Evangeline, These are all wonderful ideas. I particularly appreciate your tip about reading magazine articles that are light and funny. I can see how these would work well.
Dr. Melissa Read
healthy coping mechanisms for me mean excercise for my body and my mind. Practicing positive self talk is not always easy to do but when I get into a habit of it, I benefit from it greatly.
I find that journaling what is stressing me helps. I also try to find magazine articles that are light hearted and funny. At work I try to practice the deep breathing exercises and go outside to enjoy the morning sun.Vangie
Kim, Excellent to hear! It sounds like you are already moving along a great path and also have solid plans for the future. That's the best kind of direction.
Dr. Melissa Read
Syed, So true. It's important to have good outlets for dealing with stressful situations. Walks and movies are two great ones.
Dr. Melissa Read
Coping methods I use to routinely include, going for a walk (especially with my son in the stroller -- LOVES it and good bonding time, which is limited for us), taking a few minutes to play in the floor with my son,sitting back and taking a breather and doing some deep breathing exercises, or call my sister to vent. I lead a rather stressful life, most of which I cannot eliminate, but have learned throughout this course/unit I need to re-evaluate to see if I could reduce some of the stressors within my life. My common challenge is fatigue as a result of stress because I cannot turn off my head at night when I lay down to go to sleep. I have found 2 tactics really help with this scenario: 1. update my to-do list (puts closure to my day and plans for the next) and 2. then sitting down to read a pleasure book for a few minutes to relax my mind. So far this nightly process, although it takes about 30 minutes, helps me unwind from the day and prepare myself to go to sleep. While I am actually giving up "sleep time", I am sleeping better so it is quality over quantity in this example.
you have to take it easy when dealing with stress, go for a walk, or go to a movie
I have recently started working out 3 times a week and take yoga. Both of these help dramatically. I will start making to do lists and managing my time better. I tend to wait too long to complete tasks and then stress my self out.
Michelle, Interesting. Both of your approaches show us that sometimes our effectiveness in managing stress is all about the way we perceive it and coping mechanisms in the first place.
Dr. Melissa Read
Eloise, Sounds like a good plan. Taking a little extra time for you can make a substantial difference on your productivity and on how you feel.
Dr. Melissa Read
I will allow more time for myself for meditation, exercise, etc.
I run and stretch already. I can add stretching during the day.
Denise, It sounds like you have identified and successfully used a variety of positive coping mechanisms and outlets to deal with stress. That's wonderful to hear. It's great to have multiple outlets to fall back on. This way, if one fails you have many others!
Dr. Melissa Read
Sharon, It sounds like you have a good handle on both what you are doing right and what needs to improve in your life. That's a great place to start. A lot of instructors take many years to come to these conclusions. You don't have to be perfect, but you might consider just slowly reducing those coping mechanisms that you know are unhealthy and slowing increasing ones that you feel good about.
Dr. Melissa Read
Lacey, Excellent to hear. Running is a great way to relieve stress. It's hard to get started with this kind of exercise routine, but once you get into it it's hard to stop!
Dr. Melissa Read
Rather than use exercise as a means of losing weight I'll look at it as more of a stress reducer. I'll set more time aside to discuss stress at work with my husband rather than thinking he's not interested!
I have A LOT of stress in my life and have used some not so healthy coping mechanisms: caffeine, staying up late, cramming, grinding teeth etc. Deep down, you know these things are bad but they are not just bad for you, they actually make more stress for you down the road so they are really not coping mechanisms at all. Recently my physician suggested I do strength training. I do yoga occasionally and it helps mentally but my physical body is being affected and I was surprisd to find out building muscle will also ease stress.
I love to run. It really relives my stress.
I like, don't love, to exercise and haven't done anything exercise-wise for many months. I also appreciate the benefits of meditation with focus on breathing and visualization of my happy place...Ocracoke, North Carolina. I am a physical therapist and of course know the huge benefits in stretching. I have two good friends who really are willing to listen/help me, but I don't like to burden them with what is going on in my life. So, it isn't that I don't know what to do. It is just taking that step forward to doing what I know that I should do and then doing it! This weekend, I will investigate the little work-out places in my neighborhood, and ask Susan to go for a walk with me.
Tanner, These are wonderful ways of coping with stress. Thanks for mentioning them. Laughing is particularly good and you can do it anywhere.
Dr. Melissa Read
