Are you stressed at home? At work? Are family pressures getting you down? What can you do to stop yourself feeling overwhelmed?

“Life is very fast at the moment and there are a lot of demands on people,” says Kilkenny and Tramore-based life coach Jackie O’Brien.

“Expectations can also be high so we start stressing. When we get stressed, our minds go into overdrive, and, like going round and round a roundabout in a car, you can be going nowhere and finding no solutions.

“The stress causes a physical reaction in your body because our minds and bodies are very much connected.

“The interesting thing is that stress can be subjective. What one person sees as stress, another person mightn’t deem it to be – but we can influence our reaction to it. This is where it’s very powerful. The thing is to manage stress.”

PERSONAL PLAN

TO STRESS BUST

Jackie advocates putting a personal plan in place so that you know what to do when stress hits. She has been using the following 10 tips for the past decade.

“They really work for me,” she says. “If you take the time and have the interest to make a plan, it will help you navigate through the stress.”

1 Ground yourself in the moment: Ask yourself five questions:

  • • What’s happening around me right now?
  • • What do I hear?
  • • What do I see?
  • • How do my clothes feel against my body?
  • • How am I breathing? Long or short breaths?

    • Say to yourself: “I am calm and confident.”

    “You can do this anywhere and it only takes a minute. It helps you to connect with yourself and feel grounded again.”

    2 Give your mind an easy and positive task to do?

    We are constantly worrying about the future or the past, so we must stop the mind from drifting. Give your mind a positive and easy goal (to concentrate on – one task at a time). Say: “I believe in myself and I have all the resources I need within me.”

    3 Press the pause button and remember you have a choice: Press the pause button when calm has gone out the door. Take a few breaths, pause, then respond. Remember that you don’t have to attend every argument or expectation you are invited to. You have a choice. Use sentences like: “May I get back to you on that?” Or say to yourself: ‘“I remember I have choice and I choose wisely.”

    4 Indulge the senses: A nurturing massage, a relaxing bath, burning mood-enhancing aromatherapy oils. Say to yourself: “I am worth it.”

    5 Use positive language: “I am” are the two most powerful words you can use because what you put after them shapes your reality. What you say you are is what you are – it’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is very important to use the right language. Affirmation: “I am calm and confident.”

    6 Enjoy nature: There is a calming power in being out in nature. Say: “I appreciate the beauty of nature.”

    7 Release the old, negative messages and embrace the new: Negativity can come from our rearing or environment. Our parents and teachers wouldn’t have had the awareness of language that we have now. Negative comments like “you’re useless, you’ll never amount to anything” may lodge in our minds, so we need to unlearn the old, embrace the new and give ourselves time and space to build self-esteem. Say: “I release the past and make space for the new.”

    8 Keep a gratitude stone: Pick a lovely one and keep it in your pocket or handbag. If you’re feeling bothered, take it out and remember all you’re grateful for. Say: “I have an attitude of gratitude.”

    9 Have a daily Zen hour: Perhaps practice meditation, yoga, paint, dance, listen to music to relax. Say to yourself: “I feel calm and peaceful.”

    10 Play, laugh and have fun: We are children with layers (of years) on.

    TOP TIPS

    Claire Scally of

    Jackie O’Brien.

    “Expectations can also be high so we start stressing. When we get stressed, our minds go into overdrive, and, like going round and round a roundabout in a car, you can be going nowhere and finding no solutions.

    “The stress causes a physical reaction in your body because our minds and bodies are very much connected.

    “The interesting thing is that stress can be subjective. What one person sees as stress, another person mightn’t deem it to be – but we can influence our reaction to it. This is where it’s very powerful. The thing is to manage stress.”

    PERSONAL PLAN

    TO STRESS BUST

    Jackie advocates putting a personal plan in place so that you know what to do when stress hits. She has been using the following 10 tips for the past decade.

    “They really work for me,” she says. “If you take the time and have the interest to make a plan, it will help you navigate through the stress.”

    1 Ground yourself in the moment: Ask yourself five questions:

  • • What’s happening around me right now?
  • • What do I hear?
  • • What do I see?
  • • How do my clothes feel against my body?
  • • How am I breathing? Long or short breaths?

    • Say to yourself: “I am calm and confident.”

    “You can do this anywhere and it only takes a minute. It helps you to connect with yourself and feel grounded again.”

    2 Give your mind an easy and positive task to do?

    We are constantly worrying about the future or the past, so we must stop the mind from drifting. Give your mind a positive and easy goal (to concentrate on – one task at a time). Say: “I believe in myself and I have all the resources I need within me.”

    3 Press the pause button and remember you have a choice: Press the pause button when calm has gone out the door. Take a few breaths, pause, then respond. Remember that you don’t have to attend every argument or expectation you are invited to. You have a choice. Use sentences like: “May I get back to you on that?” Or say to yourself: ‘“I remember I have choice and I choose wisely.”

    4 Indulge the senses: A nurturing massage, a relaxing bath, burning mood-enhancing aromatherapy oils. Say to yourself: “I am worth it.”

    5 Use positive language: “I am” are the two most powerful words you can use because what you put after them shapes your reality. What you say you are is what you are – it’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is very important to use the right language. Affirmation: “I am calm and confident.”

    6 Enjoy nature: There is a calming power in being out in nature. Say: “I appreciate the beauty of nature.”

    7 Release the old, negative messages and embrace the new: Negativity can come from our rearing or environment. Our parents and teachers wouldn’t have had the awareness of language that we have now. Negative comments like “you’re useless, you’ll never amount to anything” may lodge in our minds, so we need to unlearn the old, embrace the new and give ourselves time and space to build self-esteem. Say: “I release the past and make space for the new.”

    8 Keep a gratitude stone: Pick a lovely one and keep it in your pocket or handbag. If you’re feeling bothered, take it out and remember all you’re grateful for. Say: “I have an attitude of gratitude.”

    9 Have a daily Zen hour: Perhaps practice meditation, yoga, paint, dance, listen to music to relax. Say to yourself: “I feel calm and peaceful.”

    10 Play, laugh and have fun: We are children with layers (of years) on.

    TOP TIPS

    Claire Scally of //$(window).load(function() { $( document ).ready(function() { all_story = $('.article-body').html(); function hideStory_2(){ const first_paragraph = $('.article-body').find("p:first").html(); //const first_paragraph = ""; const second_paragraph = $('.article-body').find("p:eq(1)").html(); const first_and_second_p = `${first_paragraph}${second_paragraph}`; $('.article-body').html(first_and_second_p); $('.article-body').removeClass('bottom-border'); $('.article-body').removeClass('padding-tb-20'); $('.article-body').addClass('article-body-gradient'); //$('.article-body').removeClass('article-body-gradient'); $('body').removeClass('modal-open'); $('#incognitoModal').removeAttr('data-backdrop'); }; hideStory_2(); //$("#article-body-gshowcase").css("display", "block") const contribly = $('.contribly-contribute-v2').html() console.log("contribly:") console.log(contribly) if (contribly){ //$(".article-body-gradient").append(contribly) //code before the pause setTimeout(function(){ $("#zeroLeftModal").css("display","none") //$(".modal").css("display","none") //var ab = $("#article-body-gshowcase").html() //$(".article-body").html(all_story) $("#article-body-gshowcase").css("display", "block") console.log(all_story) //do what you need here }, 2000); } });