Stage 2 of 7 · 7 lessons · ~2 weeks
Understanding and calming stress
What stress does in your body and mind, why some of it helps, and the tools that research supports for calming your body and untangling anxious thoughts.
Start: What stress does in your bodyLessons· one lesson for each topic, in this order
Do this
- Write your three earliest stress signs and ask someone close what they notice
- Practise slow breathing for two minutes a day for one week
- Try grounding once when you feel overwhelmed
- Name the thinking trap in three stressful thoughts
- Complete two thought records on paper or in a notes app
- Sort your current worries into practical and hypothetical
Start with· follow one of these
- GuideFreeDoing What Matters in Times of Stress (WHO)
World Health Organization
WHO's illustrated guide: grounding, unhooking from thoughts and acting on what matters
- VideoFreeHow to Make Stress Your Friend (Kelly McGonigal, TEDGlobal 2013)
Kelly McGonigal (TEDGlobal 2013)
A short talk on how the way you see stress changes how it affects you
Practise
Free guided breathing and calming exercises to practise daily
- moodgymPaid
A free online CBT programme for spotting and questioning unhelpful thoughts
Keep handy
Before moving on: A list of your early stress signs, a calming technique you have practised on at least five days, and two completed thought records for stressful thoughts from your own week.
Stress tools work like exercise: they help more the more you practise them when you are calm. Spend a few minutes a day on breathing and one thought record a week, and by exam time they will feel natural instead of awkward. Write things down. The anxious part of your mind is much more convincing when it stays in your head.
Struggling right now? If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, contact local emergency services or a crisis line: Find a helpline (any country), Umang (Pakistan), Tele-MANAS, 14416 (India).