Chapter 8: Stress Management

Ramesh Hamal
Stress Management
• Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional, or
psychological strain. Stress is our body’s response to anything that requires attention or
action.
• Everyone experiences stress to some degree. The way we respond to stress, however, makes a
big difference to our overall well-being.
• Sometimes, the best way to manage our stress involves changing our situation. At other
times, the best strategy involves changing the way we respond to the situation.

• Signs of stress
• Stress can be short-term or long-term. Both can lead to a variety of symptoms, but chronic
stress can take a serious toll on the body over time and have long-lasting health effects.
• Some common signs of stress include:
• Changes in mood Low energy
• Clammy or sweaty palms Trembling
• Difficulty sleeping Feeling Anxious
• Physical aches and pains Frequent sickness
 • The main causes of Stress
• What impacts us most may not be the same as for someone else
• Stress is normal, to some extent, a necessary part of life. Despite
something
everyone experiences, what causes stress can differ from person to person.

• For instance, one person may become angry and overwhelmed by a serious traffic
jam, while another might turn up their music and consider it a mild
inconvenience. A fight with a friend might follow one person around for the rest of
the day, while another might easily shrug it off.
Ramesh Hamal
1. Financial Problems:
• Financial problem causes stress. It is a fact of life.
• Why is finance such a major source of stress? Experts say there are multiple reasons.
One is the way money is viewed in society. For many people, wealth equates to
success, those who face money issues or are dealing with debt may feel insufficient
or even worthless because they have few assets to show their work.
• Many people who are stressed turn to unhealthy habits (smoking, alcohol). This
may lead to temporary escape, but they often contribute to more long-term stress.
• Individuals dealing with financial issues may also cut corners on healthy living by
eating lower-quality food and expressing less. They could start working more to
deal with the financial shortfalls, and that extra work may lead to a consistent loss of
sleep.
• Financial issues have a way of infecting our relationships. People who have
dependents may feel inadequate by not being able to provide for their family in
the way they wish. Financial issues are often a common cause of divorce because
of the anxiety and frustration that they can bring into the relationship.
2. Work:
• It is important to recognize the common cause of stress at work so that we can take
steps to reduce stress levels where possible. Workplace stress can be caused by
several factors - from heavy workloads and over-promotion to bullying and blame
culture.
• Some common causes of stress in the workplace include:
1. High workloads: excessive amounts of work and unrealistic deadlines make
people feel rushed, under pressure, and overwhelmed
2. Insufficient workloads: this makes people feel that their skills are being
underused. It can make people feel less secure in their job roles.
3. Lack of control: having no control over work activities
4. Lack of skills: people being asked to do a job for which they do not have
experience or training
5. Adapting to change: difficulty settling into a new promotion, both in terms of
meeting the new role’s demands and adapting to possible changes in
relationships with colleagues.
6. Job security worries: concerns about job security, lack of career opportunities, or
level of pay
7. Bullying or harassment
8. Blame culture: where people are afraid to get things wrong or to admit to making
mistakes
9. Weak or ineffective management: this leaves employees feeling they do not have
a sense of direction
10. Multiple reporting lines: unclear chains of command. Each manager
asking for their work to be prioritized
11. Lack of communication: failure to keep employees informed about major changes
to the business. Causing them to feel uncertain about their future
12. Poor physical working environment: excessive heat, cold or noise, poor lighting,
uncomfortable seating, faulty equipment, etc.
13. Conflict at the workplace
3. Personal relationships
• There are people in all of our lives that cause us stress. It could be a family member, a partner, a
friend, or a co-worker. Toxic people lurk in all parts of our lives and the stress we experience from
these relationships can affect physical and mental health. There are numerous causes of stress in
romantic relationships and when couples are
constantly under pressure, the relationship could be at the risk of failure.
• Common relationship stressors include:
• Being too busy to spend time with each other and share responsibilities.
• There is abuse or control in the relationship
• We and our partner not communicating
• We or the partner are consuming too much alcohol and or using drugs
• We or our partner are thinking about breaking up.
• We may also find ourselves avoiding or having conflict with the individual, or becoming
easily irritated by their presence.
• Sometimes, personal relationship stress can also be related to our relationships with people on
social media platforms. For example, social media tends to naturally encourage comparing
ourselves to others, which can lead to the stress of feeling inadequate. It also makes bullying easier.
4. Parenting
• Parents are often faced with managing busy schedules that include a job,
household duties, and raising children. These demands result in parenting stress.
• High levels of parenting stress can cause a parent to be harsh negative, and
authoritarian in their interactions with their children, parenting stress can also
decrease the quality of parent-child relationships. For example, we may not have
open communication so our child doesn’t come to us for advice or we and our child
may argue often.
• Sources of parenting stress may include being lower-income, working long hours,
single parenting, marital or relationship tension, or raising a child who has been
diagnosed with a behavioral disorder or developmental disability.
5. Daily life and busyness
• Day-to-day stressors are our daily inconveniences. They include things like
misplacing keys, running late, and forgetting to bring an important item with us
when leaving the house. Usually, these are just minor setbacks, but if they become
frequent, they become a source of anxiety affecting physical and/or psychological
health.
• The stress of being too busy is getting more and more common. These days, people
are busier than ever and that adds a lot of stress to their lives.
• In some cases, busyness is due to necessity, such as having to work a second job.
Other times, it is due to guilt and not wanting to disappoint others. People may not
say no and end up having little time for themselves, or they overlook their own basic
needs such as eating right and exercising due to lack of time.
6. Personality and resources
• Our personality traits and the resources we have available to us tie into all of the
above and can be independent sources of stress as well.
• Extroverts, for example, tend to experience less stress in daily life and have
greater social resources that buffer against stress
• Perfectionists, on the other hand, may bring stress onto themselves
unnecessarily because of their exacting standards, experiencing more negative mental
and physical health consequences than those who merely focus on high achievement.
.
Difference between Chronic and Acute Stress
• In life stress happens. While there is no getting away from it, there are ways we can
better manage our stress levels so that our health is not impacted negatively.

1. Acute Stress
• Acute stress is also known as ‘short-term’ stress
• This type of stress comes from day-to-day events, such as receiving criticism from our
boss or having someone break into our house. Fortunately, our body can handle acute
stress far better than chronic stress, since it typically goes away fairly quickly
• Symptoms of Acute Stress

Anxiety Recurrent nightmares

Irritability Aggression
Mood swings
Poor concentration
Problem sleeping
2. Chronic Stress
• While acute stress is known as short-term stress, chronic stress is defined as long
term’ stress.
• This is stress that stems from working in a toxic environment every day or fighting
with the partner constantly. This is the type of stress that seems never-ending and
can negatively impact our health.
• \Chronic stress can lead to many adverse health problems, including physical
illness, mental illness, and mental, emotional, and social problems.
Symptoms of Chronic Stress
• Depression • Irritability
• General unhappiness • Anger
• Anxiety/Agitation • Loneliness
• Moodiness • Isolation
Coping strategies

1. Simple physical exercise

• We know that exercise does our body good, but we are too busy and stressed to fit it
into our routine.
• Any form of exercise, from aerobics to yoga, can act as a stress reliever. If we are not
an athlete or even if we are out of shape, we can still make a little exercise a long way
toward stress management. We have to discover the connection between exercise and
stress relief- why exercise should be part of our stress management plan.

• Exercise and stress relief

• Exercise increases our overall health and sense of well-being, which puts more energy
into our steps every day. But exercise also has some direct stress-busting benefits.
2. Yoga and meditation techniques
• If stress has us anxious, tensed, and worried, we have to consider trying to meditate.
Spending even a few minutes in meditation can restore our calm and inner peace.
• Anyone can practice meditation. It is simple and inexpensive, and it does
not
require any special equipment.
• We can practice meditation wherever we are – whether we are out for a walk, riding
the bus, waiting at the doctor’s office, or even in the middle of a difficult business
meeting.

• Understanding meditation
• Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years. Meditation originally was
meant to help deepen understanding of the sacred and mystical forces of life.
These days, meditation is commonly used for relaxation and stress reduction.
• Meditation is considered a type of mind-body complementary medicine. Mediation
can produce a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind.
• During meditation, we focus our attention and eliminate the stream of jumbled
thoughts that may be crowding our mind and causing stress. This process may result
in enhanced physical and emotional well-being.

• Benefits of meditation
• Meditation can give us a sense of calm, peace, and balance that can benefit both our
emotional well-being and our overall health
• These benefits do not end when our mediation session ends. Meditation can help
carry us more calmly through our day and may help us manage symptoms of certain
medical conditions.
• Meditation and emotional well-being
• When we medicate, we may clear away the information overload that builds up
every day and contributes to our stress
• Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations
• Building skills to manage our stress
• Increasing self-awareness
• Focusing on the present
• Reducing negative emotions
• Increasing imagination and creativity
• Increasing patience and tolerance
• Types of meditation
• Meditation is an umbrella term for the many ways to a relaxed state of being. There
are many types of medication and relaxation techniques that have medication
components. Ways of meditate can include:
• Guided meditation: Sometimes called guided imaginary or visualization, with this
method of meditation we form mental images of places or situations we find relaxing.
• We try to use as many senses as possible, such as smells, sights, sounds and
textures. We may be led through this process by a guided or teacher.
• Mantra mediation: in this type of meditation, we silently repeat a calming word,
thought or phrase to prevent distracting thoughts.
• Mindfulness meditation: This type of mediation is based on being mindful, or
having an increased awareness and acceptance of living in the present moment.
• In the mindfulness meditation, we broaden our conscious awareness. We focus on
what we experience during mediation, such as the flow of our breath. We can
observe our thoughts and emotions, but we should let them pass without
judgment.
• Tai chi: This is a form of gentle Chinese martial arts. In tai chi, we perform a self-
paced series of postures or movements in a slow, graceful manner while practicing
deep breathing.
• Transcendental meditation: Transcendental meditation is a simple, natural
technique. In transcendental mediation, we slightly repeat a personally assigned
mantra, such as a word, sound or phrase, is a specific way.
• This form of meditation may allow our body to settle into a state of profound rest and
relaxation and our mind to achieve a state of inner peace, without needing to use
concertation or effort.
• Yoga: Yoga perform a series of posture and controlled breathing exercises to promote
a more flexible body and a calm mind, as we move through poses that require balance
and concentration, we are encouraged to focus less on our busy day and more on the
moment.
• Ways to practice meditation
• We should not let the thought of meditation be the right way to add to our stress. If we
choose to, we can attend special meditation centers or group classes led by trained
instructors. But we can also practice meditation easily on our own.
• We can make meditation as formal or informal as we like, however, it suits our
lifestyle and situation. Some people build meditation into their daily routine. For
example. They may start and end each day with an hour of meditation. But all we need
is a few minutes of quality time for meditation.
• Here are some ways we can practice meditation on our own,
• Breathe deeply: This technique is good for beginners because breathing is a natural
function.
• We have to focus all our attention on our breathing. We must concentrate on feeling
and listening as we inhale and exhale through our nostrils. Breathing deeply and
slowly. When our attention wanders, we must gently return our focus to breathing.
• Scan our body: when using this technique, we have to focus attention on different
parts of our body. We have to become aware of our body’s various sensations,
whether pain, tension, warmth, or relaxation.
• We have to combine body scanning with breathing exercises and imagine breathing
heat or relaxation into and out of our body.
• Repeat a mantra: we can create our mantra, whether it is religious or secular.
Examples of religious mantras include the om mantra of Hinduism, Buddhism, and,
the Jesus prayer in the Christian tradition or any other religions.
• Walk and meditate: Combining a walk with meditation is an efficient and healthy
way to relax. We can use this technique anywhere we are walking, such as in a
tranquil forest, on a city sidewalk, or at the mall.
• When we use this method, we have to slow down our walking pace so that we can
focus on each movement of our feet. We should not focus on a particular destination.
We have to concentrate on our legs and feet, repeating action words in our mind such
as ‘lifting’, ‘moving’, and ‘placing’ as we lift each foot, we move our legs forward and
place our foot on the ground.
Relaxation by silence and music
• Silence offers opportunities for self-reflection and daydreaming, which
activates multiple parts of the brain. It gives us time to turn down the
inner noise and increase awareness of what matters most. It cultivates
mindfulness- recognition and appreciation of the present moment.
• Intermittent silence is also referred to as ‘intentional silence, which is a
form of meditation where we choose to take a break from all the
distractions of life and simply engage in silence for some time.
• When we are at home with family or living alone, we so often find
ourselves feeling the pressure to answer the phone or find something
interesting to say. Intentional silence can be a great way to combat this
pressure and unplug.
• Some of the people who try doing yoga in a group get distracted and
cannot concentrate. Listening to a voice on an app guiding us through
breathing exercises or feeding us mantras does not work.
• Silent meditation
• Meditation has been helping people find inner peace and balance
for hundreds of years and while there are many different types of
meditative practices, silent meditation is one of the most unique
and most difficult to master.
• Silent meditation also known as Vipassana is one of the most
ancient forms of meditation out there. the form of meditation is an
ancient practice originally taught by Buddhas that focuses on
mindfulness of breathing and thoughts, feelings, and actions.
• The most effective way to practice silent mediation is to for on 1 to
10 days of retreats. However, weekend or even daily retreats can
also be effective.
• When practicing silent meditation, we will need to do more than
just 30 minutes at a time, like we would with regular meditation
because when we think about it, all types of meditation don’t
require talking.
• The benefits of silent meditation
• There are several ways to practice meditation. The benefits of silent meditation are:
• We will learn patience
• From the moment that we start practicing silent meditation – one of the first things
that people realize is how difficult it can be to stay silent for an extended period.
• It can be really difficult to go an entire day or several days without communicating
with others and spending time with ourselves in silent meditation. It will teach us to
be patient, especially during our first experiences with this type of silent meditation.
• We will learn to listen to ourselves
• When we go through something as challenging as a silent meditation retreat, we will
quickly realize how much time we are spending alone with our thoughts.
• Even when we return to life as normal, chances are, we will start learning to listen to
our thoughts even more and learn to listen to ourselves and be more in-tune with our
thoughts.
• We will develop better coping techniques
• The goal of silent meditation is to learn how to accept the world
the way that it is. This is why the number of benefits that people
tend to find from silent meditation retreats is a sense of
acceptance.
• This can help with virtually every part of our life – and more
pertinently a way to accept tragedies and difficulties that come our
way. It can be a powerful tool as we learn to cope with difficulties.
• We will leave with more confidence
• Spending so much time alone with nothing but our thoughts will
give us a tremendous sense of confidence. It is one of the
biggest changes we will see from our retreat and something that
can help us in our personal and professional lives moving forward.
• Relaxation with music
• We turn to music when we need to calm our minds. Music can
make us feel so wonderfully peaceful. It produces serotonin to
relieve our stress and relieve physical pain. It is always there for us.
• Music has a huge impact on our brain, and relaxing music does
make us feel better. For example, there is well well-known theory
that a good frequency of 528 Hz can do to our body.
• It is called solfeggio frequency, originally used in Gregorian
chants. Whether it is healing or not, what we do know is that music
is capable of making changes in our mind and body.
• The benefits of relaxing music
• Many experiments, research studies, and theoretical work has proven things
that we had already intuited: music, especially relaxing music, has great
cognitive, emotional and neurobiological benefits.
• It reduces stress
• If we search ‘relaxing music’, we will get thousands of results. However, does
relaxing music relieve stress? The answer is yes. A few years ago, scientists
from Mindlab, which specializes in neuroscience experiments, gave a
conclusion that the song “Weightless’ is the most effective at calming heart
rate, respiration, and brain activity.
• The sounds of nature improve our concentration
• The sound of rain rattling on a window, a flowing river, the tireless crashing
of the ocean against of reef, a whale’s song. The sounds of nature have a
certain cathartic effect on our bodies. It is like we go back to where we came
from. It focuses us and liberates us at the same time.
• It reduces a person’s perception of pain
• Listening to relaxing music after surgery improves patient recovery. It also makes
this critical time a bit more pleasant and less stressful. An article in Psychology Today
explains that relaxing music lessens a person’s sensation of pain, produces
endorphins, and even strengthens our immune system.
• It helps us sleep better at night
• We lie down in bed, turn off the lights, and immerse ourselves in the peaceful, warm,
wonderful world of music. Listening to relaxing music through headphones at
night helps us sleep better. It helps us release our worries and those exhausting
thoughts that often feed anxiety.
• It improves brain functioning
• Our brain is passionate about music. For example, playing an instrument starting
early on helps our brain develop and even improves mathematical performance.
Relaxing music is almost like a vitamin for our neurons.
• It puts us in an optimal mental state for reasoning and tasks involving our spatial-
temporal abilities. At the same time, the connection between our two brain
hemispheres improves, fostering faster communication between neurons.
• Our heart also appreciates relaxing music:
• We have talked before about the benefits of listening to relaxing music after surgery.
One reason is that it is good for our heart. It lowers our blood pressure and heart
rate. Our heartbeat becomes more regular and we have
rhythmic, fewer
arrhythmias and we feel calmer.
•• More serotoninendorphins
Two hormones and endorphinand serotonin acts as neurotransmitters. Although each
of us has our own musical tastes, and sometimes we are in the mood for more
energetic songs, we can not ignore the benefits of relaxing music has on the brain.
Melodic harmonies, perfect frequencies and nature sounds trigger the release of
serotonin and endorphin. So we should find some time in our day to give ourselves
a dose of musical happiness.
• It helps us eat more attentively
• Something as simple as listening to relaxing music while we eat can help us eat in a
more conscious, balanced and health way, it has a lot to do with mindfulness. It
helps us eat more slowly and thus recognize sooner when we are full. We taste
food more intensely and savor the sensations of eating.
• It will help us meditate
• Learning to meditate is not easy, especially if our life is very busy. Sometimes when
we try to find some relaxation by meditation, it does not work. One thing that
help is relaxing music. We just need to find a quiet space, put on some comfortable
clothes and some headphones and meditate.
• Relaxing music for studying
• Relaxing music optimizes our cognitive process. We concentrate and process
information better and retain new information more quickly and efficiently.
Our brain loves balanced, harmonic musical stimulation. There are actually
frequencies that can help our brain work better.
• Positive forces of nature
• Scientists are beginning to find evidence that being in the nature has a profound
impact on our brains and our behavior, helping us to reduce anxiety, brooding and
stress and increase our attention capacity and our ability to connect with other
people.
• Scientists believe nature benefits our well being . We live in a society where people
spend more and more time indoor and online especially children. Finding on
how nature improves our brain brings added legitimacy to call for preserving natural
space both urban and wild – for spending more time in nature on order to lead
healthier, happier and more creative lives.
• Here are some of the ways that science is showing how being in nature affects our
brains and bodies.
• Being in nature decreases stress
• It is clear that hiking and any physical activity can reduce stress and anxiety.
• In one recent experiment conducted in Japan, participants were assigned to walk
either in a forest or in an urban center (taking walks of equal length and difficulty)
while having their heart rate variability, heart rate and blood pressure measured. The
participants also filled out questionnaires about their moods, stress levels and
other psychological measures.
• Result showed that those who walked in forests had significantly lower heart
rates and higher rate variability (indicating more relaxation and less stress)
and reported better moods and less anxiety, than those who walked in urban settings.
The researcher concluded that there is something about being in nature that had a
beneficial effect on stress reduction, above and beyond what exercise also might have
produced.
• Nature makes us happier and less brooding
• In a study done in 2015, 60 participants were asked to do a 50 minutes walk in
either a natural setting (oak woodlands) or an urban setting along a four lane
road. Before and after the walk, the participant were assessed on their emotional
state on cognitive measures, such as how well they could perform tasks requiring
short-term memory. Results showed that those who walked in nature
experiences less anxiety, rumination (focused attention on negative aspect of
oneself), and negative affect , as well as more positive emotions, in comparison to the
urban walkers. They also improved their performance on the memory task.
• Nature relieves attention fatigue and increases creativity
• We live with ubiquitous technology designed to constantly pull our attention. But
many scientists believe our brains were not made for this kind of information
bombardment, and that it can lead to mental fatigue, overwhelm and burnout,
requiring ‘attention restoration’ to get back to a normal, healthy state.
• The study done in 2012 showed that hikers on a four day backpacking trip could
solve significantly more puzzles requiring creativity when compared to a
control group of people waiting to take the same hike in fact 47 percent more.
Although other factors may account for the results, for example, the exercise or the
camaraderie of being out together.
• Nature may help us to be kind and generous
• In a series of experiments published in 2014, the researchers exposed participants to
more or less subjectively beautiful nature scenes and then observed how participants
behaved playing two economics games, the dictator game and the trust game, that
measures the generosity and trust respectively. After being exposed the more
beautiful nature scenes, participants acted more generously and more trusting
in the games than those who saw less beautiful scene and the effects appeared to
be due to corresponding increases in positive emotion.
• Nature makes us feel alive
• With all these benefits to being out in nature, it also makes feel more alive and vita.
Being outdoor gives us energy, makes us happier, helps is to relieve the everyday
stresses of our overscheduled lives, opens the door to creativity and helps us to be
kind to others.