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Life orientation

Grade 8

Handling stress

Module 14

Hints on handling stress

Activity 10:

  • There are various other methods that can help to control stress. If you follow a healthy lifestyle and you get on well with other people you are basically sound.
  • Here are some more suggestions to help you. I will mention them briefly. It isn’t difficult to find out more about these methods. Find out about them on the Internet or in the library, or ask someone.

Correct breathing is much more important than most people realise. When you become anxious, concentrate on breathing deeply and slowly. Breathing out should take longer than breathing in. Breathe in and hold your breath for five seconds, then breathe out slowly for eight seconds. Slow, deep breathing has a calming influence. When people are very tense, they breathe faster and their breathing becomes shallower, which could cause hyperventilation or fainting.

If you couple the correct breathing methods with muscle relaxation exercises, you can really achieve deep relaxation. Start with simple exercises. Draw up your shoulders as high as possible, and hold for about five seconds. It causes you to breathe more difficultly, doesn’t it? Relax, let your shoulders drop and allow your arms to hang loosely. Move your fingers and breathe deeply. It feels better already, not so? One can apply this technique to one’s whole body. Start with your feet and contract the various groups of muscles tightly for five seconds, then relax and breathe deeply. Work through all your muscles in this way and then relax your whole body. Make sure that you are lying down or that you are in a comfortable position, and don’t jump up – you might fall down! Open your eyes slowly and move slowly.

Spoil yourself by going for a massage. Ask the masseur to use natural oils that promote relaxation, and feel how those stiff muscles loosen up. A good reflexologist who concentrates on reflexes and other pressure points can bring about deep relaxation. But beware of untrained people!

If your stress levels are out of control, you should consult a clinical psychologist. Such a person will have various methods of helping you. If he / she should recommend that you take medication, use it as prescribed. Don’t try to self-medicate with all kinds of junk remedies.

Some more common sense advice: avoid people who always try to push you deeper into the mud. Those friends who never have anything but negative comments to offer

and always see only the worst in everything are not what you need if you are experiencing stress. Such people thwart your efforts to exercise positive thinking. Learn to say no to things that harm you, and yes to a successful life.

Keep a notebook and make a cross for each negative thought. Replace each negative thought with a positive thought. Reward yourself when the number of crosses decreases. A negative thought pattern must be broken, otherwise your stress levels will simply climb and you may become depressive.

Use the problem solving techniques that you learn at school to approach your problems objectively. Then you transfer the problem from the “emotional centre” to the cognitive, as it were. So you succeed in distancing yourself from the problem and seeing it in perspective.

Do something unusual – take up dancing and have a ball. It will have the added benefit of improving your posture.

Make sure that your expectations are realistic. You may be expecting too much of yourself, your parents and other people. Perfectionists spend their lives being anxious about making mistakes, or constantly overreact about the mistakes other people make. Chill! How else can one learn? Only through trial and error, as the saying goes. Remember, if you have made a mistake, set it right as soon as possible. It isn’t the end of the world. There is nothing so dreadful that it should mess up your life. The bad times don’t last. Terrible disappointments are worked through and accepted. The human being is a tough creature and life is good! Enjoy it sensibly.

  • Let us see how many of these stress control methods you use:

Complete this table in full:

(You could possibly use it for your PORTFOLIO.) Place a tick in the relevant column. Write down all the methods that are briefly mentioned in this module.

Methods Do it always Do it often Do it seldom Never do it
Healthy eating plan
Enough exercise
  • Can you come to any conclusion?

[LO 3.5]

Assessment

Learning outcomes (LOs)
LO 3
Personal DevelopmentThe learner will be able to use acquired life skills to achieve and extend personal potential to respond effectively to challenges in his or her world.
Assessment standards(ASs)
We know this when the learner:
3.1 analyses and discusses factors which influence self-concept formation and self-motivation;
3.2 reflects on appropriate behaviour in different kinds of interpersonal relationships;
3.5 designs and implements a personal plan for preventing and managing stress.

Memorandum

Activity 10:

General review:

Hints on handling stress

Assessment exercise

Questions & Answers

the diagram of the digestive system
Assiatu Reply
How does twins formed
William Reply
They formed in two ways first when one sperm and one egg are splited by mitosis or two sperm and two eggs join together
Oluwatobi
what is genetics
Josephine Reply
Genetics is the study of heredity
Misack
how does twins formed?
Misack
What is manual
Hassan Reply
discuss biological phenomenon and provide pieces of evidence to show that it was responsible for the formation of eukaryotic organelles
Joseph Reply
what is biology
Yousuf Reply
the study of living organisms and their interactions with one another and their environments
AI-Robot
the study of living organisms and their interactions with one another and their environment.
Wine
discuss the biological phenomenon and provide pieces of evidence to show that it was responsible for the formation of eukaryotic organelles in an essay form
Joseph Reply
what is the blood cells
Shaker Reply
list any five characteristics of the blood cells
Shaker
lack electricity and its more savely than electronic microscope because its naturally by using of light
Abdullahi Reply
advantage of electronic microscope is easily and clearly while disadvantage is dangerous because its electronic. advantage of light microscope is savely and naturally by sun while disadvantage is not easily,means its not sharp and not clear
Abdullahi
cell theory state that every organisms composed of one or more cell,cell is the basic unit of life
Abdullahi
is like gone fail us
DENG
cells is the basic structure and functions of all living things
Ramadan
What is classification
ISCONT Reply
is organisms that are similar into groups called tara
Yamosa
in what situation (s) would be the use of a scanning electron microscope be ideal and why?
Kenna Reply
A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is ideal for situations requiring high-resolution imaging of surfaces. It is commonly used in materials science, biology, and geology to examine the topography and composition of samples at a nanoscale level. SEM is particularly useful for studying fine details,
Hilary
cell is the building block of life.
Condoleezza Reply
what is cell divisoin?
Aron Reply
Diversity of living thing
ISCONT
what is cell division
Aron Reply
Cell division is the process by which a single cell divides into two or more daughter cells. It is a fundamental process in all living organisms and is essential for growth, development, and reproduction. Cell division can occur through either mitosis or meiosis.
AI-Robot
What is life?
Allison Reply
life is defined as any system capable of performing functions such as eating, metabolizing,excreting,breathing,moving,Growing,reproducing,and responding to external stimuli.
Mohamed
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Source:  OpenStax, Life orientation grade 8. OpenStax CNX. Sep 12, 2009 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11048/1.1
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