By SHANNON SKAE, health and life coach at Revive with Shan
We all struggle with that daily dose of anxiety, especially with the year coming to an end. This can make us feel overwhelmed and can cause us to use unhealthy coping mechanisms. For example, some people use substances such as alcohol, oversleep, have social withdrawal, binge-watch movies or series, overspend, and over or under-eat.
It is therefore vital that we have a stress management tool in our toolbox that we can bring out when we are feeling overwhelmed.
Before we engage with the toolkit, it is also important to write down:
- What triggers your unhealthy coping strategies
- What your fears are that trigger your anxiety
- What you are trying so hard to control
Your stress/anxiety relief toolkit involves:
54321 techniques:
- Take a look around the room and name 5 things you can see
- Name 4 things you can feel
- Name 3 things you can hear
- Name 2 things you can smell
- Name 1 thing you can taste
Ice diving:
- If you are feeling very overwhelmed, submerging yourself in ice water can shock your system into slowing your heart rate down and calming you down
- Use ice cubes on your skin
- Or jump in a cold shower
- Put your head under a cold tap
Boundaries:
- Put boundaries in place with other people
- Cut out toxic people
- Don’t be afraid to say no
Journaling:
- Buy yourself a book that you can jot down any worries
- Spend 5 minutes writing down everything that is worrying you
Exercise:
- Do 10 – 30 minutes of movement per day
- Do yoga or stretching exercises
- Go outdoors and focus on something that allows you to be active, but that you enjoy doing
Whatever you do, create a toolkit that can help you map out some healthy coping strategies so you turn to them rather than unhealthy ones when you feel stressed or anxious.
