The Art of Taking It Easy: How to Cope with Bears, Traffic, and the Rest of Life's Stressors

by Brian King

To summarize, it is important to understand that we have a natural tendency to focus on negative possibilities and outcomes, and take measures to counter this when it becomes problematic. Changing the course of our train of thought and putting things into perspective can help suppress undesirable negative thoughts.

She asked, “What advice would you give for someone who is feeling overwhelmed and exhausted? How does a person turn the downward spiral of stress around and get it moving in the direction of calmness?”

Before I get into it, let me state that in my answer, I am assuming that feeling overwhelmed or exhausted is the result of a short-term or temporary stressful condition, not the result of a longer period of stress slowly wearing someone down and taking its toll on their health.

The best time to focus on developing our stress-management skills is when we are not currently stressed.

However, when we are feeling pressure and need some immediate relief, there are a few things we can do to help our body calm down.

The first thing, and I know you have heard this one before so please don’t stop me, is to breathe.

Of all the physiological changes that take place during a stress response, very few of them can be controlled with your conscious mind. You can modify your breathing,