Stress refers to your body’s response to challenges that it may face. Stressors can include anything from work, to family life, to relationships, to major life events or changes. Stress can be physical, mental or emotional.

Let’s face it, we ALL have stress in our lives on a daily basis, there is no escaping it. However, the way we perceive and respond to our stressors varies from individual to individual There are many factors that contribute to how we respond to daily stressors:

1. Genetics – think about your family members – are they stress-resistant or stress-prone?

2. History/Environment – have you had practice handling stress throughout your life? Or did you grow up with less exposure to stress and feeling more overwhelmed by it as an adult?

3. Current stress load – is your current stress load pretty normal/average? Or do you have too much or too little stress in your life?

4. Current environment/surroundings – do you spend a lot of time outside and in nature, do you spend time with loved ones? Or are you spending most of your time cooped up inside, spending limited time with loved ones?

5. Support network – Do you have a strong and supporting tribe of people around you? Is your support network weak?

6. Coping ability – are you able to calm yourself easily when feeling overwhelmed? Or do you get easily overwhelmed by emotions?

7. Attitude – are you a “go with the flow” optimistic type of person? Or are you a pessimist who sees the worst in every situation?

What was it like for you to answer those questions? Were you surprised by any of your answers? Regardless of how you answered all of the above, the good news is that all those areas can be changed to help you better manage and respond to stress.

Now that you know which areas you tend to struggle with the most, you can prioritize where changes need to be made.

Let me start you off with some basics:

    • Practice calming activities like meditation and light movement (yoga, walking)

    • Organize your work and living space to be clutter-free

    • Plan your schedule using a daily or weekly planner 

    • Prioritize your tasks and focus on one thing at a time 

    • Delegate tasks whenever possible when overwhelmed

If you feel like this is an area of major struggle for you and you’d like to learn better ways to cope with and manage your stressors, you can contact me to set up an initial consultation