Interventions to Cope with Stress

Interventions to Cope with Stress. At one time or another, we all experience stress in our lives. Whether from anxiety and apprehension about the future or pain over hurtful things from the past, we can feel like our emotions hijack our brain and our ability to maintain that gift of the Lord’s peace. Despite knowing the truth and trusting in God’s goodness, we can feel nervousness in our bodies, making it difficult to concentrate, think straight, and focus. Why is this, and what can we do about it?

This can happen because the emotional part of the brain can become stirred up and cause the brain’s right hemisphere to exert itself more than usual. That’s because, with the right hemisphere of the brain, we experience all time like it’s now. That means that the past hurts or future worries can vie for our ability to be in the present moment with the Lord, who is right here, knowing and loving us.

So, the first thing to do is remind yourself that what you are experiencing is biological. Understanding that can help us realize that what we feel isn’t necessarily true just because it feels so big. Those are emotions you are experiencing. They are not who you are. There is still a ‘you’ that knows God is in charge, is all good for you, and will use all things for your good.

The next thing to do would be to engage the left hemisphere of the brain or the five senses. Below are some strategies to do just that. Knowing these things can be like having a page out of the User’s Manual of your brain. I’ll never understand why we don’t get taught these things in school.

Strategies:

Bilateral stimulation (anything that uses both sides of the body).

E.g., Swimming, biking, walking, jogging.

Anything that stimulates the five senses:

E.g., Smelling perfume or essential oils, sucking on a mint, chewing gum, holding an ice pack, the feel of Rosary beads, noting what one is seeing or hearing.

Math is almost exclusively a left-brain function. Make up some math problems and work them out without a calculator.
Puzzles such as jigsaw puzzles, sudoku, and logic games also employ the left brain.

These simple tools can give us a way to collaborate with the Lord’s gift of peace.

May He give His peace to you this day and always!

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Interventions to Cope with Stress