Get rid of unwanted stress.

 How well do you manage stress? Are you one of those chilled out people who breeze through life not worrying about things? Or are you constantly on edge wondering how to resolve the next stressful situation?

Stress is a natural part of life, but the more advanced we have become, the more we have to worry about. When previously all we had to worry about was hunting our next meal and making sure we had enough heat and water for the family, that would have been stress enough, but now we have endless lists of things to worry about.

Have I done the right thing at work? Have I paid the rent? Is the car working properly? Has the dog has its vaccinations? Is Auntie Beryl okay as I haven't heard from her? Have the kids got the right technology so they don't get beaten up at school? Am I wearing the latest fashion so that I will fit in? Have I got enough money for food for the next week? 

The list is seemingly endless and these little stresses all build up over time, eventually leading to one massive explosion!

When I was training to be a 'Mental Health First Aider' we talked about the 'stress container' which is basically our mental capacity to contain and sort out stressful situations that impact us.

Imagine for a second that in your mind there is a section just for stress, what's in it? The bigger the stress or the longer it goes on for, the more room it takes up, leaving little space for anything else that may come your way. Manage each stress as it adds in, don't let the stress build to a climax of explosion, which is essentially a mental health breakdown.

Here's my container right now as I type, I have an underlying worry about my Mum, she's always in that container because I live far away from her and am unable to help her with things like taking her shopping or to doctor or hospital appointments. So I manage this stress as best as I can to keep it to a minimum, not taking up too much space, I text her every morning, call as often as I can and bring her to Devon to spend time with her as time allows. Managing this enables me to keep the stress level low.

Now add on top of that a busy working week, how can I manage this? Well, that's easy as I run my own work diary, so I can work around the other things in my life and only schedule in work where I can do it easily. If I feel I can't then I won't book it in. In a way I've managed that stress before it even enters the container.

I am always worried about money, that I'm not earning enough, so I manage that with social media marketing, doing flyer deliveries, networking, posters, it's my business so only I can do the leg work on this one.

Unexpected things happen, I've had a lot of trouble with my van over the past few years. The only responsibility I have with that is finding a reputable garage to sort the issues, thankfully I have found a great garage recently who I trust and so I pass the stress on to them by booking it in for work.

Don't take on all the stress on your own, if it's something that you cannot control you have to remove that stress from your life, you do not need it. Just pass it over to whoever needs to have responsibility and get on with your life.

Take precautions and measures and if you need to, seek help to assist in dealing with stress.

As a hypnotherapist I help people all the time with anxiety and stress, and there are some amazing exercises and tools that you can gain in a session, so think of that as an option, but remember, prevention is better than a cure, so keep your stress container managed all the time, make sure that it doesn't spill over.