Tips to Manage Physical Stress to Stress-less

Stress negatively influences many body systems. Learning to become mindfully aware of how stress influences your body can help you take steps to manage stressors and responses and stress-less.

Here are some of the most common effects of stress on the body.

• Headache

• Muscle tension, spasms, or pain

• Chest pain, tightness, discomfort

• Fatigue

• Change in sex drive

• Stomach upset

• Sleep problems and disturbances

Becoming a "symptom sleuth" is important when understanding how daily stress is impacting your health. Here are some tools to help you begin to identify your symptoms which is the first step in limiting the effects of stress. 

Headache

Where is your headache specifically?

• Near your eye

• At the base of the skull and down the neck

• Forehead and temple area

• Only on one side of the head with other symptoms

What does it feel like?

• Stabbing pain

• Throbbing pain

• Dull ache

What lifestyle choices could be contributing?

• Are you dehydrated?

• Are you in caffeine withdrawal?

• Is this a response to poorly managed blood sugar levels?

• Is your blood pressure too high?

Muscles

Where are you noticing tense, painful, or spastic muscles?

• When did it start?

• Is it constant?

• Could it be related to a recent exercise or activity?

• Are there specific areas of pain, such as chest pain, tightness, or discomfort?

Fatigue

When you are experiencing fatigue, do a lifestyle check to see if that could be the primary cause instead of stress.

• Did you recently use alcohol or drugs in a different amount?

• Did you recently participate in more strenuous physical activity?

• Could you have jet lag from a recent trip?

• Does a lack of physical activity have you off-kilter?

• Have you recently taken a medication such as an antihistamine or cough medicine that could be causing the responses?

• Has your eating and snacking habits been unhealthy and caused the response?

Action Step

Use a journal or a notes app on your smartphone to help you keep track of symptoms you are experiencing throughout the day and understand how stress is influencing you physically. 

We have an easy solution if you see a chronic problem and need more help learning how to stress-less. We know finding the time for coaching and stress management support can be challenging. We created an 8-week stress management virtual coaching program to solve your time problem by bringing the coaching tools and strategies to you. Maybe today is the day you need to take a step forward in stress management by starting a stress management program.