4 Easy Stress Control Tips.

Short term stress can be easily controlled by these four tips.

Start by counting to 10.

When kids are angry, mothers often tell them to do this. It works very well. Whenever you are stressed or feel the early signs of stress developing, count slowly from one to ten. It does not matter if you say it quietly or aloud.

This is all you need for simple stress or if you recognise it early. Someone a few years age burst into my consulting room, angry, stressed and about to have a heated argument with me. I told him to go back out, slowly count to ten, then come back in and perhaps we can have a meaningful conversation. Surprisingly it worked a treat. Some people prefer to count down from ten to zero. This way it feels as if you are scaling down stress and at zero, it is gone.

Take a deep breath.

It is best to breathe in through your nostril. Breathe in slowly and deeply. Fill your lungs completely and if you can, hold it to the count of four. You then slowly breathe out through your mouth.

Repeat a few times and as your breathing becomes slower, you feel yourself becoming more and more relaxed. Like counting, this is a quick and easy way to reduce your stress level. In addition, if as you breathe in and hold your breath, you visualise all the stress in your body slowly diffusing into your lungs and as you exhale, you are slowly expelling the stress for a calmer and more relaxed you, you will notice the difference.

Get up and walk about.

This is a good way to gain stress relief quickly. If what you are doing is becoming very stressful, get up and walk away from it. I do not mean walk away from it for good. It gives your mind a break. It gives it time to calm down and come to grips with the situation. You may want to do something else during this break. This takes the stressful problem away from the forefront of your mind and allow your Subconscious Mind to find solution options. The eponymous Morgan Stanley, when he could not find a solution to a problem, would stop what he was doing and play solitaire. After a while several ideas came forwards in his mind.

If you can take a long break, go to the park. Being close to nature is relaxing. Experts say your brain synchronises with the earth’s frequency. Your brainwave slows down to a level that produces peace and tranquillity. If at home, do some house chores. Clean the house. Either get the duster or vacuum cleaner out. This helps to put the problem completely out your mind and when you return to your task, your approach will be different.

Talk to someone or write a journal.

This is a good stress buster. Talking to someone is in a way sharing your problem. You may get good tips especially if that someone has experience in your field. It opens your mind to a wider approach to your problem. It may make you aware that you are not alone. You have shared your problem and will not feel isolated.

The best stress buster often is a simple idea. An idea that is the basis for a solution to your problem. Once you have this breakthrough, you feel motivated and impelled. You are energised and focussed. Bad stress becomes the good stress that produces great results.

Writing a journal is also a good stress buster. It highlights the specific items that stresses you. Putting it down on paper transfers it into words that you can either keep or discard. This is an outlet for stress. So if you are alone, or there is no one to talk to when things are going wrong, put it in your journal. Ink on paper is the next best thing.