Coping With Stress: Tools You Can Use To Manage Stress

My Coping Toolbox is a list of strategies that people use to cope with stress. These strategies are the tools in your toolbox to pull out when stressful situations occur, or when you need to cope with your physical symptoms. 

As different strategies work for different people, it is important to have different strategies in your toolbox to try out. 

Experiment to test out which strategy works for you. You may find that some strategies work in some circumstances but not in others. 

Experiment to find out what works best and when they do work.

Deep breathing slows down the heart rate and lowers blood
pressure. Your mind takes a break from worries when you focus
on your breathing.

“Box” breathing uses the count of 4 to guide your breathing. 

1. Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. Close your eyes if
   you wish
2.  Take a deep breath through your nose for a count of 4
3. Hold your breath for a count of 4
4. Breathe out through your mouth for a count of 4
5. Hold your breath for a count of 4
6. Repeat a few cycles of this breathing pattern

To help you focus, youcan use a word orphrase to guide you.For example, you maywant to breathe in"peace" and breatheout "tension". Schedule a fewminutes each day topractice “box”breathing. 

Our muscles can become tensed when we are stressed oranxious as our bodies prepare for potentially dangeroussituations. Even when some of these situations are not reallydangerous, our bodies can still respond in the same way.Sometimes, we don’t even notice our bodies getting tensed.

Muscle tension can be associated with physical sensations likechest tightness and tension headaches.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is one technique thatpeople have found helpful in releasing muscle tension. In this exercise, you will be focusing on one muscle group at atime, tensing up a particular muscle, holding for about 10seconds, and then totally letting go of the muscle until its looseand relaxed.

You can either lie down, or sit in a comfortable chair where your head is supported. Take three deep abdominal breaths, exhaling slowly each time, imagining the tension draining out of your body.

• Fists: Clench your fists. Hold for 10 seconds, before releasing and feeling the tension drain out of your body.
• Biceps: Tighten your biceps by drawing your forearms uptoward your shoulders and make a muscle with both arms. Hold, then relax.
• Triceps: Tighten your triceps (the muscles underneath your upper arms) by holding out your arms in front of you and locking your elbows. Hold, then relax.
• Forehead: Raising your eyebrows as high as you can. Hold, then relax
• Eyes: Squeeze your eyes tight shut. Hold, then relax.
• Jaws: Open your mouth as wide as you can so that you stretch the muscles around the hinges of your jaw. Hold, then relax.
• Neck: Tighten the muscles in the back of your neck by pullingyour head way back, as if you were going to touch your head to your back. Hold, then relax.
• Shoulders: Tighten your shoulders as if you are going totouch your ears. Hold, then relax.
• Shoulder blades/back: Tighten the muscles in your shoulde rblades by pushing your shoulder blades back, trying to almost touch them together. Hold, then relax.
• Chest: Tighten the muscles of your chest by taking in a deep breath, filling up your lungs and chest with air. Hold, then relax.
• Stomach: Tighten your stomach muscles by sucking your stomach in. Hold, then relax.
• Lower back: Tighten your lower back by arching it up (don’t do this if you have back pain). Hold, then relax.
• Buttocks: Squeeze your buttocks muscles together. Hold, then relax.
• Thighs: Squeeze the muscles in your thighs. Hold, then relax.
• Lower leg: Tighten your calf muscles by pulling your toes towards you. (Do this slowly and carefully to avoid cramps). Hold, then relax.
• Toes: Curl your toes downwards and push your feet to the ground. Hold, then relax.

Mentally scan your body for any left-over tension. If any muscle group remains tense, repeat the exercise for those muscle groups.

This is a place where you can visit in your imagination when you want to feel safe and secure.

Close your eyes and take a deep breath in, filling your stomach like a balloon. Then breathe out, letting your stomach balloon fall flat. Continue breathing in and out slowly in this manner.

With your eyes closed, imagine your ideal place to relax. You can think of a relaxing place you have been to before, or you can create and design your own relaxing place. Remember this is a special place, free of stress and harm, no worries.

Try and use all your 5 senses to experience this mini vacation in your mind.

For example:
Imagine yourself lying on a white sandy beach, with clear blue skies and gently lapping waves. You can smell the salty sea and feel the heat of the sun on your skin. Imagine your body sinking into the beach chair and feeling the warmth of the sand on your feet. Let go of any tension and continue to breathe with the rhythm of the rolling waves.

Stress often occurs when we face with problems that we think are hard to manage. We can learn to manage stress by managing the problems that we face. Use these 6 steps to help with problem solving

1.What is the problem? Define your problem.

2. What are your goals? Think about why is this a problem and what do you hope to happen if your problem is solved.

3. Brainstorm possible solutions to the problem. Make a list of all possible ways to solve the problem, both sensible and not so sensible.

4. Evaluate the solutions to the problem. Look at each solution and consider the good and bad of each solution.

5. Choose 1 solution and put into action.

6. Is the solution working? Remember you need time for the solution to work, and sometimes you will need to try more than one solution. Go back to step 1 if your solution didn’t work.

Sometimes we get unhelping thoughts in stressful situations. Examples of these thoughts are “I can’t do this”, “I’m no good at anything”. Thoughts like these are unhelpful and are often not true.

Saying coping statements to ourselves when these thoughts come up are more helpful during stressful situations.

Examples of coping statements:
1. I’ve done this before
2. I know I can do this
3. I just have to do my best It's ok to make mistakes
4. Take it step by step, don’t rush
5. I can handle it
6. I did all right. I’m ok!

Here is a list of other strategies that you can try when feeling stressed or when having to cope with your physical symptom.

1. Listen to music
2. Go for a walk
3. Stretch
4. Play with a pet
5. Take a bath/shower
6. Talk to a friend
7. Exercise
8. Dance
9. Go for a jog
10. Play a sport
11. Write in a journal
12. Do something creative – an art project, poem, write a rap
13. Read
14. Take photographs
15. Watch a movie
16. Play a board game
17. Singing
18. Creating a video

Ref: F26