MODULE 3

Support Yourself Through Stress

Changing your perception of stress as a whole will help mitigate your response to future stress.

Shift the Long-Term Story of Stress

While you can shift your response to stress in the moment, you can also shift how you think about stress when you’re not experiencing it. In other words, you can shift your stress story long-term and train yourself to understand that stress isn’t a bad thing overall.

Stress can serve a positive purpose in your growth and development if you choose to see it that way. For example, giving a presentation can be stressful, but preparing for it and practicing delivering it helped you learn and grow professionally. You can view a stressful situation as a challenge that can be mastered. With deliberate intention and practice, you can effectively manage tough situations with less stress. This not only supports physical health but also builds self-esteem and self-efficacy and can help you feel more empowered the next time you’re in a situation that feels difficult.

Self-Care for Stress Reduction

Self-care is another way to support stress maintenance, both physically and mentally. Self-care is the deliberate and intentional use of activities and habits that relieve stress. Practicing self-care stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which returns the body to a recovery state and eases fear and anxiety in the moment. Self-care is also a valuable way to refresh your mind and body on a regular basis to prevent stress from building. It’s a helpful tool for reducing your stress baseline! Just as eating nutritious foods and getting quality sleep on a regular basis helps you prevent and recover more quickly from illness, practicing holistic self-care regularly better prepares you for handling whatever challenges come your way.

Your self-care needs and preferences change over time, as do your circumstances. Part of self-care is being able to adapt based on what’s going on for you internally as well as what’s available to you externally. This is why it’s helpful to explore a variety of options.

Read the Self-Care Guide PDF for tips on how to approach self-care and develop a regular practice that supports your whole-person health needs.