Effective Ways to Manage Stress | Counselling Therapy Cheshire ...

Living under a regime of constant, unremitting stress is acknowledged as being one of the most debilitating ways to live. Some stress can be good; it keeps us on our toes, vigilant and alert. However, ongoing stress is recognised as being a major factor in health problems, the most common reason for sick leave from work.

It is important to discover ways of supporting ourselves at stressful times, learn to recognise our personal stressors, acknowledge when our danger levels are being reached.

Here are some effective ways to manage stress:

- Learn to recognise your personal indicators for becoming over stressed. Do you begin to feel irritable, lose concentration, start sleeping erratically? We all have our individual signs that provide valuable information about our stress levels. Learning to recognise them can give us a prompt when life starts to become out of balance.

- Try to take breaks every hour or two. Split work into segments and even if you just go for a water cooler break try to schedule in an intermittent time away from your work station. It?s worth doing and you will soon notice how improved your energy levels, concentration and quality of work are upon your return.

- Some people find that simply parking their car up for 10 minutes and having a quiet period or listening to pleasant music helps them draw a mental line between business calls, after work or before returning home. It provides an interlude of a few minutes quiet ?me? time and an opportunity to become calm and free from the irritations of the day.

- Turn off your computer and mobile phone at certain times. Being constantly accessible can be a very stressful way to live. Many people are conditioned to immediately check a text message, email or answer their phone the second it rings. Become more circumspect about allowing yourself to be available 100% of the time. Give yourself some personal space and train others to respect your availability, unless there?s an emergency. Once you become used to this approach it can feel very liberating.

- Avoid relying on stimulants. Coffee, alcohol, cigarettes, sugar, recreational drugs are often used to provide a quick fix, a burst of energy, an instant break. But these are toxins and whilst they may be seen as support or a break they are actually quite harmful and succeed in stressing the body.

- Find healthy ways to relax. Take a walk, enjoy a leisurely bath, make your home a haven of comfort, commit time to read, watch a film, enjoy pleasant company; these are all effective, more natural ways to de-stress and relax.

- Hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis techniques are valuable ways to manage your stress levels, improve your perspective and retain positive control over yourself, your self-esteem and your outlook. Hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis are effective ways of dealing with negative fears and behaviour patterns. They help change unwanted patterns of reacting and talking to yourself into more valid and constructive ways of behaving.

Looking after yourself well improves every area of your life. Introducing good habits and finding effective ways to manage stress brings balance into your life; between work and play, your relationships improve and your quality of life becomes more satisfying and enjoyable as a consequence.

Susan Leigh is a long established counsellor and hypnotherapist who works with clients to help with relationship conflict, stress, assertiveness and confidence issues. She works with individual, clients, couples and in corporate situations.

Her book ?Dealing with Death ? Coping with the pain? is a self help book dealing with loss, grief and endings in many different life situations. The loss of a loved person, animal, relationship, career is a devastating blow that this book helps the reader work through.

To order a copy or for more information, help and free articles visit http://www.lifestyletherapy.net

Source: http://www.lifestyletherapy.net/effective-ways-to-manage-stress/

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