How to remain calm in a stressful situation

We all face situations in which we feel panicked, nervous, and/or stressed. We talked about the impact of exercise on reducing stress. This blog will focus on what to do when you are in a situation that stresses you out, and you can apply these tips to calm yourself down. 

Experiencing stressful situations is normal, and even healthy to a degree, since they teach you how to manage stress. This blog aims to give you tips on subtle ways to reduce your stress in a stressful situation. 

The first step is preparation: If you’re aware that you will be entering a stressful situation beforehand, try to prepare yourself: Look to identify a heading to understand what is stressing you out, why, and what’s the most effective stress management technique.

Breathing

• Remember to focus on your breathing - take measured, intentional breaths and try not to let your stress affect it

• Breathing exercise #1: Visualization Breathing: Releasing Your Stress 

1. Close your eyes and get comfortable

2. Start breathing deeply.

3. As you inhale, imagine that all the stress in your body is coming from your extremities and into your chest. 

4. As you exhale, imagine that the stress is leaving your body through your breath.

5. Continue slowly repeating the process. 

• Breathing exercise #2: 4-7-8 Breathing

1. Close your eyes and get comfortable

2. Open your mouth and exhale completely

3. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose while counting to 4.

4. Hold your breath for a count of 7.

5. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound for a count of 8.

6. Continue repeating the process.

Focus on your senses

This technique helps bring your focus to your senses and the individual physical responses of stress you’re experiencing.

1. Notice what you’re experiencing without judging it: heart beating very quickly, flushed face, feeling nauseous. 

2. Focus individually on each of your 5 senses: what can you see, what can you hear, what can you smell, what you can taste, what you can feel. These allow you to be more aware of yourself.

Identify

Identify the stressor (what is stressing you out) and why it is stressing you out.

1. Consider from a rational perspective if you are in a position to do anything about the stressor. Can you remove it? Can you distance yourself from it?

2. Identify the most effective way to deal with the stress in the situation you’re in

• What is most effective for you, based on past experiences

• What can you do in the situation you’re in eg. might not be able to do anything except breathing and sensing exercises

Conclusion: 

Feeling stressed is completely normal. Remember that the stressful feeling will pass, and use these tips to help it pass quicker!