When stresed out try this

Stress relief

Stress relief can be how we respond to stressful situations.  When we are stressed out we typically go to self-destructive behaviors to cope.  This is not Biblical because God wants us to take our burdens to Him.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11: 28

God doesn’t say when you have it all figured out bring it to me.  He wants our burdens right then and there when we are in the thick of it so that He can help us out.  I want to share with you a tool that has helped me be mindful when I am dealing with stressful situtations.

Ways to respond to stress

I love acronyms. I just remember things well with acronyms. This acronym I Learned, and I want to share it with you.  It’s a great mental checklist when you feel yourself responding to stress. Before I share with you tips to help yourself. I want to remind you that there is nothing that we can do on our own.  God provides all that we need.

Luke 12:22-26 is a great reminder of who is in control and why there is no need to worry.  Jesus warns us about worry; there’s like over 50 scriptures that encourage, lead, and direct us about worry. In Luke 12, Jesus warns us by telling us not to worry about life, what to eat, don’t worry about our bodies, or what we’re gonna wear. He even compares us to ravens, who are very greedy creatures yet and still don’t worry about where their food is coming from.  They just seek, trust and rely on God to supply them with what they need.

Luke 12:25-26 says, Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

A Scripture that I meditate on when I am distracted is Colossians 3:2; “Fix your eyes on the things above and not of this earth.”  It helps me to redirect my gaze to Jesus when I am trying to fix things on my own.  The only thing that I need to fix is my eyes.

Types of stress

Stress inevitable. Life will happen, and if you associate whatever, that is something to fear.  Your body will perceive it as stress.  Our body prepares ourselves for whatever this fear is, whatever in our mind, our perspective, we fear sometimes it’s acute stress.

Acute stress- is an instinctive reaction; it could be something great like winning a game or something scary like nearly getting in an accident.  It’s when the stress goes away when the cause of stress goes away.

Chronic stress. Sometimes you’ve been. It’s by not accepting the events in your life or you’ve been fretting or being nervous for a very, very long time; fear of failure can lead to chronic stress, insecurities, illnesses, and relationships.

There are 8 top stressors in our life.

1. Work
2. Transition or Change
3. Illness
4. Loss
5. Relationships
6. Uncertainty
7. Finances
8. Food

I am sure there are some additions you can add to this list. Drop them in the comments.  These stressors you can encounter in your daily living.   And like God said, like you can’t change it. Why are you worried about it? The only way that you can change your circumstance is to call on the one who can- Jesus.

You need to take it to Jesus, right?

We have acute stress. We have chronic stress and then we have burnout and that’s when we let that chronic stress. Continue and go ongoing and it causes us to exhaustion.  It all is dependent on how we manage stress.

The next time you feel like how you are going to coping with stress is self-destructive, it’s not serving your body. I want you to H.A.L.T.

H.A.L.T. before you engage in self-destructive behavior

Hungry?

Are you hungry?  And where is that hunger coming from? Our cravings typically come from three areas of our bodies.

1. Head Craving- Is it a habitual craving? Maybe it’s a habit we create at night when we sit down to decompress; we have a glass of wine. A glass of wine is not self-destructive, but if it becomes a tool to numb and ends up being a bottle of wine.  There may be other ways to cope with your stress.

2. Heart Craving- Is it from your heart? Is it because someone hurt you or something hurt you and you didn’t process it to the end of the day? And you’re just going to feed that, um, that emotion with food. Like the glass of wine, it may start off with the intention of just one, but if it leads to binge eating. Then we may need to be more intentional and mindful of our cravings.

3. Stomach craving- Are you hungry? Like, are you hungry? because sometimes you are but you need to take a moment and ask yourself and not just give into temptation.

Before you engage in self-destructive behavior, I want you to ask yourself first H.A.L.T., are you hungry? When did you last eat? Is your hunger emotional or does it, is it, does your body need food? And is your body asking for food because it needs some type of nutrient to set snack on.

 

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Did whatever the stressful situation did it cause you to become angry and were, are you dealing with it right now? Or did you wait until the end of the day or until a couple of weeks later?

So ask yourself first, are you hungry?

If you’re not hungry are you angry?

Angry?

Stressful situations can lead us to feel anger depending on our autonomic nervous system response. Are you angry? Find out a way to diffuse that anger. You will need to be aware and responsive.  And that is really from self-reflection and being intentional. And the best way to diffuse anger to diffuse darkness is to bring in light is to first pray, like that’s the first thing. Make it a habit to turn to prayer and not your emotional response.

We’re going to H.A.L.T when we’re in a stressful situation, we’re gonna check if we’re hungry, we’re gonna check if we’re lonely.

Lonely?

When is the last time you talked to somebody? Do you need to talk to somebody about this situation that’s causing you stress? Was the experience when you spoke to this person about this situation or somebody positive or negative? If your go-to person isn’t a safe space. It’s okay to find another person to support you.  Do you have a support system?

I am one of the coaches for Revelation Wellness 21 Day Project Stress Relief and I am so grateful to be able to lead and encourage this community to  stress freedom.  If you’re looking for some guidance on how to cope with stress or a community.  I want to invite you to the 21-Day Project stress relief. Together we will be navigating the Word, our bodies response to stress, and learning new skills to cope with stress.  Having support and community is a great extrinsic motivator for change.  Sometimes you may just need rest.

Tired?

Have you given your body enough rest? I’m not talking about 6-8 hours of sleep at night. In addition to that have your Sabbath with the Lord, take a moment to be still, and take a pause or break throughout your day.

I have a client who can work for 11 hours straight without a break.  She becomes so hyperfocused that she doesn’t take a break.  Not even to go to the bathroom.  One rhythm we set up was adding timers to her day and for her to force herself to get up and take a rest from work. Sometimes here rest is a dance break, movement snack, or even an actual snack.  She is no longer proud of her diligence to work. She is even more productive with breaks.  It was challenging at first but she is so grateful she takes time out.  She finds herself more rested and feels better emotionally.

If we are tired, we make poor judgment it drains us emotionally and leads us to have unfavorable responses.

Another question you may need to ask yourself is, “Can I energize myself?; without any outside circumstances.

Is it through movement?

Is it through putting on a great worship song and dancing it out, and have you taken some time in the day to relax?

Stress Response

When you H.A.L.T, you respond differently to stress, and it gives you a moment to assess how you’re feeling before you lash out at someone else.

If you’re unable to see what you need. Ask the Lord to reveal it sometimes, we are so caught up in the stress it’s hard to assess. Fix your eyes on the Lord. He will reveal where you are at and what you need.  He’s all about a meeting where you are and taking you where He knows you can go.  Pray and H.A.L.T before you respond.

Next time you find yourself in a stressful situation. I want you to take the time to H.A.L.T! If you’re looking for more tools to help you cope with stress, join me for the 21-Day Project Stress Relief, it begins Sept. 19th. Join here