Re: 5 Stress Management Tools (Summary, pp. 124-128)
Fr:
WHO 2020 April 29. “Doing what matters in times of stress: An illustrated
guide” (132 pp) https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240003927
Tools:
1. Grounding 2. Unhooking 3. Acting on your values 4. Being kind 5. Making room
Tool
1. GROUNDING (p. 124)
GROUND
YOURSELF during emotional storms by NOTICING your thoughts and feelings,
SLOWING DOWN and CONNECTING with your body by slowly pushing your feet into the
floor, stretching and breathing, and then REFOCUSING and ENGAGING with the
world around you.
What can you see, hear, touch, taste and
smell? Pay attention with curiosity to what is in front of you. Notice where
you are, who is with you and what you are doing.
Practical
tip:
Grounding
is especially useful during stressful situations or emotional storms. You can
also practice grounding when you simply have one or two minutes available, like
when you’re waiting for something, or before or after an activity you do every
day, like washing, eating, cooking or sleeping. If you practice during these
times, you may find that boring activities become more enjoyable, and it will
be easier to use grounding later in more difficult situations.
Tool
2. UNHOOKIING (p. 125)
UNHOOK
YOURSELF with these three steps:
1) NOTICE
that a difficult thought or feeling has hooked you. Realize that you are
distracted by a difficult thought or feeling, and notice it with curiosity.
2) Then
silently NAME the difficult thought or feeling; for example:
“Here
is a difficult feeling”
“Here
is tightness in my chest”
“Here
is a feeling of anger”
“Here
is a difficult thought about the past”
“I
notice here is a difficult thought”
“I
notice here are fears about the future”
3) Then,
REFOCUS on what you are doing. Pay full attention to whoever is with you and
whatever you are doing.
Tool
3. ACTING ON YOUR VALUES
Choose
the values that are most important to you. For example:
>being
kind and caring
>being
helpful
>being
brave
>being
hardworking.
You get to decide which values are MOST
IMPORTANT to you!
Then pick one small way that you can ACT
according to these values in the next week. What will you do? What will you
say? Even tiny actions matter!
Remember that there are three approaches to
any difficult situation:
1. LEAVE
2. CHANGE
WHAT CAN BE CHANGED, ACCEPT THE PAIN THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED, AND LIVE BY YOUR
VALUES
3. GIVE
UP AND MOVE AWAY FROM YOUR VALUES
Tool
4. BEING KIND
BE
KIND. Notice pain in yourself and others and respond with kindness. Unhook from
unkind thoughts by NOTICING and NAMING them. Then, try speaking to yourself
kindly. If you are kind to yourself you will have more energy to help others
and more motivation to be kind to others, so everyone benefits.
You can also take one of your hands and
imagine filling it with kindness. Place this hand gently somewhere on our body
where you feel pain. Feel the warmth flowing from your hand into your body. See
if you can be kind to yourself through this hand.
Tool
5. MAKING ROOM
Trying
to push away difficult thoughts and feelings often does not work very well. So,
instead, MAKE ROOM for them.
1) NOTICE
the difficult thought or feeling with CURIOSITY. Focus your attention on it.
Imagine the painful feeling as an OBJECT, and notice its size, shape, color and
temperature.
2) NAME
the difficult thought or feeling. For example:
“Here
is a difficult feeling”
“Here
is a difficult thought about the past”
“I
notice here is sadness”
“I
notice here is a thought that I am weak”
3) ALLOW
the painful feeling or thought to come and go like the weather. As you BREATHE,
imagine your breath flowing into and around your pain to make room for it.
Instead of fighting with the thought or feeling, allow it to move through you,
just like the weather moves through the sky. If you are not fighting with the
weather, then you will have more time and energy to engage with the world
around you and do things that are important to you.
