Stress is a part of everyday life. The stress response is normal. Working through your everyday stressors is how we build skills and resilience. How do you work through your everyday stressors?

• Do you sleep well? Sleep is essential for physical and emotional well-being.
• How often do you exercise?. Physical activity is an essential to helping your stress. If not start slow and walk 15 mins. today. Get outside as often as possible.
  
• How well do you eat? Try eating more fruits and vegetables starting today.
• Do you keep a journal? Writing about our feelings helps.
  
• Do you let your thoughts bring you to a negative place? Try challenging some of your unhelpful thoughts.
• Who do you have for supports? Talking to a trusted friend or trusted adults helps us cope better.
• How much time do you make for fun? Paint, play, try something new today.Laugh, laugh and laugh some more.
• Have you used the app Headspace or Calm ? Using apps can be a great way to learn mindfulness.
  

Sometimes the best way to de-stress is to take your mind away to a safe, more relaxing place.

• Learn a new hobby or creative art it can be an instant vacation.There are so many Youtube videos you can watch to teach yourself something new.
• Speaking of a mini- vacation . Go for a walk in your community there are so many new things to discover. Choose to forget your worries just for this moment , hour,or this day.
  
• Take time to look at all the good and beauty around you. What are 2 things you are grateful for today? Write them down.
• Try reading a good book today. It is a wonderful escape from reality.If you haven't tried an audio book you are missing out. Get one from your local library today.
  
• Visualize. Do you have a favorite place where you can imagine yourself totally relaxing and feeling safe. You can go to that place anytime in your mind. When you are feeling stressed, find a good place to sit down, lean back, close your eyes, but you don't have to ,take 4 deep breaths, and imagine yourself in your safe, calm place wherever that may be. Notice the smell, the view, and what you hear. Stay focused on that calm feeling.

As a result of excessive worry we may develop habitual, exaggerated, or irrational thought patterns. We all have these distortions and they are normal. However, they cause us to perceive reality inaccurately. In other words, our brain is tricking us.

Here are the simple steps to eliminate the ANTs in your head.. Whenever you feel sad, mad, nervous, or out of control, do the following:

• If you catch yourself with negative thoughts write them down. The act of writing down the ANTs helps to get the invaders out of your head.

There are 9 types of ANTs.

• All-or-Nothing ANTs: Thinking that things are either all good or all bad

You might say to yourself : “This pandemic is awful. I can’t do anything fun anymore. I feel like I am in prison. What’s the point of getting out of bed? Nothing ever works out the way I want it to.”

• Less-Than ANTs: Comparing and seeing yourself as less than others

I am not as good as my friend. They are smarter, more fun ... than me.

• Just-the-Bad ANTs: Seeing only the bad in a situation

There is nothing good about ...

• Guilt-Beating ANTs: Thinking in words like should, must, ought, or have to

( Stop Shoulding on Yourself! ) “I should be helping out more at home during this difficult time.” Or: “ My parents tell me every day I should feel lucky because others have it a lot worse than I do. ”I should be doing better in school even though we are in a global pandemic. “I should get 90”s and if I don’t I am a failure.”

• Labeling ANTs: Attaching a negative label to yourself or someone else

“I messed up on the last question on the test. It was so easy. I am such an idiot.”

• Fortune-Telling ANTs: Predicting the worst possible outcome for a situation with little or no evidence for it

• Mind-Reading ANTs: Believing you know what other people are thinking even though they haven’t told you

“My dad seemed really quiet today. He didn’t even say good morning. I think he’s angry with me.”

• If-Only and I’ll-Be-Happy-When ANTs: Arguing with the past and longing for the future

If only I had so and so's like my life would be better and I would be happier.

• Blaming ANTs: Blaming someone else for your problems
  

Ask yourself if the thought is true. Are you 100% sure it’s true?

Ask yourself how you feel when you have the thought. Then ask how you would feel without

the thought.

Practice, practice, practice getting the ANTs out of your head. You can’t just do it once and think you’ve mastered your thinking patterns. When you make it a daily practice, you will feel freer, lave less anxious feelings, feel less down, and less trapped in past hurts or losses.

Edited by SSC and HM Source: Amen Clinics