and keep it from damaging your health.
...............................................................................................
Suggested Resources:
Using Self-Help Techniques for Dealing with Stress
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-management.htm
10 Practical Ways to Handle Stress
https://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/07/11/10-practical-ways-to-handle-stress/
The quotation about worrying is from Chad Lejeune’s book, The Worry Trap: How to Free Yourself from Worry and Anxiety Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
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Replies
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definitely one of the big factors that influence my periods of over eating is stress this is a good one for me to work on5
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Great post. This is a tough topic for me. I have anxieties, am a realist and over thinker. I have managed to control most of my symptoms going to therapy, which helped me understand myself and embrace change where I need to change. Exercise is key to keep my anxiety in check. When I don't exercise my mind goes wild.
Thanks to a friend I started minimalism and mindfulness to provide a calmer way of decision making on a day to day basis. Mindful eating, shopping, sleeping, talking, etc. It is a lot of work but the benefits are humongous. I have tried meditation and yoga but those do not work for me at all. I love Heavy Metal music and it does calm me down when I am really angry.
When you are a realist positive thinking really does not help. I can only see the positive in the Now but in the future it gets blurry, so I believe for me what really works if staying focused on what I can control, practice gratefulness and visualize a good outcome or good things to come.4 -
I really need this! Stress is my middle name.
I seem to let even the little things stress me out. I feel anxious and angry all the time...which leads to stress. I know it's bad for both my mental and physical health, but there are times I just really "come undone".
I have been listening to calming music and taking deep breaths whenever I remember. I keep saying I am going to start yoga, but that never happens. I am too lazy in the morning and too tired when I get home from work.
I love that you shared these suggestions for us to look in to. I am definitely going to give some of them a try. I do walk twice a day, and although it helps at the time.....I have to return to my job at a desk, sitting until the next "break". Oh well, it is what it is. I NEED to get a better attitude towards life in general. Thank you for always sharing a wonderful topic.
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I really liked the difference between worrying and caring. That makes an excellent point.2
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I cause my own stress by procrastinating until I feel pressured to get things done. Making a list and prioritizing really does help me focus on the things I need to do. At the end of the day I can go back and see all of the things I actually accomplished and no longer have to think about. I need to be better about committing to finish what I started. Its 9:30 and there are about 5 more things on my list yet simply because I chose to watch Netflix instead of getting out my computer and finishing up a few things. So I guess I’ll do that now. Maybe prioritizing isn’t my best skill either. Oh my...so many things to work on!!!5
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Since stress is our focus this week, I wanted to include a different perspective. The view that stress is inherently bad for our health and should be avoided isn’t universally held. Stanford researcher Kelly McGonigal and others believe that stress is only harmful if we believe that it will harm our health. It’s our beliefs about stress that determine if it negatively impacts our bodies.
I skimmed her book this week, The Upside of Stress, and I think there’s a lot of merit to her perspective. She isn’t advocating that we purposefully seek out more stress in our lives, but rather view stress differently. Stress can be a catalyst that opens new doors for us and allows us to grow in exciting new ways.
Here’s her Ted talk on how to make stress your friend:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RcGyVTAoXEU
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I love that!
I've been thinking about this week's topic a lot. Thank-you.
For myself, I find acts of creativity and of caring really help keep me on an even keel. The clincher is when I feel more stress and anxiety I stop these activities. Sounds kind of oxymoronish doesn't it?
So several years ago my DH was injured at work. It took 2 years for him to recover and get back to work. When I'd had enough I would just say "I'm going to my studio". I was very productive during that time period.
Everytime I went in there to 'angry quilt' it was really amazing. Within 10 minutes I was so much more calm and was then putting love into what I was doing. After he recovered my productivity did go down. 
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Ten years ago, I had a very common fear that stressed me out just thinking about it: public speaking. I avoided speaking up in class, at town meetings, even at an extended dinner table. I had no problem talking to people one-on-one, but all those eyes on me at once —-Yikes!
And then I was asked to give a talk to a women’s group on a subject I know something about and care deeply about. I wanted to decline the invitation, but I knew I couldn’t. The subject was too important to me. I prepared my PowerPoint as best I could and stammered and shook through my whole presentation. And you know what? My nerves didn’t sabotage my talk at all. I got lots of great questions and feedback.
And then I was asked to give another talk at a local library. And then another talk at a church and then the Lion’s Club. And I started giving these talks together with the woman who had invited me to speak to her women’s group. The more times I gave these talks the easier it became—you just can’t summon the same level of nerves. I often thought of Gilda Radner, who was petrified by stage fright yet always managed to always give a funny, touching performance.
In all, Julia and I gave over 120 public presentations across our state in 2007 including one before a packed theater of 500 people (yeah, that one was nerve-racking).
The experience of overcoming my fear of public speaking was really a turning point for me. It boosted my self-confidence and made me realize that I didn’t want to be limited by my own fears. I started seeking out other opportunities that I would have never pursued, had I not given that first talk. Quitting the Sitting is a direct descendent of those talks.
Stress can open doors for us that lead to new opportunities and exciting challenges. I now try to minimize the mundane stressors, without shutting out new possibilities.
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The more consistent I am getting daily exercise, the less stress gets to me.5
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@themedalist Hey, how's your recovery coming along? Let me know when you do try the brownies. One of the ways I found to make it easier to talk in front of groups of people was to simply pretend I could do it.
@mxchana I agree, that was a surprise to me after I'd been going to the gym for about 3 months. I found I felt happier as well.
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@themedalist , thanks for sharing your story of overcoming the fear of public speaking. As a communication teacher, I face this every semester, and I'm always happy when students make that leap to confidence to speak up. 3
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@themedalist Hey, how's your recovery coming along? Let me know when you do try the brownies. One of the ways I found to make it easier to talk in front of groups of people was to simply pretend I could do it.
@mxchana I agree, that was a surprise to me after I'd been going to the gym for about 3 months. I found I felt happier as well.
Thanks for asking, @bcTRAI. My recovery is moving along, a few setbacks here and there but just as with weight loss, healing from surgery isn’t linear. I am very happy to have both surgeries behind me. I had the same anesthesiologist for both surgeries and she remembered me from my July hip replacement. If your anesthesiologist remembers you, you’re spending too much time in the OR.
I’m looking forward to making the black bean brownies soon. Unfortunately, my food processor is tucked away in the back of the cabinet. I can’t get it myself without breaking the lifting and reaching restrictions I’m under right now. I keep forgetting to ask for help.
I also rely on exercise to keep my stress in check. We are meant to move!2 -
I love this post. Thank you all for sharing your experiences.
Some instances when I am very stressed out I feel I function better. The goal is to distress by finishing the task at hand and the end result gives me a high, cannot explain it. A sense of completion. Is when I have nothing to do, that my mind runs wild and my thoughts stress me out and this to me is the negative stress, the one that worries me, makes me overthink and eat more.2 -
@themedalist I actually use a blender like the type Orange Julius uses or the kind our parents used for milkshakes. You know... before food processors existed. I would think a food processor would work just as well I just dislike cleaning all the bits afterward if I don't need to. 1
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I began meditation first thing in the mornings about a month ago, it really does help set my mind for the day, exercise is extremely important to me, I love Leslie Sansone, and I try to go for a walk after work before dinner although not so nice in the dark on these winter nights, on the days I have not been able to do these things I find I do feel more stressy, thank you Denise and everyone, another eye opener!3
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This is a really hard one for me to even really explain. I have not dealt with stress well in the past. I think maybe I just had so much of it for so long that I didn't even know how. I had panic attacks for years after my first marriage fell apart and I was in a strange town alone with 3 kids. Rough years followed. But my New Year's resolution last January was that 2017 was going to be the year I take back my life. Get healthy, lose weight and get rid of the stress. I was not accomplishing any of them, and work was making my life so stressful that my husband and I were literally afraid I was going to get sick again...afraid the cancer would return.
So....I began reading a book called Simple Abundance. I began keeping a gratitude journal every single day. I have written in it almost every single night all year... I write 5 things I am grateful for each day. I began listening to podcasts and learning about minimalism ideals. I did the decluttering challenge on this group and started decluttering my mind also. I began stopping myself when my brain would obsess and telling myself "NO!" and replacing the thoughts with an image of my happy place (which for me is in a boat on a lake with loons around me fishing in the northwoods). It was hard to do that at first but I've gotten really good at it!!!
So, between, motivational reading, gratitude journaling, meditating, decluttering, listing things I needed to change or accept and then following through...I was finding some peace.
But the biggest thing I did recently is taking the big leap! Four weeks ago, I left the organization where I worked for 24 years, gave up vacation and tenure, and took a job at a different organization, leaving work stress behind. I have been happy...truly happy...now for 4 weeks! I feel no sense of urgency or impending doom. I am no longer obsessing about anything. I take each day as it comes and do the best I can. I work 8:00-4:30, and I do not bring my work home with me. No working on weekends to meet deadlines. No working on my work laptop finishing projects, putting in 65 hours a week and ignoring my family. Done. NO more.
I know this probably sounds really corny, but it's the truth. After over 25 years, I am finally not panicking anymore. I am sleeping soundly. I am living for the present moment and enjoying every bit of it.
Thanks for letting me share this with you all. I may not have lost weight in 2017....but I just realized that I kind of did take my life back! How cool is that?
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fatbambi2017 wrote: »I began meditation first thing in the mornings about a month ago, it really does help set my mind for the day, exercise is extremely important to me, I love Leslie Sansone, and I try to go for a walk after work before dinner although not so nice in the dark on these winter nights, on the days I have not been able to do these things I find I do feel more stressy, thank you Denise and everyone, another eye opener!
I think mediation is a great way to start the day. Start the day with a calm mind and body. And walking does wonders!1 -
Wow, @OConnell5483, 2017 has been quite the year for you! I’m so happy to hear that you’ve made progress on so many fronts this year and that you are happier and less stressed as a result. And your new job sounds like a great fit for your new life! Being free of panic attacks and finding peace and gratitude is wonderful!
I am also drawn to minimalism. The website, No Sidebar, has a free weekly newsletter. It’s very interesting.
And yes, you certainly have taken your life back!1 -
Good for you @OConnell5483 !!!1
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Thank you @themedalist and @prgirl39mfp ! I'm kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop because it seems too good to be true right now, but taking it one day at a time and not letting things rattle my cage.
I'm definitely going to check out No Sidebar website! I usually browse Pinterest for ideas, but a weekly newsletter sounds great!
I apologize if I've been writing a novel lately. I'm just really feeling the positive effects of a lot of hard work and I'm just so darn happy about it!3 -
@OConnell5483 , Oh my! That is so wonderful to hear! Your "novel" is so inspiring!2
This discussion has been closed.