Time to read: 55 seconds
One of my doctor friends says, "Mental health is physical health." What she means is managing your physical body is key to managing your brain and stress. So, to our reader last week who asked about how to manage her nervous system, here are some tips:
- Pay attention to your body and the effect of stress on you. Learn to read your body's cues.
- Take care of yourself physically. Move. Eat. Drink water. Sleep. These strategies are basic yet vital to your ability to cope.
- Each of you will respond to different techniques for managing your nervousness. Find the strategies that work for you. Here are some possibilities:
- Breathe. A simple sigh, deep breath, box breathing, and other fancy breathing techniques can quickly ground you in your body.
- Rub your fingers together, draw circles on your leg, or use some other physical sensation to distract the stress and bring you into your body.
- Get up and move around if you start to feel overwhelmed. Walk and take calls.
- Get outside.
Things like yoga and meditation are excellent practices for managing your nervous system, and you don't have to go to a studio or buy special equipment to find the strategies that work for you.
I hope this helps!