National Stress Awareness Day
Improve your mental wellbeing at work and in everyday life on Stress Awareness Day by noticing stressors and using tactics like journaling to combat them.
Position your wellness, mental health, or workplace solutions as stress-reduction tools during the first week of November when employers and employees are actively seeking support strategies.
- Share 3 science-backed stress-reduction techniques employees can use at their desks today
- Host a free webinar on building a workplace wellness program that reduces employee burnout
- Feature employee testimonials on how your product/service helped them manage workplace stress
- Create a stress-awareness checklist: Are you showing these 5 warning signs?
National Stress Awareness Day was established in 1998 by the International Stress Management Association (ISMA) to help provide information on stress, and strategies on how to address it for both companies and individuals.
The organization is particularly focused on business relationships and reducing stress in the workplace. Their aim is to help employers and employees support each other by providing comprehensive guides to establishing a program within their organization. They also seek to assist individuals by encouraging them to look after their health and well-being on a day-to-day basis.
Attend a National Stress Awareness Day Event
Understanding that one day isn’t quite enough, ISMA has begun recently to hold events all week long. In fact, 2020 marked the first-ever Global Stress & Well Being Summit held by the organization. The event was held completely online, acting as a dynamic place for participants to learn and share about their experiences with mental health, the stress in the workplace, and the well-being of employees. The plan is for these events to occur annually, so it’s worth looking to see what types of events are available either online or in a local format.
Become More Aware of the Impact of Stress
National Stress Awareness Day is an ideal opportunity to start looking after yourself and your life, and break down the individual stressors in your life. Failure to deal with stress in your life effectively can lead to serious health problems, including increased blood pressure, susceptibility to heart disease, and a decline in the immune system. Once a person starts experiencing any of these signs and symptoms, they can landslide into each other, resulting in growing sickness and, by extension, more stress. It’s truly a self-feeding problem and a cycle that is necessary to control to enjoy our lives. And the first step to getting out of the cycle is becoming aware of it in the first place.
Engage in Activities for Reducing Stress
Stress can’t be completely avoided in life today, but its impact can certainly be reduced or minimized. Learning to implement creative ways to reduce stress is a vital part of making the most out of life. Obviously, a doctor should be consulted if medical problems are involved, but folks who are simply looking for ways to reduce stress might try some of these activities: Deep Breathing Exercises. Many times, the mind simply needs a timeout to get recentered and calm down. Deep Breathing is a great way to regain focus and get reenergized, even for just a couple of minutes in the middle of a workday. Regular Exercise. One excellent way to keep stress at bay is to keep the body moving. Running, walking, bicycling, or movement activities like yoga can all be incorporated into an anti-stress lifestyle. Reduce Caffeine. A healthier diet can be a huge stress-buster, and caffeine can be a significant culprit for creating anxiety. Limit the caffeine to one small serving a day to gain a noticeable difference in the amount of stress put on the body and the adrenal system. Journal or Talk About Feelings. One way to cope with stress is to tell a friend or therapist about difficult things in life. Don’t have one? No worries! Journaling can sometimes be just as therapeutic as a listening ear.
Seek to Minimize the Impact of Stress
Perhaps the best way to celebrate National Stress Awareness Day is to take the opportunity to remove the stress from your life, at least for the day. Take the time to examine the various aspects of life and find out where all the stressors lie. Then make an effort to start looking into taking steps to remove them, or find ways to mitigate them so they don’t have as much power. Removing stress from your life can start off as a stressful experience, so it can help to get assistance from organizations like ISMA to look into strategies and support in how to manage those things in your life that cause stress. Enjoy a Day of Freedom Whatever you choose to do, take a day off and let yourself have a day of freedom. If coping with sickness, give the body permission to heal and do something to help move the focus. Stress can be a killer, so don’t let it take one more day from your life. Act now and start living a stress-free life!