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How to manage stress during difficult times
How to manage stress during difficult times

How to manage stress during difficult times

Stress management during complex and challenging moments seek to answer many questions that linger in the mind of many facing emotional, psychological, physical, and other forms of problems in life.

Stress is a normal part of life.

People get excited or anxious about things, especially when they are not sure how they are going to turn out.

However, there is normal stress, like the stomach butterflies you get before a job interview or presentation, and there is abnormal stress, the sense of looming dread when there is just too much uncertainty.

The good news is that when it comes to managing both normal and more-than-normal stress, we have choices. 

We can choose to ignore, which often makes things worse, we can turn to unhealthy lifestyle choices, which again, can make things worse, or we can try our best to be informed and proactive in managing how we feel, how we react, and what we can do to protect ourselves from more stress. In fact, stress might even be good for you!

These were the words of the Chief Executive Officer of Spa Body N Beyond, Ms. Hettie Mercer-Ricketts, an American trained and licensed Therapeutic Therapist at a graduation ceremony of SPA BODY N BEYOND on March 5, 2023.

Stress management

She underscored the importance of stress management.

According to her, managing stress can lower a person's risk for health conditions such as heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and depression.

She, has therefore, urged Ghanaians to reduce activities that will increase their stress level.

She also called on the management of companies and health facilities to incorporate healthy ways to cope with stress through the consistent application of stress management ethics. 

"People must begin to take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including those on social media as some of these are unnecessary weight that burdens the already exhausted nervous systems.  

"People must also take care of themselves as in the midst of the economic challenges, people tend mostly to forget about the person called themselves and over-focus on other non-essentials take care of your body, make time to unwind, talk to others, connect with your community- or faith-based organizations, and reduce or avoid drugs and alcohol", she added.

Attached below is a copy of the full address from the graduation ceremony

SPEECH BY MS HETTIE MERCER-RICKETTS, AMERICAN TRAINED AND LICENSED THERAPEUTIC THERAPIST AT THE GRADUATION CEREMONY OF SPA BODY N BEYOND 
THEME: STRESS MANAGEMENT DURING DIFFICULT AND CHALLENGING MOMENTS
DATE: MARCH 5, 2023

Chairman, Special Guest of Honour, Graduates and Family members, friends of the media, ladies and gentlemen I deem it an honour for the gallery of this distinguished audience to gather here to participate in this graduation ceremony.

Ladies and gentlemen, the theme for the occasion, stress management during complex and challenging moments seek to answer many questions that linger in the mind of many facing emotional, psychological, physical, and other forms of problems in life.

Mr. Chairman stress is a normal part of life. We get excited or anxious about things, especially when we aren’t sure how they are going to turn out. However, there is normal stress, like the stomach butterflies you get before a job interview or presentation, and there is abnormal stress, the sense of looming dread when there is just too much uncertainty.
Ladies and gentlemen, the good news is that when it comes to managing both normal and more-than-normal stress, we have choices. 

We can choose to ignore, which often makes things worse, we can turn to unhealthy lifestyle choices, which again, can make things worse, or we can try our best to be informed and proactive in managing how we feel, how we react, and what we can do to protect ourselves from more stress. In fact, stress might even be good for you!

Instead of being scared of stress, why not see it in a different light? Look at stress as a visitor for the better. While our hyper-mode might not be fun, it can fuel some of our best work and clarity.

When we are physically or emotionally isolated, we can lose connection. Empathy fuels connection. We have to choose to connect with ourselves deep down and connect with others. 

As a wellness therapist stress arises from externally applied forces to any part of the body – inner or outer which either constrains or pushes the body systems to perform a specific task beyond the average operational capacity.

Ladies and gentlemen stress that is left unchecked can contribute to many health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

In modern operations, the management of companies and health facilities must incorporate healthy ways to cope with stress through the consistent application of stress management ethics. 

People must begin to take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including those on social media as some of these are unnecessary weight that burdens the already exhausted nervous systems.  
    
Ladies and gentlemen people must also take care of themselves as in the midst of the economic challenges, people tend mostly to forget about the person called themselves and over-focus on other non-essentials take care of your body, make time to unwind, talk to others, connect with your community- or faith-based organizations, and reduce or avoid drugs and alcohol.

Relaxation is important when you experience too much stress. Try to set aside more time for yourself. Even if that sometimes seems impossible. 

But remember that you are less effective, and therefore end up getting less done when you are stressed. Sitting on the couch and scrolling through your phone or watching TV is not the best form of relaxation. 

Movement is better for reducing your stress. Go for a walk or exercise and try to enjoy your surroundings.

Sometimes removing physical, mental, and digital clutter can be a way of accomplishing two things at once—you feel in control of something and you make your life better in a tangible, visceral way.
Talk to others about your stress

Ladies and gentlemen, talk to others about your stress, it can help to open your heart to your partner or a good friend. It gives relief to look together at what is really important and what is not. And maybe your partner has very different expectations of you than you always thought. 

Talking to others can also help to share the concerns you have. You often come up with much better solutions together or the other person would like to help you solve a problem together.

To get more exercise, you can join a sports club. Go to a masseur if you regularly have muscle pain. If all this does not help enough, you can also visit a doctor or psychologist.

Also set aside time to do things you enjoy. For example, a hobby, reading a book or anything else that gives you energy.

Watch what you eat. When you’re stressed, you quickly turn to unhealthy food with a lot of sugars that give you some energy temporarily. But in the long run it just makes you lifeless and fat. Try to eat more vegetables and fruits. You know that restless feeling when you drink too much coffee? That greatly increases your stress

Ladies and gentlemen, the act of planning can quite difficult. Even if your plans do not fully develop or finished as you thought, it is essential to be proactive. It is almost like telling stress to take a hike while you take care of something now.

Friends of the media, distinguished invited guests, and families of the graduates let me end my speech with some memorable tips to help you reduce stress. But to really move forward, it’s important to think to visit our wellness and spa center.

Also, take the time to think about what is really important in life. Not just for today and tomorrow, but what does your future look like? Take care of your body.

Finally, to the graduates, you are going out there as a new group of ambassadors of this center, go and represent us well. Go and work to help people and through that, you will earn an income.

You must be a professional at all times, work to satisfy your customers, and adhere to standards and norms. 

In view of the dangers, when you graduate from Spa Body N Beyond School, the leader among massage therapy training schools, you may find yourself working in a health club, destination or day spa, sports facility, holistic health center, on a cruise ship, in a psychology or social work office, with a chiropractor, with athletes or in private practice just about anywhere. 

Some employers specifically recruit our graduates over those from other schools.
Thank you and God bless us all

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