Woman listening to music during coronavirus quarantine on a couch
Stress affects everyone and is all around you. It can be triggered by work, home, health issues, or financial concerns. Other contributors to stress are your environment, genetics, personality, and coping skills. Even if you try to pretend it’s not there, attempt to distract yourself or try to escape from it, stress will still be there. If your coping methods with stress or anxiety are hurting you, you should know you can change how you cope with stress.
Ways to Escape From Stress
Stress is ever-present, so finding ways to decrease or stop harmful influences on your life is essential to your mind and body’s well-being. Before you can begin the process of reducing stress, ask yourself this question: What are your goals when you seek to get away from your source of stress?
Sometimes reducing stress is as simple as physically removing yourself from people or situations that are anxiety-inducing. However, there are times when you need to cut the source of the stress out of your life through therapeutic activities and practices. You can change how you cope with stress by using the following four coping skills:
#1. Get Moving
Increase your physical activity level. According to Harvard Health Publishing’s article “Exercising to Relax,” exercise can reduce how you perceive your stress. Exercising is beneficial to your mental and physical well-being. Not only can being physically active help your heart, lungs, and other organs, but it can also distract you from your stress. When you’re active, you focus on what is going on and learn to listen to your body. You’re in the moment.
#2. Practice Self-Care
When you include a form of self-care in your daily routine, you permit yourself to take care of yourself. For example, set a block of time in your calendar to meditate, practice yoga, listen to music, or be creative. What you choose as a part of your self-care routine should be something you enjoy. Don’t feel obligated to spend a vast amount of time on self-care activities. Whether you spend five minutes or 60 minutes, focus on what brings you inner peace.
#3. Create Boundaries
While you can control some things, you can learn to understand you can’t control everything. Since you can control yourself, learn to set boundaries and say “no.” Be realistic in what you can handle or how much time you have. It’s okay to tell someone you can’t do something. Boundaries are there to protect your physical and mental health.
#4. Avoid Procrastination
Procrastinating can harm your mental health. Why? Because when you procrastinate, you aren’t as productive and end up trying to catch up. A way to help you decrease procrastination is to make a to-do list or keep a schedule of events. Then, you can get a head start when you can see what is coming up.
Escaping from stress is, at times, helpful, but learning how to cope with stress is invaluable. Often, stress comes from external sources like work, family, health, or financial issues. Yet, there are times when stress originates from past trauma. At The Guest House, we provide premier-quality treatment tailored to your unique needs. Our location is near the quiet city of Ocala, Florida ensures your privacy. We strive to help you heal and find hope throughout your time with us. We welcome your questions. Call The Guest House today at (855) 483-7800.