In life, it is inevitable we will encounter events that trigger emotions and stress. Healthy emotional reactions and moderate stress allow us to adapt to our environments and improve work efficiency, while inappropriate (reactive) emotions and excessive stress are harmful to one’s health. These harmful emotions range from reactionary negative feelings which can cause physical and mental distress and could potentially lead to a more serious, long-term illness.

Emotional management and stress release strategies are magic weapons. These can help us increase our quality of life, maintain a healthy physical-mental balance, and improve interpersonal relationships.

1. Take the time to understand your emotions

First of all, we must understand our emotions and the root cause of what makes us stressed. Start by observing your emotional traits, and pinpointing the situations prone to triggering strong or negative emotions. In a highly stressful situation, take a minute to understand what is happening, then give yourself an opportunity to adjust your emotions before dealing with it.

2. Analyse the situation and prescribe the right solution

Emotions and stress are often triggered by specific events or internal states. Dealing with this situation is the fundamental solution.

(1) Analyse the situation and reduce unnecessary stress factors. If you can prevent yourself from entering a stressful situation or your exposure to one, then do so. You may also need to adjust your own expectations, and reduce any self-imposed pressures.

(2) Learn how to solve problems for specific situations. For example, if handling too many tasks at once causes you stress then you can learn effective time management. If interpersonal interaction triggers negative emotions then you should take the time to practise better interpersonal communication skills.

3. Adjust your mindset – could your stress be self-imposed?

Following an incident, how we think can affect the emotional and stressful responses generated. In other words, for the same stressful event, everyone adapts to different situations. To build supportive ideas, some techniques can be used:

• • Find evidence: What supports your idea? Is there any evidence to the contrary?
  • Observe or check with others.
  • Practice positive affirmative sentences and change automatic thinking. For example: “No matter what happens I love and accept myself.” This can help improve self-confidence and self-acceptance.Relaxation Exercises

Relaxation exercises are effective strategies for stress relief and emotional adjustment. These include deep abdominal breathing, muscle relaxation techniques, meditation and aromatherapy.

4. Express your emotions and allow yourself to be creative

Calm yourself by allowing your mind to relax creatively, whether that is through passive observation of beautiful works of art or creating things hands-on such as photography or drama or even listening to music, singing or writing poetry. Freely expressing emotions through the creative process helps you understand yourself better and confront your inner feelings.