9 Stress Management Strategies To Give You Relief

As a health care provider, I routinely provide care to people who are faced with critical events in their lives. I teach programs about managing stress for patients and care givers.

Here are the tips that I offer in my classes. I hope that they help you too.

* Add essential oils to a bath or to an after shower skin moisturizer. Pick your favorite fragrance or make a custom blend. Rose, lavender, jasmine, and ylang ylang are very relaxing. Woody scents like sandalwood, rosewood, patchouli, vetiver, and cypress are grounding. Tangerine, lemon and sweet orange are uplifting.

* Place a few drops of your favorite oil in a diffuser or simply on a tissue. Breathe in the fragrance whenever you feel stressed. The combination of aromatherapy, changing your focus, and deep breathing is grounding and provides immediate relief of stress.

* If you are facing a stressful situation, break it down into small manageable components. Concentrate on the people and task at hand, not the entire situation or project.

* Take frequent breaks. Going outside, looking out of a window or simply looking at photos or small meaningful objects is very helpful. For example, I work part time in a hospice house, surrounded by people who are dying and families in crisis. Several years ago, I hung a couple of pictures of my grandchildren on a file cabinet in the nurses’ station. Soon, all of the staff added family pictures. It has been great fun as we watch each other’s families grow and change. In the case of myself and my colleagues, seeing the fresh beautiful faces of children is uplifting because we are usually faced with grief and patients who are so ill and suffering. No matter what kind of work you do, you need a break to gaze at something which is meaningful to you.

* Be kind to yourself. Self care is not a luxury. A friend of mine used to make sourdough bread. To make sourdough bread, you have to replenish the yeast starter each time that you make a loaf of bread or there will be no starter left and no bread in the future. You must “replenish your starter” or you will become exhausted and unable to care for yourself or others.

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