The ‘write’ way to manage stress

“Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional or psychological strain”, says Google.

It’s true that we all experience stress in our day to day lives. Of course, stress is a natural response to a situation which burdens us but sometimes we may not be able to manage it properly and end up dwelling on the endless worry cycles which may not only hamper our productivity but also drag us towards panic thereby affecting our health. Therefore, it is extremely prominent to learn the art of managing stress the ‘write’ way.

Writing is a powerful tool which can clear the mental mess. Writing your thoughts out on the paper, or may be on the notepad of your mobile phone really helps to regulate the stressful feelings that sometimes leave us with shivering hands or cold palms. The benefits of writing include:

Happy You: Much of research on writing and happiness deals with something called ‘expressive writing’ which means jotting down what you think and how you feel. Researchers on expressive writing say that it not only improves moods but also regulates stress levels for those who do it regularly.

Closing the mental tabs: Have you ever had too many Internet tabs open at once? When your brain has too many tabs open at once, it’s often the result of trying to mentally juggle too many thoughts at the same time leaving us in the fussy, panicky state.

Writing gives form to your ideas and gets them out of your head, freeing up bandwidth and preventing you from crashing your browser like a late night downward spiral on Wikipedia.

Clarity: Jotting your thoughts quietens the unwanted mental chatter and gives you a sense of relaxation from the unnecessary baggage of thoughts which often leaves us disturbed.

Writing and gratitude: We should remember that the little things which bring us happiness are actually not little. They are the real big things. Creating a gratitude log or writing down the things about which you are grateful for adds peace and subtracts stress.

‘Stressed’ spelt backwards is ’desserts’. Always remember that if we can stress, we can create peace too.

It is true that stress will always be the uninvited guest of all times but learning to deal with it improves our mental and physical health. Many times we may not even know the reason behind our stress or sometimes even the seemingly smallest task feels like a big mountain to be conquered. And this would only be possible if we learn to deal with it in a healthy way.