Stress Management
Did you know that there are 2 different types of stress/stressors?
Eustress: Moderate, natural & beneficial stressors (e.g. exercise, travel, work projects).
Distress: Extremely unpleasant demands resulting in anxiety & painful emotions or overwhelm (e.g. loss, relationship endings, severe injury).
Eustress helps us perform optimally to meet our goals & responsibilities.
Distress can be mentally and emotionally overwhelming & disrupt our ability to meet demands and manage effectively.
Although challenging, we caln learn to respond effectively to stressors. Life includes inherent demands to meet and we can reduce mental and emotional overwhelm to respond heathily.
This reduces the nervous system stress response & connects us with our capacity and ability to meet the demands & inherent challenges of life.
Stress Management Tips:
Pause & Breathe: It’s amazing how we can gain clarity to solve challenges when we take a moment (or two) to de-escalate the nervous system stress response, reduce cognitive distress, restore blood flow to the brain and regain our ability to think, consider, identify choices and gain clarity.
Ask for Help: It’s okay not to have all the answers. Discussing issues and difficulties with others helps us brainstorm, adds unique perspectives and assists with problem solving. Remember – a problem shared is a problem halved.
Get Active: Move tense energy out of your body to reduce the stress response by walking, running, dancing or performing your favourite physical activity. Disruptive energy needs an opportunity to be alchemized and encouraged to leave our bodies.
Break a big task/goal/project into smaller, more manageable chunks: Use SMART goal-setting to identify the steps needed to accomplish the task. Take it one step at a time. The more we do this, the more we accomplish and with consistency we accomplish the task. This is self-satisfying, connects us with our capacity and ability, reduces anxiety and increases self-confidence.
To learn more techniques to manage stress and process stressors, book an appointment with one of our psychotherapists! We offer in-person and online appointments in Toronto.
© Sunnyside Healing Arts, Inc. 2025
