Stress Management 1. Definition of stress ■ Response of the body to 【T1】______ stimuli or stressors 【T1】______ ■ Percept

Good morning, everyone. Today, we’ll talk about stress. Stress is a common problem that affects almost all of us at some point in our lives. So it is important to learn to identify when you are under stress, what is stressing you and how to deal with stress.
Stress refers to how the body responds to any number of physical or emotional stimuli or stressors. Effects of this response are sometimes perceptible, such as an increased heart rate, sweating, or tense muscles. Other changes, though common, are not perceptible, for example, increased blood pressure and changes in circulating fats.
Now, let’s take a look at three of the most common sources of stress.
The first source is situational stress. Situational stress is caused by situational stressors in your immediate environment. An example would be sitting in an airplane as it is taxiing the runway for takeoff. You may be sitting, clutching the arm rests and hoping that you won’t need to use the emergency instructions that the stewardess has just explained to you.
Another source is body stress. Body stress is stress that results in evident physical symptoms. Examples include abuse, such as consuming too much alcohol, or exercising too much. On the other hand, some people neglect their bodies by not getting enough sleep or proper nutrition.
The last source is mind stress. Mind stress is caused by negatively perceiving life events. Some people have a tendency to exaggerate problems or even invent problems that don’t exist. We sometimes say that these people make "mountains out of molehills".
Now that you have learned how to identify sources of stress in your life, we can now talk about specific ways that you can use to counter the common stressors in your life.
As for situational stress, it often results from feeling like we don’t have enough time to accomplish all we need to in a given day. In many cases it is not a lack of time that is the problem, but rather it is poor time management skills that lead us to this dilemma. Time management means different things to different people. For some, it will be something as simple as making lists of "things to do". For others, learning to use daily planners and organizers will help them to better manage their time.
Regarding body stress, dealing with it often simply means dealing with the evident symptoms that are seen in the body. For example, when you see rapid, shallow chest breathing, you can counter that with the practice of more relaxed breathing technique. As you practice relaxation training, more choices open up to you, so you needn’t react automatically in negative ways.
When your stresses result from negative thinking, you can practice meditation to reduce the stress. Meditation techniques have been shown to be effective in reducing heart rate and blood pressure, two common indicators of stress.
OK. this is the end of the talk today. I hope it can offer you some practical advice on how to understand and manage your stress.