Coping With Stress: Mindfulness, Therapy, Exercise, And More

Stress impacts individuals differently—some people struggle in the face of any type of stress and need to ensure they are constantly relaxed and ready to take on the day without opposition, while others will thrive under some stress and use it as a motivational tool to help them get through the tasks that they have to do.

There is a difference between chronic stress and a manageable amount of stress. People will often blur these lines and take on too much on a regular basis, increasing the production of stress hormones. When too much stress is present within our lives, it will eventually begin negatively impacting both our mental and our physical state.

In this article, we’ll look at some helpful resources that can make it easier to cope with stress. While there are many tools or methods to manage stress, some of the best support you can get is from a mental health professional.

When there is too much stress weighing us down, it is important to determine what the main causes may be. We can then take appropriate action to readjust our course and figure out how we can better cope with stress levels when it comes to things that we may be unable to change.

How to treat stress: What options do I have?

 Here are some things you can try to manage the stress in your life.

Go to therapy for stress

An important note is that you do not have to go through your journey alone. Incorporating a professional therapist in your stress management journey can help your progress and improve your overall mental health. When people work with a therapist, they may often find new strategies and relaxation techniques to employ as they cope with stress on a daily basis. Today, therapy is more available than ever and studies have shown that Internet-based stress management interventions—such as an online therapy—are just as effective as their traditional in-person counterparts. 

With services like BetterHelp, you can remove some of the stressful barriers to mental health support; you can meet with a qualified and licensed therapist from the comfort of your home on a flexible schedule that matches your lifestyle. You can also message your therapist at any time to discuss stressors as they arise, which may help you identify and address them.

Exercise

Exercise is often a remedy for quite a few mental or physical health issues. The best part about this option is that it is often free and easy to follow through on (which can be great for those who may be experiencing financial stress). Exercise can also be a significant part of a physical rehabilitation program, for example: you’ve been injured in a car accident and are also feeling mental trauma from it.

If you are experiencing trauma, support is available. Please see our Get Help Now page for more resources.

Research shows that exercise helps to relieve stress by reducing harmful stress-related hormones in the body and amplifying helpful body responses, like the release of endorphins, which boost feelings of happiness. This solution may also relieve stress by improving your quality of sleep and increasing your confidence over time as you become healthier. Often, exercise makes it easier to fall asleep at night, and it can reduce chronic stress when done regularly. Not to mention, it typically has amazing benefits for physical health as well.

All kinds of exercises can be beneficial, but it is important that you exercise regularly to reap the mental and physical health benefits. For example, even if you struggle with a serious illness, just walking at a decent pace for 30 to 45 minutes each day—if you are capable of it—is often enough to maximize the benefits that come with exercise. If you do not feel you can get to that many minutes in a day, consider starting small with just a few and building up. However, if you are someone who naturally enjoys working out, you can choose to go dancing, engage in some yoga or a HIIT workout, weightlift, or even go rock climbing. All of these are very healthy ways to manage stress and exercising regularly can also prevent other chronic health issues, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Try using aromatherapy to ease stress

While this may not be a solution for everyone, some people have stated that they have truly benefited from various forms of aromatherapy by using it as a way to promote relaxation and decrease stress in their nervous system.

Aromatherapy is the use of different scents to create this sense of calm and peace that comes from scent association rather than through engaging in different actions to reduce stress. For example, you may have a relative who is known for baking a certain dessert whenever you go to visit them; those scents may produce a calming, nostalgic feeling if you catch a whiff of it outside of that given situation.

That doesn't mean that you have to use that specific scent, however. There are many scents out there that are thought to promote feelings of relaxation in the nervous system, including lavender, rose, chamomile, and orange blossom. When it comes to aromatherapy, there are several methods that you can use, including burning incense, using an oil diffuser to spray the scent throughout the immediate area, and using lotions or massage oils on your person so that you can smell it wherever you are, or lighting candles.

Start writing in a journal

Journaling is an introspective practice that allows us to get our thoughts out onto paper so that we can better process our emotions and gain a different perspective on our situation. Journaling also gives us the ability to put our emotions somewhere safe and the opportunity to engage in a wide variety of creative exercises that we wouldn't normally have. Overall, the practice of journaling is one where we can meet multiple needs at the same time. It can be a healthy way to deal with stress and handle the fight-or-flight response, especially when paired with deep breathing.

You might consider starting a stress journal. Writing about what makes you feel stressed on a daily basis can give you a better idea of what areas of your life may need to be addressed. You could also use journaling as a tool to battle stress by creating a list of things that you are grateful for or reminders that help you calm down in times of crisis. If you are someone who is more interested in the organization of your life, you can use your journal to better schedule your day and eliminate extra stress.

Spend more time with friends and family

Humans are social creatures, and our hectic lifestyles can often prevent us from truly engaging with other people beyond the surface level. Although we may be surrounded by people throughout the day, we may never be truly connected with them—which may be due in part to a hectic lifestyle that is leading to excessive stress.

It is important that you receive the benefits of spending more time with high-quality relationships such as close friends and family as this is a great way to battle stress and improve your quality of life. Friends and family provide you with a social support system that will allow you to unload your stress without judgment, and they also give you the ability to break away from the stress you are feeling and give you more positivity and happiness. Spending some lighthearted time with those you love and taking a break from the situation at hand can help you reduce stress.

Mindfulness and relaxation exercises for stress

A stressed mind is often anxious, and when we are anxious, we are usually thinking all over the place and working with the next task in mind or worrying about the next stressful event. When we are living in this way, it can be easy to leave the moment and feel as though we are always on the verge of a panic attack or are lacking overall peace. Next time you feel stressed, consider implementing mindfulness or relaxation exercises.

In response to this, mindfulness and relaxation exercises have grown wildly popular amongst the general population and multiple studies have shown that these exercises can greatly help with stress management and calm the body and mind. For example, relaxation techniques such as mindfulness meditation, deep breathing, or tai chi are all tools that stressed individuals can use to their advantage to calm themselves down, reduce symptoms of fight or flight response—such as increased heart rate and blood pressure—and ground themselves in the moment rather than constantly worrying about what is coming next.

As with physical exercises, it is extremely important to dedicate yourself to these kinds of exercises and to practice them on a regular basis in order to get the most out of the exercise that you choose to do.

Online therapy

Visit BetterHelp to connect with a licensed counselor who can help you better deal with your stress, all from the comfort of your own home—so that you can easily make time amidst the hustle and bustle of your daily life.