If you are in charge of workforce education at your job or if you are in charge of coming up with interesting ideas for your next staff meeting, seminar, or offsite, consider putting together a stress management training course. Virtually everyone can benefit from learning how to manage their stress. Whether you spend 15 minutes or an hour on each of these topics, you can easily put together a complete stress management training curriculum by covering several or all of them.

Time Management

Learning to manage one’s time can make a big difference in a person’s stress level. But remember to keep it simple, because you have a lot to cover! Teach the stress management training class how to prioritize daily activities so they can achieve their goals over time.

Physical Stress Relief

Lots of physical sensations relieve stress, but they are not advised for a workplace, school, or church group seminar. Instead, concentrate on a few minutes of calisthenics like jumping rope, or hitting a punching bag with boxing gloves. It won’t take much activity to release physical stress.

Low-Stress Foods And Drinks

Most people don’t think of diet tips as part of stress management training, but a low-salt, alcohol-free vegan diet can provide the nutrients needed for stress-free living while reducing blood pressure and the risk of stroke. Don’t just talk about it, though. Offer samples of some of these surprisingly flavorful foods. Alcohol-free beer and wine and fresh fruits and low-sodium breads and crackers are great ideas for the refreshments at your stress management training event.

Mind Games

Include some practical coping techniques in your stress management training course. One extremely effective technique is to write down whatever it is that you worry the most about and then schedule time to sit down and worry about it. Fortunately, most of the things we dread the most never happen, so there is a good chance that if you schedule your worry date properly, you will never have to keep the appointment. For example, if you find yourself worrying that your car will break down on a road trip, even though you have had the car serviced and you have a cell phone and credit cards, schedule an appointment to worry about the breakdown on the day after you return from your trip. If the breakdown happened, keep the appointment; otherwise, forget about it.

Biofeedback

Cold hands are a sure sign of high stress. Purchase enough low-cost fingertip thermometers for your entire class and have them strap the thermometers on and note their fingertip temperature. Engage the class in a relaxation technique like imagery. After a few minutes of immersion into the technique, have them re-check their temperatures. Without exception, the results of this exercise are dramatic and persuasive.

Tags: Stress Management Training

Trackback URI | Comments RSS