3-Minute Stress Management: Reduce Stress With This Short Activity
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Emma Mcadam offers a quick three-minute exercise to help reduce stress, focusing on physical relaxation techniques. She guides viewers through a series of movements, starting with self-assessment of physical tightness, followed by deep breathing, shoulder shrugs, head tilts, and arm and leg shaking to release tension. The session concludes with a gentle forward fold and a reassessment of the tension level. Emma also mentions Better Help, an online counseling service, as a sponsor of the video, providing a discount for first-time users.
Takeaways
- 🧘 Stress is the physical manifestation of anxiety, causing muscle tension and other physiological responses.
- 🤔 Worry is related to thoughts, whereas stress is linked to how our body reacts to perceived threats.
- 🆘 The fight-flight-freeze response is triggered by the brain when it perceives a threat, such as a tiger or an impending deadline.
- 🧠 We can train our mind and body to remain calm by engaging in activities that regulate the nervous system.
- 💆♀️ It's beneficial to perform stress-reducing activities frequently throughout the day to maintain a sense of calm.
- 🛋 For those in manual labor jobs, stress reduction might involve resting, whereas for desk-bound workers, incorporating movement is more effective.
- 📝 Start by rating your physical tightness on a scale from 0 to 10 to gauge your initial stress level.
- 💨 Engage in physical movements like shaking out your arms and legs to alleviate tension and stress.
- 🤸♂️ A gentle forward fold can help release tension and is a simple exercise that can be done at a desk or standing.
- 😌 After completing the exercises, re-evaluate your physical tightness to see if there has been a reduction in stress.
- 👍 Better Help is mentioned as a sponsor, offering professional and affordable online counseling services starting at around $65 per week.
Q & A
Who is the speaker in the video?
-The speaker in the video is Emma Mcadam.
What is the main topic of the video?
-The main topic of the video is about reducing stress in approximately three minutes.
What is the difference between stress and worry according to the video?
-Stress is the aspect of anxiety that we feel in our body, while worry is all about thoughts.
What is the physiological response to perceived danger mentioned in the video?
-The physiological response to perceived danger is the fight-flight-freeze response triggered by the brain.
How can we train our mind and body to be calm according to the video?
-We can train our mind and body to be calm by doing little activities that regulate the nervous system, preferably frequently throughout the day.
What does the video suggest for people with manual labor jobs to reduce stress?
-For people with manual labor jobs, stress reduction may look like resting on the couch.
What type of activity is recommended for people who spend a lot of time at their computer to reduce stress?
-For people who spend a lot of time at their computer, incorporating movement is suggested to reduce stress.
What is the first step suggested in the video to start reducing stress?
-The first step suggested is to rate your degree of physical tightness on a scale from 0 to 10.
What is the purpose of shaking out your arms and legs as described in the video?
-Shaking out your arms and legs is a way to incorporate movement and release tension in the body, which can help reduce stress.
What does the video suggest to do after shaking out your arms and legs?
-After shaking out your arms and legs, the video suggests standing up straight, feeling your feet on the floor, and doing a gentle forward fold.
How does the video conclude the stress reduction exercise?
-The video concludes the exercise by asking viewers to rate their tightness again on the same scale from 0 to 10 and to share their thoughts in the comments if it did not work.
What additional service is mentioned in the video and what does it offer?
-The video mentions Better Help, which provides professional, affordable online counseling starting at around $65 a week.
What is the special offer for viewers if they use the speaker's link for Better Help?
-If viewers use the speaker's link, they can get 10% off their first month with Better Help.
Outlines
🧘 How to Quickly Reduce Stress
Emma Mcadam introduces the topic of reducing stress in three minutes. She explains that stress is the physical manifestation of anxiety, with symptoms such as muscle tension and sweaty hands. Mcadam emphasizes the importance of regulating the nervous system through frequent activities, especially for those who work in sedentary jobs.
📏 Assessing Your Physical Tightness
Emma instructs viewers to rate their physical tightness on a scale from 0 to 10. She encourages taking a deep breath, moving the shoulders up and down, and gently tilting the head forward, back, and side to side to start loosening up.
💪 Shaking Out Stress
Emma demonstrates shaking out stress by shaking each arm and leg to get them loose and jiggly. She highlights that this exercise can be done at a desk or anywhere, and advises viewers to laugh at themselves if they feel ridiculous.
🦶 Grounding and Stretching
Emma instructs viewers to stand up, feel their feet on the ground, and breathe deeply while maintaining a straight posture. She suggests smiling slightly, doing a gentle forward fold to let the arms dangle, then standing up straight again. She prompts viewers to reassess their physical tightness to see if it has decreased.
👍 Share Your Feedback
Emma asks viewers to share their experiences and thoughts on the stress-reducing exercise in the comments. She concludes with a quick mention of the video sponsor, Better Help, promoting their affordable online counseling services and offering a discount through her link.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Stress
💡Anxiety
💡Fight-flight-freeze response
💡Nervous system
💡Manual labor jobs
💡Movement
💡Physical tightness
💡Breathing
💡Exercise
💡Better Help
💡Counseling
Highlights
Emma Mcadam introduces a three-minute exercise to reduce stress.
Stress is differentiated from worry as a physiological response to perceived danger.
The fight-flight-freeze response is triggered by the brain when it perceives a threat.
Stress reduction can be achieved by regulating the nervous system through daily activities.
For manual labor workers, stress reduction may involve resting, unlike those who are sedentary.
Incorporating movement is suggested as an effective method for stress reduction.
The exercise begins with rating physical tightness on a scale from 0 to 10.
Deep breathing is recommended as part of the stress reduction process.
Shoulder movements are included to help alleviate muscle tension.
Head tilting is suggested to relieve tension in the neck and shoulders.
Shaking arms and legs is a part of the exercise to release tension.
The exercise can be performed at a desk or any workplace.
Standing and shaking legs is part of the physical activity to reduce stress.
Straightening up and focusing on breath is a concluding step of the exercise.
A gentle forward fold is included to stretch and relax the body.
The exercise concludes with re-rating physical tightness to measure effectiveness.
Better Help is mentioned as a sponsor providing online counseling services.
A discount offer is provided for the first month of Better Help's service.
Transcripts
Hello everyone! Emma Mcadam here. Today we're going
to talk about how you can reduce your stress in around three minutes.
Okay, so quick reminder, stress is the aspect of anxiety that we feel in our body. Worry is all
about thoughts, but stress is about how our muscles get tense, or our breathing gets tight. Stress
makes you ache, or it makes your hands sweat right? Stress is that physiological response to perceived
danger. So when your brain perceives a threat, whether it's a tiger, or an upcoming deadline,
your brain is going to trigger that fight-flight-freeze response, but we can train our mind, and
our body, to be calm by doing little activities that regulate the nervous system, and it's best
if we do these frequently throughout the day. So for people who work in manual labor jobs,
stress reduction may look like, resting on the couch, but for people who spend a lot of their
day frozen at their computer, reducing stress is probably going to be most effective if we
incorporate movement. So here it goes. First thing I want you to do is to start by rating your
degree of physical tightness on a scale from 0 to 10, and and now take a big deep breath. (Inhale/Exhale)
Now bring your shoulders up and down,
and keep breathing. (Inhale-Exhale)
Now gently tilt your head forward, and back, side to side.
Now, I want you to start shaking your arm like this, haha,
that's pretty classy looking. Oh yeah, get that jiggling okay, now start shaking out your other arm,
just let it get really floppy, and just shake
it out. This is something you can do at your desk at work, or whatever, you know.
Okay, now I want you to stand up, and shake your leg out right, lets get it really jiggly,
shake your leg out. Get your other leg, shake your leg out.
Just kind of jiggle that leg around, you may feel a little ridiculous that's okay,
laugh at yourself if you want. Okay, now I just want you to straighten yourself up, (Inhale-Exhale)
feel your feet on the floor, don't forget to breathe, hold your head up straight, feel your legs
pressing into the ground, let yourself smile just a little bit, (heavy exhale)
and now just do a little gentle forward fold,
let your arms dangle,
stand up straight, and then I want you to rate your tightness again on the same scale from 0 to 10.
Did your degree of tension go down? Then then this worked if it did, and if not, well let me know in
the comments. Tell me what you think is helpful at reducing your stress. Okay, there's your three
minute exercise. The other thing I just want to say really quick, I want to thank Better Help for
sponsoring this video. They provide professional, affordable, online counseling starting at around
$65 dollars a week, so check out the link in the description. If you use my link, you
can get 10% off your first month. Okay, thank you for watching, and take care.
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