Managing Stress and Anxiety:
Feelings of stress, negative thoughts and emotions; such as, ANGER, FEAR, DOUBT, WORRY, ENVY, and so on... all gives place for Satan to operate in, and have control in our lives. The Bible calls these, "STRONGHOLDS" for the devil, in our minds. 2Cor.10:4.
"In times of stress, restlessness or depression, your Bible is an excellent source of comfort and strength. More than this your Bible can be used as a practical guide to life's problems and concerns."
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10 Signs of Stress:
1. Feeling Anxious or Overwhelmed.
2. Have difficulty Concentrating, or get easily Confused.
3. Easily becomes Irritated, or exhibit a Bad Temper.
4. Because of your inability to say no, you feel overworked, and Resent other People, or your responsibilities.
5. Easily finds fault with yourself or others
6. Experience Headaches, Stomach Aches, or difficulty sleeping.
7. Feel that things you used to enjoy aren’t fun anymore.
8. Rush to get things done when you really don’t have to hurry.
9. Have Tension in your Shoulders, Back, or other muscles when you haven’t worked out.
10. Notice that your Heart is beating rapidly or you are sweating more than usual, for reasons you can’t explain.
Time to Develop the Peaceful Mind
If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms of Stress, it’s time to start taking steps to defuse your stress: Access your Inner Wisdom through Meditation. Decide what you need to change to change and why. Develop patience, a sense of humor, and an optimistic outlook.
Formula for a less Stressful Life:
1. Walk – Exercise: Give the mind something to do besides obsessing. Movement lowers stress hormones.
2. Eat a Healthy Diet: Fruit, vegetables, grains, etc.
3. Take time to Cool-Down: To enable our brain to reduce it’s activity, recover our thoughts.
- Create a Social Network: Friends help us feel less alone, and reminds us that there is more to life than what we are stressing over.
Recognize and admit to yourself that you are experiencing feelings of stress, anxiety, and/or depression.
Become aware of your body's symptoms and reactions to stress. Don't let them scare you… Rather, let them talk to you.
Try to pinpoint what it is you are anxious about. Where is this stress coming from? What happened yesterday? What were you thinking about before you went to bed? If you can't pinpoint it… don't worry about it anymore, and move on.
Give yourself permission to feel anxious about whatever it is that is bothering you or causing you stress. ("Of course I feel anxious about this problem, anyone would. But how much anxiety is too much?" )
If you do know what it is that is bothering you, think about what you can do to eliminate or minimize the situation in some way so that it isn't so stressful… How can you help yourself reduce the unnecessary stress?
Most importantly, how can you react differently so you won't be so affected by this situation?
Listen to the dialogue within yourself. Are you filling yourself full of negative thoughts about a certain situation? What could you say to yourself that would feel more comforting?
Listen to the dialogue of those around you. Is someone around you being negative and dragging you down with them? If so, how could you change your reaction to their negative attitude, so that they would less affect you?
Are you overwhelming yourself with "I shoulds" and high expectations? If so, which ones would you eliminate?
Are you blaming someone else for your stress, anxieties, unhappiness, depression, poor health, lack of success or whatever? Ask yourself, how can you take responsibility for yourself and make some positive changes?
St. John's Wort, Melissa Officinalis, Incarnata, and Passiflora.
Provided by the online degree and distance learning technology group.
