April is Stress Awareness Month

Happy April! There’s still snow on the ground here in Minnesota, but spring is inevitable (it is inevitable, right?!? It’s been a very long winter.) 

How about you? I hope the flowers are peaking through (or for some of you, those flowers are in full bloom!).

A few resources and tips for you:

April is Stress Awareness Month. The American Institute of Stress states the most common explanation is a “physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension.” Stress Awareness Month has been observed since 1992, and the goal of focusing on stress this month is to open up conversations about stress, remind people that they aren’t alone in their stressful experiences, and to elevate how we prioritize stress management as individuals and organizations.

• We will be talking about stress more throughout the month, but to get started, check out some of the terrific resources from the Stress Management Society, particularly their 30-Day Challenge (so many great ideas in here!).

Here are a few simple tips to get started:

• Don’t bottle up your stress. Talk about your stress and how it affects you. Let’s keep destigmatizing stress by talking about it more openly and sharing our experiences.
• Share your healthy stress management strategies. If you have found a strategy that works for you, share it with others to help alleviate their stress. 
• Be compassionate and empathetic to others. I always say to my clients that we are working in a stressful profession in a stressful world. See the humanity in others. Everyone is moving through some stress, anxiety, or challenges. 
• Take care of yourself. Just like your computer, you need to “power down” on a regular basis to be at your best. And like a professional athlete, you need to balance periods of exertion with periods of rest and restoration.

What new stress-reducing habit can you start now at the beginning of the month and try to use every day so that by the end of the month, you have a new habit?