Five Minutes to Feed Your Potential - Managing Stress

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00][Music] are you looking for healthy ways to power your day and your life welcome to five minutes to feed your potential our series of short podcasts designed for busy people just like you who are looking for easy delicious and practical ways to be healthy and happy listen along as our chefs dietitians and other experts offer insights ideas and inspiration [Music] stress it's a fact of life and it seems to be everywhere work stress School stress family stress and stress from what's going on in the news every day it's all a part of the stress equation you can't avoid stress but you can find ways to manage it here to help us recognize the signs of stress and to offer practical ways to help reduce its impact on our lives is licensed professional counselor yarvel Gardner hey y'all and thanks for tuning in this is such an important topic and one that I deal with often in my work as a therapist stress is having such a huge impact on so many people incredibly studies tell us that more than 75 percent of people experience stress in their lives 75 percent that means that if you feel stressed you're definitely not alone but what is stress anyway first off it is important to understand that stress is a mental or physical reaction to external events but stress can also come from within like the pressure we put on ourselves to succeed I mean some stress is inevitable in our lives and it can even be helpful for example if you have an important presentation or a test coming up the stress you feel might help you to work harder and longer to prepare however when stress piles on and it becomes an ongoing everyday consistent part of our Lives well then it can have all kinds of negative effects on our physical mental and emotional well-being that's why it's so important to find ways to cope with stress it's one of the keys to Leading a productive positive and happy life that's why I'm here to talk to you today about how to recognize the signs of stress and how to address it with four Stress Management strategies okay to start off stress can be very sneaky that means it's not always easy to recognize it when it's happening to us you might feel physical symptoms without even realizing they are stress related headaches stomach problems or body pain can all be signs of stress high blood pressure can be another sign stress can cause you to have trouble sleeping or just feel off and stress can affect your mind and mood too so the most important first step is to be sure that you're paying attention pay attention to your body your mind and your mood actually attention is the first step of what I like to call the Stress Management ABCs and these the a stands for awareness that means being aware of the things that trigger your stress and how they make you feel asking yourself why am I feeling this way was it the news or an email being aware of your triggers can help you find ways to avoid the stress or at least help you better understand what's happening the second strategy in the ABCs and D's of Stress Management is the B which is for boundaries I tell people I counsel all the time there is real power in learning how to set and maintain boundaries for instance by separating work and personal time as much as you can especially if you work or study from home listen shut the door to your workspace at the end of the day this will remind you that work is work and home is home and help you to be more present for each part of setting boundaries is establishing a schedule try to maintain regular work exercise sleep and me time creating boundaries along with routines and time management habits can go a long way in helping you to manage stress the C on my ABCs and D's list is for connection research tells us that when we feel connected to another person our bodies respond in a way that helped us to feel calmer particularly during times of Crisis and or challenges in our lives so make time to catch up and stay connected with the people you care about and that brings us to the D on my ABCs and D's list it's one of the most important Stress Management strategies the d stands for daily healthy habits you probably know about many of them already but you might not think they are related to stress but they are in a big way they're actually essential to Stress Management daily healthy habits means things like eating healthy foods staying hydrated with plenty of water and getting quality sleep I can't emphasize enough how important sleep is a good night's sleep helps your body deal with and recover from stress another daily healthy habit that works as a stress Buster is exercise whether it's a short walk around the block or 30 minutes on a treadmill exercises one of the most important go-to tools for managing stress and improving your mood look I also want to point out that it's so important for anyone who might be experiencing symptoms of depression or anxiety caused by stress or any other reason to be sure to reach out to a mental health professional the same goes if you find yourself turn into alcohol or drugs to manage stress be sure to get help but for those just experiencing regular everyday stress and who are just looking to find a few new ways to help manage their daily stress give the ABCs and these I told you about a try they might just help you be a little happier and healthier and hopefully just a little less stress thanks for listening whenever you're looking for inspiration for Healthy Living our chefs dietitians and other experts have lots of ideas to feed your potential visit our website at fyp365.com to see all our recipes blogs podcasts and more