Proactive Stress Reduction

This week for CLS we were required to focus on stress management techniques. This topic came at the perfect time this semester as I was extremely stressed going into Thanksgiving Break. I decided that I needed to use strategies that would allow me to see what was affecting me. I made use of two strategies, the Stress Diagram and the Five-Minute Escape to help alleviate the stress I was going through.

The first strategy I decided to use, The Five-Minute Escape, turned out to be more effective than I thought it would be because it provided a detailed way to calm yourself mentally and physically. It had detailed steps that mainly focused on massaging and breathing to help rejuvenate the mind under a lot of immediate stress.

The steps for the Five-Minute Escape are:

1. Close your eyes.
2. Take five slow, deep breaths.
3. Rotate your shoulders in a circular motion, first backwards five times, then forward five times.
4. Massage your temples in a circular motion with your fingers for 30 seconds. Massage your jaw, concentrating on the hinges. Force yourself to unclench your jaw.
5. Slowly drop your chin onto your chest five times. Move your right ear to your right shoulder five times. Then switch the side, trying to touch your left ear to your left shoulder five times. Finally, move your chin to the left and touch your left shoulder. Switch to the right. Go back and fourth five times.
6. Cross your arms in front of you and reach around to your shoulders. Using your thumbs and index fingers, knead your trapezius muscle(runs along top of back) for about 30 seconds.
7. Take five slow, deep breaths.
8. Open your eyes.

This technique is extremely effective to get a quick release from any stress that is clogging up a calm mind. However, I found that you need to be in the right environment to get the most out of this technique. In my case I sat within my living room and started looking out the window. I haven't been home since the summer so seeing all the leaves on the ground was a sight that brought back memories. Putting myself in a comfort zone made it easier to relax with this technique.

Environment for Five-Minute Escape

After using the Five-Minute Escape I decided to get proactive with the stress I was under, so I used the Stress Diagram technique. This strategy helps to prioritize the causes for stress and which issues need to be taken care of first.

Stress Diagram

The Stress Diagram (shown above) is a pie chart which shows you the things that are causing you stress and which ones are the most stressful. As a linear and kinesthetic learner, my stress was a combination of academic and recreational activity. This is also a very visual technique and it helps to give you an image of all of your stress summed up as a pie chart. I noted that my main causes of stress were choosing classes for spring semester, transferring into iSchool, and performances in soccer. 

Knowing this, I contacted my advisor and went straight to the point with what I wanted to get done next semester. I had a set idea of all the classes I wanted and I made sure to let him know that the classes I was going to take were important to making a successful transfer into the iSchool. Because I knew of the things that caused me stress beforehand by using the diagram, I was able to devise a plan that would get me the best classes and the smoothest transfer into another college. I went about the same process for finding internships and getting a better financial situation by talking to my parents at home. They were able to encourage and reassure me that I would be able to fix those situations in due time.

Soccer however was a tricky one as the only way to release stress causes from playing soccer is to PLAY SOCCER. And that's exactly what I did, I laced up the cleats and spent some time outside practicing my skills. I felt better knowing that I was working towards getting rid of the stress that I was feeling from not performing at my best ability.

Soccer Stress Management

Using both of these strategies helped me to alleviate a lot of stress, and it made me more relaxed going into finals after break. I would recommend these strategies to anyone who needs to focus their energy on relieving stress.