positive coping
Below are some tips about what many have found to be at least temporarily useful coping skills for living with stress and anxiety. They are not foolproof. If you are feeling very distressed and your life is suffering, there is no substitute to talking with a professional.
- Be flexible. Know what you can change and what you can't, go with the flow, be open to changes.
- Laugh more. Watch a funny movie, tell a joke, read the comics.
- Breathe slowly, deeply, and well. Relaxation begins with slow, deep breathing from your diaphragm.
- Learn to say "no". It's hard to say no sometimes, but recognize you can't do everything, pace yourself.
- Go ahead and make mistakes. No one's perfect. The only way we really learn is from our mistakes. Accept them as the natural process of growing in wisdom.
- Play... with a lover, a friend, a child, a pet. Having fun is the natural way of lowering the body's stress hormones. Stress tenses, play loosens.
- Get active. Exercise brings out the body's endorphins, natural pain-killers and pleasure-producing substances produced inside every one of us.
- Eat well and avoid stimulants. A healthy diet makes the body strong and increases a sense of well-being. Watch those double-lattes. Caffeine and nicotine put more stress on our musculature and nervous system.
- Talk to others. Sharing life's difficulties and problems with another person, whether a co-worker, friend, spouse, lover, or counselor, allows one to shed the weight of burdens shouldered alone.
- Face your difficulties. Problems have a tendency to mount quickly, until there can seem so many as to be overwhelming. Tackle them one at a time. Set achievable goals. Your day will seem appreciably lighter after even one dreaded task is tackled.
Plus. . . - Allow yourself to mourn. Changes, even good changes, can bring a sense of loss for how things used to be. You have the right to grieve this loss. In fact, everyone needs that time. . . to adjust, to reminisce, to care, to process.
Information from http://www.drjeffkaye.com/stress.htm