Today is Stress Awareness Day, so it’s the perfect day to learn a new stress management technique.
Why Managing Stress is Important
In 2019, 94% of Americans report being stressed at work, and 23% of them say that their stress level is high. While it might be easy to blame the job, your boss, etc., the truth is that managing your stress is up to you. And if you don’t learn how, you’ll be stressed anywhere you go.
That’s not to say that some jobs aren’t higher stress than others. Of course, they are, but the better you know how to manage it, the easier any job will be.
Stress Management Technique
This great stress management technique takes less than two minutes. Seventy-six seconds, if you want to be precise. It’s all about breathing. Some people call it the 4-7-8 sequence. Here’s what to do:
- Sit up straight
- Put the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth and keep it there for the entire process
- Breathe in through your nose for a count of 4
- Hold your breath for a count of 7
- Exhale through your mouth, audibly, for a count of 8
- Repeat three more times to make a total of four times through the sequence
Feeling better? We thought so!
One of the great things about this technique, aside from it being fast, is that you can do it anywhere – at your desk, on a restroom break, in your car (if you’re not driving at the time).
Give it a try and let us know what you think!
