According to the American Institute of Stress, work is the most important cause of stress for adults. That's a statistic that seems surprising, but it's really not.
All too easily, moments of anxiety and stress can overwhelm us and make us feel like our world is collapsing around our ears.
This feeling doesn't just happen in big, life-changing moments. They also occur in any situation during the day, when our sense of balance or well-being drifts into distress or anxiety.
So, how to calm down in times of stress?
As the saying goes, "what you resist, persists". When emotions of anguish, stress, anxiety arise, the fastest way is also the simplest: Observe the emotion without judgment and with attention.
Here are some other tangible tips you can use the next time you feel stress at work:
Recognize stress when it is happening.
Allow yourself to recognize when you feel stress. Name it and identify what you are feeling and where. For example: "I feel stressed; my neck is tightening. I feel anxious; my stomach hurts. I feel agitated; my legs are restless."
Naming the emotion and observing where it occurs physically is a way of using mindfulness to enter into awareness and move out of the intensity of the emotional state.
2. Observe yourself without judgment
In recognizing how you feel, take a moment to look at yourself as you would a dear friend. Observe yourself with kindness and compassion, not judgment.
3. Breathe
Practice the pause: take a slow, deep breath and exhale slowly. Repeat four or five times. Pay attention to your breathing and count the number of breaths. Again, this technique takes you out of the intensity of your stressful feelings.
Now, when the questions come back, what do I do with this stress, how can I work more calmly, what can I do to calm down, you already have the answers. Then let me know how it goes!
