Last week, I facilitated session number 7 of K Mummy’s Focus Group, we discussed stress management and I began the session by showing them the following video.
Tips for Managing Stress – YouTube
Here are the tips mentioned in the video:
- Identify what triggers stress.
- Organise time base on your energy levels.
- Set smaller more manageable goals.
- Practice telling how you feel.
- Say no.
- Find hobbies and meet new people.
- Look after your physical health.
- Find ways to relax.
- Give yourself a break
- Reward yourself for your achievements.
- Forgive yourself.
- Build your support network.
- Talk to someone or engage an expert e.g. Counsellors.
Although the video is meant for students, the tips apply to adults too and these are all the tips that I have been applying and it all started from the time when I was desperately wanting to heal from my periods of anxiety attacks and irregular mood swings. I shared this video because the tips given are spot on, tried and tested. You will also hear similar messages when it comes to stress relief.
While these tips are practical, we need to also identify our barriers as to why we find it challenging to implement them and working with a coach can support you identify those barriers.
How come it all sounds so simple? It is simple and yet the first step requires effort. You need to stop questioning or doubting yourself wondering if it will work.
Stop dabbling. If you struggle another way is to find a support group and K Mummy’s Focus group is one support group that focuses on self-mastery and positivity, exclusive for mummies. K Mummy’s Focus Group is where we discuss and share our life every week, through guided interactions to raise our vibrations towards positivity and enrich our lives with meaningful purpose.
Take the first step forward and repeat until you see the benefits of trying out all of the above tips consistently.
I asked them a series of self-inquiring questions and the following are the insights I’ve gathered from their shares.
One mummy shared that she’s learnt to go for walks and watching after her food intake and is eating more fruits and substituting white rice to brown rice. She is also avoiding spicy food. She noticed how much it is positively affecting her mood and energy.
I applauded her for her recent efforts to watch after what she eats. Our body is sacred and we need to take good care of it. Our body needs to function optimally and we fuel it with the food we eat. Our quality of life can also be affected by what we fuel our bodies with. If you have a low tolerance for spicy food, then it is wise to avoid them at all costs because when your stomach acted out from the food you eat, you would not be able to focus on your tasks well. You cannot enjoy the company you are with because you might feel nauseous or gassy. I hope you see the link between our bodies and our life.
Another mummy shared that she’s been practising telling how she feels although she would love to do it in a way that does not appear as dumping or venting because she sometimes would regret what she said and it could cause upsets amongst her family members.
She has also been giving herself a break and ensuring that she has sufficient sleep given her commitments at home.
I also shared that sometimes we take breaks by watching television and we need to be mindful that we do not just watch television just to avoid a stressful situation.
In reality, when we avoid our situations, it will just perpetuate and gets worst.
Sometimes addictions are formed because they made us feel good at the moment and television is one of them.
One mummy agreed that she used to binge-watch on a Korean variety show called ‘Running Man’ and she found her happiness rather short-lived after she stopped watching the show and went back to the reality of her day to day situations.
I added that directors and producers tend to produce shows or movies that could trigger strong emotions and most of them inject ‘feel good’ elements just so that the viewers get to emulate the emotions from the characters on screen and watching these shows made viewers felt as if whatever happened to the character was happening to them too, one example of such shows is soup operas or romance titles such as K-dramas.
I ended the session by sharing with them a Neurolinguistic-programming tool as to how they can always elicit happy emotions no matter where they are. Our body stores all the emotions we’ve ever felt in our lives and we can always elicit positive emotions through this technique called anchoring. No matter the situation.
I asked what would they want to take on next?
One mummy shared that she wanted to learn to say no to her colleagues of five years, she’s been saying yes to them each time they requested her support and assistance and every day she would see her workload piling up. It had caused her to feel overwhelmed and stressed.
Even during the day of the discussion and on a weekend, she told us that her colleagues had requested her to meet to pass on a word document and she planned to communicate for the first time that she would no longer tolerate any last minute requests and being taken advantage of.
I also shared that in doing so, it is recommended for her to share with her colleagues that she is embarking on self-mastery and one of the practice is to learn how to say no. By sharing this, it would help her create a cohesive working environment with her colleagues because five years is long enough for her colleagues to form a fixed opinion about her and she must share her journey towards growth and personal development to avoid any miscommunication or misunderstandings.
Another mummy is taking on talking to her daughters just so that she gets to create a supportive environment for herself. I shared that one of the ways to engage others in a conversation is to ask questions and be interested to know and learn from others even if the other person is an elderly or a child. We could always find nuggets of information and wisdom from others and we would not feel like we ran out of topics to talk about when we keep asking questions to know the person we are with better.
I left the K Mummies with the following homework and you can also take it on.
Why not join our upcoming K Mummy Focus Group session?
