How to Cope with the Burden of Stress
By Kathleen Black
As a business leader, you likely often face high stakes situations that involve a lot of pressure. Most of us tend to wither in the face of such pressure and stress.
You can not be at the top of your game if you’re riddled with anxiety and tension. Both you and your business will end in suffering because of it.
The following are 3 strategies that you can use to cope with the burden of stress to have optimal performance before high pressure moments.
Breathe (5 deep breaths)
Deep breathing is one of the best ways to lower stress in the body. This is because when you breathe deeply, it sends a message to your brain to calm down and relax. The brain then sends this message to your body. Those things that happen when you are stressed, such as increased heart rate, fast breathing, and high blood pressure, all decrease as you breathe deeply to relax.
The way you breathe affects your whole body. Breathing exercises are a good way to relax, reduce tension, and relieve stress.
Breathing exercises are easy to learn. You can do them whenever you want, and you don't need any special tools or equipment to do them.
You can do different exercises to see which work best for you.
Change the Perception
Take a mindfulness moment. Mindfulness focuses our attention on what we are experiencing in the present moment. This practice helps us experience events as they are, instead of getting lost in the past or future.
Focus on the present, don’t anticipate future feelings at the expense of acknowledging how you feel right now.
Notice your experience. Be aware of your thoughts and feelings at the moment.
Meditation / Visualization
There are over 3000 scientific studies on the benefits of meditation/visualization and its ability to aid in reducing stress or stressful situations.
Everyone and anyone can do it, but for some, it takes practice. One of the goals and desirable outcomes is to help people learn how to detach themselves from their moment to moment fixation on the contents of their minds, and instead cultivate a relaxed detachment from which it is easy to watch (but not become embedded in) the various sensations and thoughts streaming through the mind. The repetitive practice of imagery techniques can help this meditative learning to occur.
It’s easy; I recommend using guided meditations. When guided imagery is paired with physical relaxation techniques, the aim is to associate the sensations of relaxation with the peaceful visual image, so that future practice sessions involving imagery alone will quickly bring back to mind the physical sensations of relaxation.
Source: KBCC
Kathleen Black Coaching and Consulting