Defining Assertiveness

We define assertiveness as an ability to express feelings and assert rights while being respectful about the rights and feelings of others. With assertive communication, we have a way of communicating that is honest, open, and direct.

Related: 4 Ways To Avoid Stress At College

For some people, assertiveness is natural. For others it is not. At the end of the day, this is a character trait you can learn. When you master assertiveness, you reduce the possibility of being faced with interpersonal conflicts. This is how you reduce stress since conflicts with others often cause it.

Assertiveness Versus Aggressiveness

It is very easy to confuse assertiveness with aggressiveness. This is because both of these behaviors include expressing needs and standing up for yourself. The main difference is that when you behave in an assertive way, you express yourself in such a way that you do respect the people you talk to. You initially assume the very best and try to make a compromise.

When you behave in an aggressive way, you usually use disrespectful, abusive, demeaning, or manipulative tactics. Negative assumptions are made, especially in regards to what other people think. The “win” appears at the clear expense of other people and unnecessary conflict is oftentimes created.

The passive individual does not adequately communicate needs and feelings. There is this conflict fear and all feelings are kept secret. Passive people let others win arguments and they lose out. Unfortunately, when this happens, everyone involved actually loses something.

Assertiveness Examples

Let’s use 2 examples to highlight the differences between the various ways to communicate.

A person cuts right in front of you while at the market

• The aggressive response: “Hey, (insert swear word here), do not cut in line!”
• The passive response is obviously to say absolutely nothing.
• The assertive response is to say something like: “Excuse me sir/madam, I was in line.”

A friend calls to vent but you have no time to talk about it because of work

• The aggressive response: “Just get over it! It is not like I do not have problems!”
• The passive response is to let the friend talk without saying anything, even if you will have work-related problems because of it.
• The assertive response implies that you listen for some time but you then show compassion and you say that you want to listen but you do not have time right then because of work. At the same time, you ask if you can talk at a later point in time.

Assertiveness Benefits

When you are assertive, you are faced with fewer conflicts when you talk to others. This means that you automatically have less stress in your life. Your needs are much more likely to be met so you do not have to deal with extra stress caused by those unmet needs, all this while you help other people to have their needs met.

You are going to have a more supportive, stronger relationship so people will trust you. They will count on you and even your body will be healthier since you reduce stress.

If you are aggressive, you start to alienate other people. You actually create stress that is not at all necessary. As time passes, you end up faced with very little social life support and your relationships will most likely all suffer.

When you are passive, you do not communicate. You do not talk about your feelings and needs so people do not know them. Relationships are damaged because of the lack of communication.

Related: Mindfulness Meditation Techniques To Help You Reduce Stress

As you can see, being assertive is much better for all aspects of your life.

Becoming More Assertive

In order to become more assertive, you need to practice. You have to be completely honest with yourself and analyze your responses so you know exactly where you stand. Think about the following to get started:

• Is it difficult for you to accept criticism, even constructive criticism?
• Do you feel as if you are attacked if someone else has a different opinion about something?
• Is it difficult to voice things when you have a different opinion?
• Do you often just say yes to what you want to deny just because you do not want to disappoint someone?

Move towards assertiveness and you will quickly see that you feel better and you have less stress in your life.

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Understanding Anxiety

Basically, anxiety can be defined as being a state of uncertainty, fear and apprehension resulting from anticipating an imagined or real situation, circumstance or event that is perceived as being threatening.

Simply put, when you are afraid that there is something that can endanger or harm you, the fear or concern makes you anxious. If you want an easier way to understand this, check out Anxiety Mouse.

As you are anxious, your body offers a stress response. The goal is to help us increase energy and awareness if we believe danger is near. Stress causes various different emotional, psychological and physiological changes in our body so that we can better deal with a threat. This happens both during fight and flight responses.

Low degree anxiety produces small flight or fight body changes. When affected by high degree anxiety, the changes are high.

An anxiety attack can be pretty intense, frightening and awful. The experience is powerful and in many cases the person experiencing it feels completely out of control.

What Are The Most Common Anxiety Attack Symptoms?

You could experience countless possible anxiety attack symptoms. When doctors try to figure out if a person suffered such an episode, they often look for the following:

• Feeling overwhelming fear
• Feeling like you lose control or go crazy
• Feeling that you are in immediate danger
• Feeling that you might soon pass out
• Dizziness
• Feeling like you need to escape the situation
• Trembling
• Heart palpitations
• Shortness of breath
• Sweating
• Chest pain or chest pressure
• Becoming pale
• Knees are weak
• Skin is burning
• Cold and hot flushes
• Tingling and numbness sensations

The anxiety attack symptoms mentioned above can be accompanied by many other feelings, like:

• Confusion
• Tightening throat or choking sensation
• Lightheadedness
• Emotional upset or distress
• Not being able to calm down
• Stomach knots
• Panicky feeling
• Nausea
• Racing heart
• Butterflies in your stomach
• A sudden urge to use the bathroom to defecate or urinate
• A feeling of wanting to cry
• Vomiting

Keep in mind that this is not at all an exhaustive list. Numerous emotional, psychological and physical symptoms and signs exist. The reason for this is that the response of your body is unique. You are going to be affected differently by a panic attack when compared with anyone else. Anxiety attack symptoms will vary in kind, type, intensity, frequency and duration. Your body might respond to anxiety in a different way than what was highlighted above.

Various medical conditions are known to cause anxiety attacks and there are conditions that cause anxiety like symptoms. Due to this, it is important to talk to the doctor to be sure the symptoms you are affected by are actually caused by anxiety and stress.

Anxiety Attack Symptoms Duration

Anxiety attack symptoms vary in length. You can feel them for a few seconds or for hours. An attack’s length is normally determined by how frightened you are and how the body reacts when you are afraid. If the reaction is greater, the attack lasts longer.

Anxiety Attack Symptoms Seriousness

Anxiety attack symptoms are not considered to be serious but try telling that to someone that experiences serious symptoms for a long period of time. The way in which you perceive how serious everything is will be influenced by different factors. Even if the symptoms themselves are not harmful, being affected often or by long attacks can be crippling.

Anxiety Attack Causes

Two main anxiety attack causes were identified:

• High Degree Anxiety

Anxiety attacks are usually caused by the fact that you think you are in danger. The body produces a strong stress response. High degree stress responses can easily cause really profound emotional, physiological and psychological body changes. If you are unsuspecting, the changes are quite unnerving.

After body changes are initiated, the anxious personality will react with more fear. This causes even more responses.

• Chronically Elevated Stress

If stress levels are normal, your body functions as it should. If stress builds up and there is no relief, involuntary panic attacks can appear. This practically means the stress response was not caused by a behavior.

Involuntary high degree stress responses lead to profound sensations. You practically feel that you have a true medical emergency. Anxious personalities will react with even more feeling of fear. As you become afraid, your body produces extra stress responses.

Anxiety Attack Statistics You Might Want To Know

Anxiety attacks are officially classified as being a panic disorder. Also, they are often referred to as anxiety attack disorder or panic attack disorder.

Statistics show that around 19% of people aged between 18 and 54 in North America experience anxiety disorder. The number is potentially a lot higher since many anxiety conditions will go unreported and undiagnosed.

Every single person in the world experiences intense anxiety episodes once in a while. Many have at least 2 anxiety attacks during a lifetime. However, if the anxiety attacks often happen, they can affect and drastically restrict normal lifestyle. People eventually end up being afraid of having a panic attack. This is what many doctors actually refer to as anxiety attack disorder. The condition is highly debilitating.

Anxiety attacks usually appear between 17 and 25 years of age but it does not matter how old you are as you can be affected. An attack can last a lot of time. The longer the attack, the higher the possibility that you are going to fear future attacks, especially if subsequent anxiety attacks follow. Anxiety attacks do eventually end but symptoms can linger for days, based on attack severity.

Final Thoughts

A huge problem is that anxiety attacks are usually misunderstood.  You will find sources that will tell you that anxiety attacks are caused by genetics or biological elements. However, practical evidence and independent research showed that this is not the case.

Anxiety attacks are frightening but you should not be afraid of them. If you suspect you are affected by panic attacks, the best thing you can do is go to a doctor that can help you. Any anxiety disorder should be treated as early as possible since stress just keeps growing and accumulating as more attacks appear.

All anxiety attacks eventually end. Learn how to spot an anxiety attack, know YOUR symptoms and try to calm down as it appears. The more information you have about anxiety, the easier it is to control what happens. The doctor can also help you by recommending many different natural treatments. Medication can also help.

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But, as any student will tell you, going to college isn’t always a stress-free experience.

Moving out from your family home, dealing with meeting new people and bonding with your new friends, learning how to budget and manage your own money and figuring out how to fit everything into your new routine can quickly take its toll.

Pair that with assignments, essays and papers that are due in a matter of weeks from your program starting, and it’s easy to see why so many students say that they are stressed out. However, the good news is that there are several things you can do to keep your stress levels down. We’ve listed just a few here.

#1. Speak to Somebody:

Don’t forget that there’s no need to struggle alone if you’re feeling particularly stressed out at college. It’s normal to feel some stress during the early stages when you’re first getting used to the change, and again stress isn’t uncommon when you have a big assignment or exam coming up, and it can actually be a good thing – if you weren’t feeling just a little bit stressed, you may not push yourself to succeed as much.

However, if left unchecked, too much stress can lead to mental health problems, such as anxiety or depression. So, if you feel that your stress about college is taking over your life, speak to somebody who can help you such as your professor, college counselor, a therapist or a parent.

#2. Get Assignment Help:

Are assignments getting you down? The good news is that there are many great ways to get some help with your work. An easy way to do this is by joining a study group. Your classmates will all be working on similar things, so you can chat to them as you revise and write essays, share ideas, and get advice on topics that they may understand better than you do. And, being part of a study group is a great way to ensure that you’re socializing when you’ve got a lot of work on, rather than shutting yourself in to sit at your desk and work all day.

#3. Look After Your Health:

When you’re at college, it can be all too easy to let your lifestyle go. Fun is a big part of going to college, but if you’re finding that you’re going out partying more than you’re studying, or your diet isn’t looking too great, it might be time to sit back and take a look at how this is affecting your stress levels.

There’s nothing wrong with having some fun in moderation, but make sure that your health comes first. Don’t be afraid to turn down a night out if you need to rest – your body and mind will thank you later!

Consider joining your college gym, or joining a sports society as well. This will help you stay active, which has several awesome benefits for both your physical and mental health. And, steer clear from processed food – although it’s handy and cheap, it won’t give your brain the nutrition it needs for maximum performance. Also, you might want to try some legal CDB if you feel too much stress or you suffer from a health condition that can benefit from it.

There are several great nutritious meals for students that you can cook easily and cheaply in no time!

#4. Get Financial Advice:

For many college students, money is a huge source of their stress and worry. If you’re not in the fortunate position of being able to get help from your family, putting yourself through college can be a hugely stressful experience. It’s a wise idea to speak to a financial advisor about student loans, financial aid, and any other monetary help you may be eligible for. And, they will also be able to help you better manage the money that you do have so that you can avoid stressing about your expenditure and focus on getting the degree that you want instead.

Did you find these tips helpful? We’d love to get your feedback in the comments!

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In our run for success and personal development, we tend to pay attention to our mind and completely forget about our body and soul. This leads to stress and stress leads to so many harmful effects, that it will get really hard to stop it. It is just like a carousel that keeps spinning faster and faster. The longer you wait, the harder it is to get out.

Instead of going forward as we want to, we are held back by our thoughts and worries that will later manifest as a disease. Stress is one of the biggest reasons of diseases in our century. The stress factors do not cause any disease, but they are responsible for the aggravating of certain states, like allergies, asthma, migraines, eczemas and so on. Furthermore, stress will contribute to the raise of arterial pressure and cardio-vascular problems.

To avoid those situations, there are some methods you could use to improve your reactions to stress:

Yoga

Our endocrine, nervous and digestive systems are the most affected because of stress and research has proved that yoga is proper to improve the function of it. While practicing, yoga, we stretch our muscles and massage our organs. Those exercises, if they are practiced correctly, balance our body, fill us with energy and give us a state of interior peace. The benefits of yoga are multiple, many conditions can disappear and we will learn replace stress with the capacity of overcoming problems easier.

Tai Chi

Tai Chi is not a very popular technique, but it is extremely benefic for relaxation. And what is the best way to fight stress other than being relaxed? The Chinese believe that our body is crossed by an energy called “Qi” or “Chi”. In Chinese medicine, it is considered that this energy is responsible for being healthy. The technique is quite simple. You need to pay attention at your breath and think of the present. Tai Chi also uses body movements that implicate muscles. Those two combined can fight stress and tiredness.

Breathing

This is the easiest technique and it can be applied by anyone. Most mediation technique use breathing as a method of being focused and stop thinking of problems. Besides, breathing can be used in your car, in an office without too much effort and without drawing attention. Breath is controlled by muscles and it can make us aware of our relationship with ourselves. Paying attention at our breath, at the way we inspire and expire, we can help ourselves in time to react better to stress and problems. Even more, it will help us improve the way we breathe. A good exercise is to inspire while counting to 7, keep the air inside for 4 seconds and expire while counting to 8. The purpose is to become aware of the way be breathe and in this way we stop thinking about our problems.

How does meditation work?

Meditation meets psychology, personal development and they influence each other. Meditation is one of the most important techniques that help us manage stress. By doing this, we gain psychic equilibrium, which leads to the improvement of our health, our thoughts and our relationship with ourselves.

Besides meditation, a healthier lifestyle can also help you fight with stress. Whenever you can, don’t forget to practice sport. Exercises will help you get rid of the stress hormones from our blood and stimulate the release of endorphins (happiness hormones). Stop drinking too much coffee. It is indicated to replace as much coffee as you can with teas and of course, at least 8 glasses of water a day.

We are humans, stress is normal and obviously, we can never fight it 100%. The best technique that will help you is the one that relaxes you the most. Stop thinking about your problems for a while and just try to relax. For starters, try listening to this:

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Improved Focus and Mental Energy

Distractions: they’re everywhere in the hustle and bustle of city life. Our minds are constantly being disrupted by noises of technology, cars, people and a thousand other by-products of urban life. When you get out of the city and head toward calmer and more natural locales, a lot of these distractions fade away. Being able to merely think without such distractions will inevitably help restore a sense of concentration and focus that is impossible to achieve while being constantly hit with sounds, smells and sights that are unnatural. Additionally, this relaxation and calmness can help to boost mental energy levels in some people.

Stress Reduction

Daily life in cities can result in stress from a variety of factors. Environmental stress on physical well-being, emotional stress from family and work, and stress that results from the lack of exercise/endorphins are all common elements in modern urban life. Getting out of the city for just a day can help encourage more exercise while immersed in nature, which helps to naturally alleviate stress levels and improve well-being. So what are you waiting for? Grab a pair of hiking boots, jump in the car, and head for the nearest mountain, park or natural reserve to begin beating that age-old enemy known as stress.

Physical Benefits

Getting out of the city for a day and exploring the great outdoors can be the beginning of a wonderful, healthy trend. In addition to providing much needed exercise for those who languish away in urban environments, there are plenty of other physical health benefits to be enjoyed. First of all, preliminary evidence suggests that being active outdoors can significantly lower the rate of certain cancers. Additionally, several studies suggest that being active outdoors can reduce the rate of early mortality in a meaningful sense. Last but definitely not least, active outdoor exploration can help to improve the immune system’s response to a variety of illnesses.

Whether it’s to improve mental well-being, relieve stress or increase the likelihood of health outcomes, there are plenty of reasons to get outdoors and away from the city for at least one day – ideally, more often. What are some of your favorite outdoor activities? Let us know below in the comments section what helps to get you out of house.

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Instead of highlighting those techniques that are considered to be the best, we will focus on those that are perfect for first timers. They help to become more familiar with mindfulness meditation and can help you deal with stress at the same time. Also, all these show you how you can actually take advantage of the environment surrounding you to reach that mindfulness state you want.

Sounds

The idea is to mindfully focus on sounds surrounding you. Most people believe that the environment has to be quiet in order to properly meditate but that is not actually the case. Especially for first timers it is more useful to have some environmental sound. A focus put on sound aids to be able to focus on mindfulness meditation. At the same time, music will be very effective and makes the entire experience a lot better.

Sensations

Another wonderful focus for your mindfulness meditation session is physical sensation. Paying attention in a non-judgmental way to how your body feels on the outside and the inside offers a highly effective deep experience. This is particularly useful when you are affected by emotional stress. You can do it anywhere you want but one great way to start is to focus on sensations as you take a bath. Yes, bath meditation is actually a thing and you will most likely love it.

Thoughts

A big problem for people that just now start to meditate is an inability to completely clear one’s mind. It is normal to feel quite difficult to stop all the thoughts that go through your mind. As you start meditating your thoughts will be so loud that you will feel overwhelmed. However, as you keep practicing and you take it easy, those thoughts quiet down. In mindfulness meditation you can remain focus on those thoughts that go through your head. Do not engage them. Just accept that they exist. You can do this whenever and wherever you want to.

Taste

If you are stressed you instinctively use taste as a way to reduce stress. The problem is that this often leads to sweet cravings and food abuse. While overeating is generally a bad idea, if you do feel overwhelmed and stressed, using taste based mindfulness meditation techniques is great. Using taste buds lets you be anchored in the now, which is always highly advantageous. Basically, you can even enjoy chocolate meditation as it will help.

Breathing

When you think about meditation you automatically think about breathing so this suggestion should be no surprise for you. No matter what is happening around you, a focus put on breathing helps to so easily get a lot better. One of the most effective of all mindfulness meditation techniques to help deal with stress is to be focused on your breathing. This offers an emotional and even physical relaxation.

Conclusions

As you can see, there are many different ways in which mindfulness meditation can help you deal with stress. The focus suggestions above are just some that you can try. Remember that practice makes perfect and you always want to be sure that you try different things so you can actually find what works for you. Remember that all people are different so what is unique to you should be accepted.

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Communication ‘A problem shared is a problem halved’, is a good philosophy to live by. Talking to someone about the way we are feeling lightens the load. Left to its own, stressed, devices the mind imagines wholly unrealistic and extremely negative reactions occurring should we confide in others. The brain experiences these scenarios as reality and goes into immediate survival mode. Chemicals are released which are intended to ready us for battle. Blood pressure rises; the heart races and the palms sweat as the body prepares itself to see off a threat. It is meant as a temporary measure until the threat has been averted, but constant stress sees these chemicals being constantly released and this state of high alert being maintained. The reality is that we are far more likely to find sympathy and a huge load of empathy when we confide in others. Everyone has at some time or other experienced feelings of inadequacy and, after listening to another’s woes will probably have a few confessions of their own to make.

Attitude Mental attitude goes a long way in determining how we cope with difficulties; positive thinking is a practised attribute. A point should be made of associating with people who talk and think positively, as this has a habit of rubbing off.

Light Relief  It should also be remembered that sensationalism is what fills the media’s coffers. If listening to the news has a depressing effect, then it should either be avoided, or balanced with something uplifting and humorous soon after. Laughter also causes chemical reactions in the brain and nervous system, which have a feel-good effect; the more you laugh the longer this feeling will be maintained.

Keeping a journal Stress does not promote clear thinking and a jumble of thoughts and emotions are like an untidy closet; nothing is easily found. Keeping a journal not only has a similar effect to confiding in a friend, the ability to read back what is written creates a sense similar to that of listening to a friend confide. Having expressed our fears and insecurities in writing it allows us to see them more clearly and to more easily provide a solution.

Healthy Living  Diet, fresh air and exercise play a vital role in mental and physical health. A minimum of 30 mins of exercise a day will, again, have the brain reacting favourably and releasing those all-important, feel-good hormones. Comfort eating usually involves rewarding ourselves with what tastes good, but is known to be bad for health. Stress burns energy and high energy snacks and drinks can compensate. Alcohol prevents that deep sleep that is necessary for the body’s revival and should be avoided or limited to one drink before bed. The recommended 8 hours of sleep a night will be more easily accomplished if time is taken for a little self-indulgence before bed: Relaxing in a bubble bath while listening to soothing music works wonders and a few scented candles lend a luxurious and exotic air. Meditating on the finer things in life is always beneficial and learning to do this instead of focusing on things like heavy traffic, which you cannot change, will pay huge health dividends.

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