5 Ways to Manage Stress and Support Improved Wellness

Your physical response to stress results from thousands of years of evolution. Your brain’s ability to recognize danger and prompt your body to respond quickly is one of the main reasons humanity has survived. But none of that makes the chronic stress many of us live with feel any better.

At A Woman’s Wellspring, our team recognizes that women’s lives are often stressful because raising children, caring for aging relatives, working in modern society, and managing responsibilities and relationships are each individually difficult—but facing combinations of those things can be daunting. That’s part of the reason Stephanie Taylor, MD, PhD, offers supportive counseling.

Some of the most common causes of stress include:

Life transitions
Low self-esteem
Lack of sleep
Poor physical health

Women’s lives are typically full of all of those things. We move from single to married, experience pregnancy and motherhood, and the sleeplessness that goes along with that. We are bombarded with images and cultural messages that undercut our self-esteem, and although women live longer than men statistically, women also face staggering rates of inequity when it comes to healthcare.

Here are some techniques that may help you manage day-to-day stress, but Dr. Taylor encourages all her patients to consider supportive counseling because everyone sometimes needs support.

1. Recognize you need to care for your mind

Almost no one would argue with the idea that you need to take care of your physical health. You need to consume a nutritious diet, you need to exercise, and you need regular checkups. Yet, many people don’t admit they need to take care of their mental health, or worse, they feel like needing help managing their mental health is a weakness.

2. Set aside time for yourself

Modern life is busy. It’s easy to find yourself rushing from one obligation to the next, without pausing until you go to bed. Even then, you might find that your brain continues racing along while you wish for sleep.

It may seem impossible to carve out time for yourself when your schedule is packed. But even if you just take 10 minutes to journal each day, you’re likely to reap benefits from it. Taking time for yourself can look like:

Scheduling 20 minutes to read
Setting aside time to call and chat with a friend once a week
Taking a stroll after dinner
Practicing breathing exercises for 5-10 minutes each evening
Getting up 10 minutes earlier to work on a creative project

Simply scheduling time to do something you enjoy, even if it’s for a few minutes, is a great way to manage stress.

3. Take care of your body

When you take care of your body, your brain benefits, too. Exercise has both physical and mental health benefits, for example. Similarly, getting enough high-quality sleep is good for your body and your brain.

Poor physical health triggers stress, so when you address your body’s needs, you remove one more stressor.

4. Focus on the positive

Toxic positivity is problematic and can actually make chronic stress worse, so we’re not suggesting you make every bad situation seem positive. Instead, make a habit of looking for small, good things each day. Perhaps the light that is always red was green on your commute this morning, or maybe your favorite snack was on sale.

When you make it a practice to notice when things are good, you feel better. And, if you can find a silver lining in a bad situation, that can be helpful, too.

5. Get help

As we noted earlier, sometimes you need some extra support. If you’re experiencing a big life transition, like menopause or pregnancy, it could be a good time to schedule an appointment and learn what supportive counseling entails. Trauma, grief, depression, anxiety, and even anger are normal, but much easier to get through when you have some external support.

Schedule an appointment today if you’d like to learn more about our supportive counseling services.