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Stress Management

Left Coast

Left Coast

This Is Water
Staff member
Premium Member
What are the most effective techniques you have found for reducing and managing stress? Asking for...a friend. :p:confused:

Secular methods preferred, thank you for not trolling. :heart:
 
ManSinha

ManSinha

Well-Known Member
Left Coast said:
What are the most effective techniques you have found for reducing and managing stress? Asking for...a friend. :p:confused:

Secular methods preferred, thank you for not trolling. :heart:
Click to expand...


Well I meditate - and have a special hymn composed for troubling times BUT since you wanted secular here goes

1. Talking to a non judgmental sympathetic audience may help - particularly if the other person has had some experience with the issue like a financial advisor or simply someone that has survived personal tragedy
2. Trying to channel energy to helping others may help - this takes some effort but the diversion alone may be of benefit
3. Working out - if possible - from simple walking to an exercise regimen - running / swimming
 
Enoch07

Enoch07

It's all a sick freaking joke.
Premium Member
Left Coast said:
What are the most effective techniques you have found for reducing and managing stress? Asking for...a friend. :p:confused:

Secular methods preferred, thank you for not trolling. :heart:
Click to expand...

Swimming for me, but not laps. Just kinda floating in like 5-6ft of water. Stretching my limbs n such. Then I'll lay on my back and float totally weightless just barely keeping my mouth and nose only exposed to the air. Listening to the sounds of the water, my breathing, heartbeat. I try to clear my mind and just focus on myself and my immediate surroundings.

I've fallen asleep doing this before, luckily my own snoring woke me up, but that is how relaxing this is for me.

Or

Sometimes I'll just lay in bed and listen to Mumford and Sons. That distresses me quite well most of the time.

Hope it helps!
 
PureX

PureX

Veteran Member
Left Coast said:
What are the most effective techniques you have found for reducing and managing stress? Asking for...a friend. :p:confused:

Secular methods preferred, thank you for not trolling. :heart:
Click to expand...
It depends on how intense the stress.

For intensely stressful times, I have found that repetitive motions help. Pacing in a confined space (as opposed to going for a walk), or sitting and rocking back and forth help. The repetitive motion keeps the mind/body occupied just enough to distract it from focusing on the anxious thoughts. It doesn't make the anxiety go away, but it can provide relief from it for a time.

For less stressful times I found meditation/contemplation to be very helpful. Again the object is to ignore the anxiety-producing thinking by focusing on the physical moment. I liked laying with my back to the floor, and contemplating the feeling of gravity pulling me to the Earth. The Earth holding me to it like a mother holding a child, etc.,. And then feeling the air moving in and out of my lungs. The 'inevitable goodness' of taking a breath. Of oxygenating the body as the heart automatically pumps it through. And so on. Positive thoughts and pleasant sensations to fill the consciousness, while the anxiety fades to a quiet murmur in the background. These methods don't stop the negative thought pattern causing the anxiety, that's too exhausting and frustrating. But they provide ways of moving the focus to something else, so as to take the power out of the anxiety.
 
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Mindmaster

Mindmaster

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Left Coast said:
What are the most effective techniques you have found for reducing and managing stress? Asking for...a friend. :p:confused:

Secular methods preferred, thank you for not trolling. :heart:
Click to expand...

Ranked from immediate to long term improvement:

1) Weed (legal in my state) (Does not have to be smoked edibles are fine and last longer.)

2) Kratom (legal in most states) (Pills better than powder or leaves. Small doses 1-2 pills are immediate improvement in mood probably most of the day. Not enough to get a high on them. Larger doses remove pain, but cause euphoria.)

3) Getting enough sleep and exercise

4) Eating better -- lots of sugary food will increase stress

5) Sex. (I know, no one on this forum has sex. :D)

6) Eliminating useless people from your life. If they get in your way, they cause the problem.

7) Career shift. (If job oriented.) Done this myself a few times.

The last ones are about removing conflict from your life and that takes time. :D
 
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bobhikes

bobhikes

Nondetermined
Premium Member
Left Coast said:
What are the most effective techniques you have found for reducing and managing stress? Asking for...a friend. :p:confused:

Secular methods preferred, thank you for not trolling. :heart:
Click to expand...

Aggressive workout or physical enjoyable labor. It works but if the stress is depressing you it is hard to do.
 
Left Coast

Left Coast

This Is Water
Staff member
Premium Member
Exercise and mindfulness meditation have both helped my stress level, when I do them consistently.

Another thing I've personally found is organization. When things in my physical environment are organized, I'm calmer and feel less overwhelmed.

So much of stress management seems to do with development and maintenance of long-term habits. Short term strategies like breathing exercises are more like band aids.
 
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