3 ways to react in any stressful situation and emerge out a winner

When stressed try to be aware of your body and breathing, it is only then that you can help yourself react in a particular way to come out of it.

If you are stressed chances are you might be taking some hasty decisions which you may regret later. It happens to the best of us. No matter how much we read and learn about stress and take tips from experts on how to deal with it, when it comes to implying them in day to day life most of us fail. This often happens because we find it difficult to deal with the underlying causes of our stress and feel difficult to control ourselves in response to the trigger. However, most of our stressors can be taken care of if we realise how we should respond to it and breathe properly to help our body cope with the imminent struggles. As our breathing becomes shallow or fast during a stressful situation our body and mind reacts accordingly in response, tensed and tightened.

However, if we can just step back and take a deep breath and relax before reacting to a situation most of our problems can be tackled in a skilful manner. Here Luke Coutinho, Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine, Holistic Nutrition, Exercise Physiologist and Founder - Pure Nutrition, tells us how to handle our stress in a more effective way. He emphasises that in stress the body goes into three modes it is essential to recognise them and react accordingly, here are few tips

The "fight" response: If you feel angry, agitated, or keyed up under stress, you will respond best to stress relief activities that quiet you down, such as meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing.

The "flight" response: If you feel depressed, withdrawn, or spaced out under stress, you will respond best to stress relief activities that are stimulating and energize your nervous system, such as aerobic exercise, massage, mindfulness, or power yoga, listening to music.

The immobilization response: If you feel freeze or stuck under stress, your challenge is to first rouse your nervous system to a "fight or flight response" and apply stress relief techniques as guided.

So, next time you get struck in a stressful situation recall these tips to help yourself deal better with the situation.