Taking Good Care of Ourselves During Stressing Times
There are moments in life that we feel drained, hopeless and overwhelmed. This can cause harmful stress to our selves. How can we cope?
Stressing times can be very challenging on our mental and physical well-being
How can we overcome difficult moments and stay centered and safe?
Here some useful tips in this direction:
• Don’t put any extra pressure on yourself to do any activities or have any discussions you don’t feel up to, that is absolutely fine.
• Talk to each other, support each other- partner, relatives, colleagues, mates
• Find easy strategies to support you (for example: stop…..clear your mind for a few
seconds….focus on your breath….carry on again what you are doing).
Also, make sure to:
• Take time out to get sufficient sleep, rest, relax and eat regularly and healthily
• Talk to people you trust and allow yourself to be comforted. You don’t have to tell
everyone everything, but not saying anything to anyone is often unhelpful
• Reduce outside demands and avoid taking on additional responsibilities
• Spend time in places where you feel safe and calm to go over what’s happened. Don’t
force yourself to do this if the feelings are too strong or intense at the time
• Try to reduce your access to the constant stream of news from media outlets and
social media. Try scheduling ‘digital power off’ times.
• Use relaxation strategies e.g. slow breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, yoga,
meditation, self-talk.
• Build in opportunities for recognising hope and positive strength
Important:
- Allow yourself experiences of sadness and grief
- Try to avoid bottling up feelings.
- Consider whether it would be helpful to talk to someone you trust
- Don't be embarassed by your thoughts and feeling, they are normal reactions to a stressful event or period of time
- Do not isolate yourself from those you trust
In stressful times or during a crisis, individuals, families, friends and communities come together and tend to act with kindness, courage and initiative.
For other ways of taking good care of ourselves during stressing times, please meet me in my next posts. I wait for you there!