All individuals will be exposed to emotional stress at many points in their lives. High levels of emotional stress can be brought on by many events in life including the loss of a loved one, marital divorce and relationship conflicts. Fortunately, successfully dealing with emotional stress is possible by adopting the following suggestions. As can be observed, these suggestions revolve around physical and mental relaxation.
Take a Step Back
Being in the thick of a stressful situation can distort your perspective of its impact on your life. Take a step back so that you can see the stressful situation from an objective point of view – or at the very least, you will see the players and the situation from a different point of view. Either way, you will realize that your present perspective may not be suitable for the circumstances.
Your ability to find the solutions to whatever may be causing your emotional stress is then strengthened. For example, relationship conflicts may not be your fault but the fault of others outside of the relationship. You can then agree with your partner to listen to each other first before allowing others to meddle in your relationship.
Take a Breather
Successfully dealing with emotional stress also means getting away from the stressors that caused it in the first place. This does not mean running away from the stressful situation since nothing can be solved by running away from your problems. Instead, it is best to take a breather, to distract yourself and to just relax.
Taking a breather while also facing your problems can be achieved in so many ways of which the most effective are as follows:
• Meditate – We are not only talking of meditation as Eastern philosophy sees it. Meditation is also about doing repetitive actions that put your mind and body into a relaxed state, even a trance. For example, knitting, painting, gardening and swimming can be considered meditation.
• Talk to someone – sometimes just having someone to share a problem with, or to listen to you can be a relief. They may be able to provide perspective where you cannot because you are too close to the issue at hand.
• Creative Visualization – Positive thoughts influence positive actions, a principal cornerstone of effectively dealing with emotional stress. Sit back on a comfortable chair, close your eyes and breathe deeply for a few minutes until your mind and body are in a calm state. Then, picture yourself in a relaxing place lie a beach or a garden so much so that you can actually smell the seawater or the flowers.
• Enjoy the Moment – Life is too short to be worrying about transient things like emotional stress. Yes, you may have felt bad yesterday but today is another day to be happy. Be mindful of your surroundings and be happy with the little things like the colors of flowers, the song of birds and the warm feelings of sunshine on your skin. The little things add up to a positive outlook in life.
• Find Happiness – Find the things that make you happy and enjoy them. You will soon find that dealing with emotional stress is easier when you have a foundation of happy things to push your onward to a great conclusion to your problems. If massage is your source of happiness, then pamper yourself.
• Exercise – staying fit can help to physically release some of the stress you may be srtoring in your body, as well as releasing endorphins which naturally increase your happiness.
• Most important of all, take the time to love yourself. You have so many things to love about who you are, from a beautiful physical asset to a beautiful soul. In the end, your success in dealing with emotional stress will largely rest on your shoulders with plenty of help from family and friends.