As healthcare students, you are getting yourself ready to serve the world by rendering medical services to those in need. This course of getting yourself ready to serve the sick and ailing is accompanied by a lot of challenges such as the vastness of the curriculum, demanding training sessions, and performance pressure. All these challenges together act as huge sources of stress for you.
Elevated levels of stress hamper your physical, mental as well as emotional health. Not only this, but high-stress levels also impact your academic performance which consequently elevates your stress levels further. In light of such damaging impacts of stress, it is crucial for you to find stress relief with effective stress management practices.
Given below is a list of 7 effective stress management practices that will help you in getting desired relief from stress.
1. Beat the Cortisol away with regular exercise:
Exercise is a great stress reliever.According to Harvard, Exercise lowers stress hormone levels and increases endorphin synthesis, which combined promote relaxation. It works effectively by promoting the secretion of happy hormones in your body. Different happy hormones such as Dopamine, Serotonin, and Oxytocin act as antidotes to Cortisol- the major stress hormone and thus, induce stress relief.
Although it is quite difficult for you to take some time for exercise amidst your hectic study schedule, investing in your health is important. Further, your improved physical and mental health will give a great boost to your academic performance. So, it is advisable for you to design an exercise routine for yourself, without having any second thoughts.
2. Talk yourself out:
It is really stress-relieving to vent your thoughts, emotions, and feelings. This is because it frees your mind of the huge baggage of bottled-up stuff it carries. So, make sure to talk yourself out whenever you feel like being excessively burdened by your stressful baggage of thoughts, feelings, and emotions. There are a number of ways through which you can talk yourself out. One of them is to let your heart out to a friend with whom you can confide.
But, if you are a very introverted person, then you can be your own comforter and talk yourself out through self-talk. But, make sure to speak your troubles out. Along with this, you can also try talking yourself out to some objects such as your books, your mobile phone, your bottle, and anything which you hold dear. This may seem a little crazy, but once you start conducting your regular talk-out sessions with objects, you’ll eventually fall in love with their magical stress-relieving impact.
3. Slow down a little:
Rushing through your days lined up with lots of things to do such as attending classes in college, coaching classes and self-study sessions makes a significant contribution in elevating your stress level. Slowing down a little is a remedy with the help of which you can relieve yourself of respective mental stress.
Mindfulness practice is one of the best ways to slow down through your days. It involves doing everything you do, in an immensely conscious manner. For example, if you are climbing a staircase, don’t just run through it unconsciously. Instead, climb it slowly, staying completely conscious of the motion of your footsteps, the feel of the floor under them, and the rhythm of your breath. It is in this state of conscious slowdown that your mind will come to a state of rest and gradually be relieved of stress.
4. Follow the Lap Strategy while studying:
Studying for long continuous hours drains your mind and exposes you to stress. Thus, it is advisable for you to refrain from studying for prolonged periods of time. For this, you can try following the lap strategy while studying. A lap is defined as the time period during which your mind functions at the best level of its productivity.
Everyone has an individual lap of productivity and so do you. Once your lap of productivity gets over, your mind becomes tired and finds it hard to keep working. At such times, if you force yourself to keep working, your mind becomes exhausted and stressed out. So, the lap strategy suggests you take a mini-break every time after completing your lap of productivity.
Now, you may be wondering how you can find your lap of productivity. It is quite simple. Just set up a stopwatch and start studying. The moment you find it hard to concentrate any longer, press the stop button on your stopwatch and the time period it displays, represents your lap of productivity.
5. Get home to tranquility in nature’s lap:
Nature is a great healer. Just the mere act of spending some time in the lap of mother nature, in the loving embrace of trees, flowers, and butterflies, stimulates the secretion of happy hormones in your body. As a result, the level of Cortisol- the major stress hormone, begins to decrease, and thus, you experience stress relief.
So, it is advisable for you to spend some time in the tranquil lap of nature, every day. Furthermore, if you wish, you can also sit and study in natural surroundings. This will give a big boost to your concentration level and induce stress relief simultaneously.
6. Get some craziness therapy:
‘Be crazy! But learn how to be crazy without being the center of attention- Paulo Coelho.
Growing old is accompanied by increased responsibilities, as a result of which you become more serious and sincere about life. Although this is necessary, it is equally important to be a little crazy at times. This is because being crazy is a great tonic for stress relief. It gives you a break from all the seriousness of life and takes you back to your childhood nature of being carefree and crazy.
As you bask in your craziness, your body witnesses a splurge in the production of happy hormones and the levels of the stress hormone- Cortisol, gradually drop to low. This induces stress relief and stimulates your good mental health.
Dancing crazily in your room, singing aloud when no one else is there to listen, and enacting some comedy characters alone in front of a mirror are some ways to let your crazy side out without being noticed. So, whenever you find yourself alone, make sure to get craziness therapy.
7. Meditate:
Meditation is a powerful technique for stress relief. It helps you in reconnecting with your inner stillness and peace, which empowers your resilience against stress. As a result, you no longer remain susceptible to the damaging effects of stress. So, it is vital for you to inculcate a habit of daily meditation.
There is no investment involved, apart from your time. In order to meditate, you have to sit at a peaceful place with your eyes closed and your palms placed in your lap, facing towards the ceiling. After sitting comfortably, you have to take long deep breaths and pay subtle attention to your breath. Further, as you meditate, you just have to accept your thoughts and let them flow without offering any resistance.
To conclude, by practicing the above-mentioned stress management techniques, healthcare students like you can manage their stress levels properly.
