Stress Management Tips and Tricks

Those of us in the over 40 and fitness group know that stress only increases as we age and take on more responsibility. Fortunately, we can learn how to manage our stress, reducing the impact stress has on our overall health. As we mature, our stress management skills can improve, resulting in a happier, healthier life.

The following are stress management techniques taught in DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) classes. DBT classes teach people how to use distraction, distress tolerance and mindfulness skills to deal with stress effectively.

Distraction Techniques
Feeling upset about something? Trying to move on, but can’t stop thinking about the issue that is upsetting you?

Distraction techniques help you take a break from the stressful topic, allowing you to cool down before you deal with that actual problem. In many cases, you will realize (after you engage in something distracting) that the issue at hand wasn’t even worth the stress!

Distract yourself from the source of stress by doing one of the following:
• Fantasize about a pleasurable experience
• Chew gum and focus on the taste and sensation
• Call a friend and talk about something completely off topic

Make a list of ways you could distract yourself from upsetting thoughts. Choose a couple techniques and commit to distracting yourself when stressed.

Radical Acceptance – An Effective Distress Tolerance Technique
We all experience distress from time to time. Maybe you are stuck in bad traffic, or have realized you are going to be late for a meeting and can’t make time for lunch. Perhaps you’ve just gotten a call from your teenager’s teacher, saying she is in danger of flunking a class.

Your stress level rises if you begin to believe the distressing situation or news is intolerable. The goal of radical acceptance is to make peace with distressing news or situations, lowering your experience of stress over the situation.

You can build up your distress tolerance by practicing radical acceptance of the unpleasant news or situation. For example, if you are stuck in traffic, you can take deep breaths and repeat the following mantra: “The world won’t end if I’m late,” “I did the best I could,” or “I can handle this.” Radical acceptance is acceptance of the situation, as it is. It’s a type of resignation, or making peace with the situation.

Another example is if you find yourself in a long meeting, bored and starving because you missed lunch. You can practice radical acceptance by embracing the feeling of hunger and realizing that while it is unpleasant, it isn’t intolerable. In fact, maybe it’s okay to feel hungry once in a while. These sorts of thoughts will lower your stress level and help you grow in patience.

Using Mindfulness to Manage Stress
Your body is equipped with powerful abilities to raise and lower your stress level. If you train yourself to pay attention to the messages your body is sending, you can learn how to actually reduce your stress level, on the spot, even in highly stressful situations. Many Emergency Response Technicians learn these techniques so they can remain calm while dealing with incredibly stressful situations.

Mindfulness requires you to be keenly aware of what is happening right now, in the present moment. For example, take the next three minutes to focus on your breathing. Set a timer, close your eyes, and breath deeply, focusing on how it feels to inhale, hold your breath, and then exhale. Pay attention to the pleasure of breathing; notice how deep breaths make you feel calmer, more serene, more relaxed.

Try other mindfulness exercises such as closing your eyes for three minutes and listening to the many sounds that you normally ignore. Look around you and make note of how the light plays on surfaces in the room, or how many different people’s voices you can hear. Listen to a song on the radio and tune into how the melody rises and falls, what the beat count is, how the background singers meld with the lead singer. The key is to focus keenly on one aspect of your present experience, allowing yourself to sink into the experience. The end result will be a calm, relaxed feeling.

Stress Relief and Your Health
It’s important to learn how to manage stress. Many of us have developed unhealthy ways to deal with stress, such as emotional eating or drinking too much alcohol. As you focus on your over 40 fitness goals, you’ll want to add stress management into your wellness plan.
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