What you feel inside when you feel stressed could be any number of things or a combination of all them. You might feel:
1. anxious
2. nervousness or fear
3. muscle tension
4. unexpected perspiration
5. cold hands
6. dry mouth
7. a pounding heart
8. angry
9. sad
10. frustrated
That’s a short list of stress symptoms. There are over 50 signs and symptoms of stress you can find at my website, www.StressStop.com.
Whenever you feel a stress symptom, make a point of connecting the dots between your symptom of stress and what is going on at that moment in your life. Don’t do what most people do and try to sweep those symptoms under the rug by medicating or self-medicating them away with pills, over the counter medicines, alcohol or drugs.
Figure out exactly what is causing you to feel this stress and then figure out a way to address it. If your heart pounds out of your chest every time your boss walks into the room maybe you need to talk to your boss, or to HR or to that coworker who doesn’t seem to be bothered at all by your boss (or start looking for a new job). Noticing stress symptoms and addressing the cause of your stress, making adjustments as necessary, is the best way to convert this stress energy into energy you can use productively, to perform at your peak.
Not everyone experiences stress in the same way, either. Roller coasters are the classic example. Some people love them and other people hate them. You will know which category you fall into by how many different stress symptoms from the above list you feel as you get in the line to get on the ride.
When you feel a symptom of stress, take a couple of deep breaths, or notice something in your line of vision that is really interesting or beautiful or think about something other than what is causing you to feel stressed. Remember your body stores stress in your muscles, so activities like exercise, yoga and massage help to release a lot of this pent up stress as well.