By Stephenie Craig, Journey Bravely
When did you last experience tense shoulders, sighing breaths, irritability, exhaustion, trying to keep it positive, being overscheduled and overwhelmed? It’s back to school transition time and August tends to sneak up each year with an unending list of buying things and attending events for the new school year. Back to school is only one of many transitional times. Sometimes you experience major transitions such as moving homes, starting college, adding children to the family, changing jobs, divorce or loss. Other times, you experience regular life transitions like starting middle school, changing schedules, school breaks or daylight savings time. Regardless of the brand, transition tends to disrupt physical and emotional routines, leaving you confused, less productive, and stressed. Transition is an inevitable certainty of life, but, what can you do to manage stress effectively in the process?
8 Ways to Manage Transitional Stress
- Notice and acknowledge the presence of stress. Listen to your body. Pay attention to bodily sensations, thoughts, and behavior you connect with stress such as tension, headaches, stomachaches, energy level, obsessive worry, irritability, heart rate, sweating, sighing, grumping, sleep problems or pessimism.
- Look for life transitions to connect with stress. Notice your recent life circumstances that could be contributing to stress. Are you walking through a major or regular life change? Is someone you love going through a life change? Do the changes feel out of your control? Name the transition and remind yourself stress in transition is normal. You may not have control over the circumstances but you do have control over how you care for yourself.
- Acknowledge mixed feelings that accompany life transitions. Some transitions feel primarily sad. Most transitions create both excitement for the new future reality and grief to leave the previous way behind. Give yourself space to hold conflicting emotions and remind yourself it’s normal and okay to feel confused.
- Engage in intentional, more frequent self care. Talk to a trusted person about your feelings, go for a walk, take a nap, create art, go for a run. Engage in activities that feel caring and calming as regularly as possible during transitional times.
- Set boundaries where possible. Reduce unnecessary commitments. Say no to new commitments. Lower any excessively high or perfectionistic expectations you have for yourself. Prioritize rest. Less is more during times of stress.
- Plan ahead for repetitive transitions. Make lists and use calendars for transitions like school starting to remind yourself not to procrastinate needed tasks.
- Mindfully do one thing at a time. As you walk through the necessary tasks during life stress, try not to overthink or get ahead of yourself. Plan far enough to be responsible then focus on what you are doing right now, today. Be present in the moment knowing each moment builds into a history of you moving through and out of your current transitional stress.
- Accept and don’t judge. Transition is inevitable. Stress happens. Notice the transition and the stress without judging yourself or the circumstance. Engage in healthy self-control and do what you can to practice health. Remember where you have power to act rather than viewing yourself as a victim which creates more stress. Your body and brain will adjust to the new normal over time.
Transitions are as common as steady, calm moments in life. Be intentional and kind to yourself in your process. As you navigate life transitions, connect with us at journeybravely.com for counseling and coaching support along your journey.
