3 Steps to Stress Relief

It is not unusual for any of us these days to feel pressure and anxiety from the demands of life. But when you are coaching or counseling someone and stress becomes a recurring theme, it is time to address the issue and arrive at solutions. In this post I will show you a process with 3 steps to stress relief that you can use personally or share with others.

“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself,
because it is not there. There is no such thing.”
~ C.S. Lewis

Stress, if left unresolved can lead to adrenal fatigue and some pretty severe health consequences. It was reported that 7 of 10 visits to a primary care physician were caused by effects from stress. Additionally, increased stress levels affect our ability to focus on matters at hand.

Stress can get in the way of driving safely, performing well at work, relationships, making good decisions, sleep, eating, etc.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
~ Matthew 11:28-30

I know this from personal experience. Until about a decade ago, I spent most of my life battling the effects of stress. Granted, there were many things that caused the stress but I was not educated about it or skilled at handling them either, so it was a complex set of circumstances to untangle and get healthy again. Now I must, as part of my lifestyle, get daily exercise to stay free of physical stress symptoms.

There are two origins of stress:

Internal: the story we tell ourselves about our own circumstances that create physical stress responses. ie. I am too busy. I have more bills than income. You get the point.

External: our reaction to external events and circumstances, which over time causes physical stress responses. Included in external is second-hand stress, meaning our response to observing stressful reactions of others.

External stress can be our reaction to frightening news reports, overwhelm about our child’s difficulties, being surrounded by angry and negative people at work and so forth.

Here is a simple process with steps to stress relief to help your clients.
And you can also use this system for your own life as well.

(1) First, ask your client to make a list, naming each matter they feel stressed by. It only takes one item but usually there are many items or a cluster of stressers. I suggest praying about what to add to this list and ask God for revelation and wisdom to bring forgotten items to remembrance.

(2) Then help them identify the origin of each stresser on the list. Is it internal or external?

(3) Third, assist your client in identifying solutions to solve or remove each, one by one. This will whittle down their stress exposures. There are two choices, either to confront the issue or remove it from their life. This goes back to the instincts God gave us … to fight or flee.

With each stresser that is resolved, the stress burden will decrease.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
~ Matthew 5:9

If you have personal struggles with stress or know others who do, you will find life-saving help in the Stress Relief Coach© training and certification course. I suggest you visit the page to learn about symptoms that should concern you.

The Stress Relief Coach© course contains training to help you coach others one-to-one, in groups as well as help corporations set up stress management programs. This is a 5-Star course, rated by professional educators and experienced coaches.

No one has to be a victim of stress. We just need to know what to do.