4 Tips to Address Chronic Stress
By Jackie Chavez M.A.
When Monday morning hits, the stress of the upcoming week can sometimes feel like a massive wave about to crash over us! Every day we deal with stressors at work and in our personal lives. In recent years, those stressors have only gotten more intense.
“Mental health challenges are now the norm among employees across all organizational levels. Seventy-six percent of respondents reported at least one symptom of a mental health condition in the past year, up from 59% in 2019.” (Harvard Business Review, Mind Share Partners, 2022)
Learning how to manage stress in uncertain times helps reduce the risk of burnout. We recently hosted an Artesian Collaborative Community Workshop on how to recognize the signs of chronic stress and what to do about it!
These are 4 of the most important tips we shared during our time together - give yourself permission this week to acknowledge your stress, treat yourself kindly, and take some steps to address it.
1) Remember
You are not alone.
Pausing to care for yourself is essential for keeping stress from building up.
2) Care for your body.
Try out this breathing activity to help take notice of the stress you're carrying.
Focus on your breath and imagine you are holding a bubble wand.
Exhale through your mouth and imagine gently and slowly blowing bubbles.
Inhale deeply, filling your body, and exhale repeating this process.
Allow these bubbles you blow to carry away your stress.
3) Connect to your values.
Make a list of things you are grateful for to help point you to what you value.
Do things that matter to you every day. Acknowledge those actions.
4) Reach out to your community.
Even when we can’t do small things for ourselves, we still benefit from the small things we do for others. These actions add up to create communities of care.
Let's talk about the hard stuff.
Artesian Collaborative is a mental health practice based in Chicago. We excel at guiding individuals and teams through tense and difficult topics - and helping them feel good about it.
Our therapists provide mental health counseling for individuals, couples, and families. Our team also leads corporate and community trainings in the areas of Stress Management, Diversity Equity & Inclusion, and Relational Leadership.