Please describe a stressful situation and how you managed or mismanaged that situation. Have you used exercise as a stress management technique?

Reply to student post below!

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A stressful situation I have experienced lately, as I’m sure most parents on here would agree, has been adjusting to virtual schooling with my son. My son is in first grade and has been doing virtual schooling for the last month. On top of having to adjust to this new norm, I have also been struggling to keep up with my college course load because I am taking some more challenging classes this semester. Originally when I made my plan to complete my prerequisites for nursing school, I planned to take my more time consuming and challenging classes when my son would be at school full-time. Now that we are at home doing virtual school, I find myself bouncing back and forth between his school schedule and my classwork. Not to mention, I also have a very busy three year old that is still dependent on me to meet her everyday needs. Though it is very much a balancing act, I feel most days I handle it pretty well.

On the good days, I wake up extra early to set up my son’s work space and gather all the materials he will need to complete his schoolwork throughout the day so I’m not rushing back and forth to get his school supplies. I set him up on one side of the dinning room table and set myself up on the other side with my class materials so I can see him and make sure he is doing his work while I do my classwork as well. Recently, I bought him a set of headphones so that he can focus better and not be distracted by the noise going on around the house. On the more difficult days, I stay up too late at night and end up sleeping in too late the next morning. I feel unprepared and scatter brained trying to gather materials and make sure he is on time for his class Zoom meetings. Moreover, I end up being short tempered and finding myself having more of a negative attitude towards everything throughout the day.

I exercise everyday and it does help with my stressors a lot. Many days where I feel overwhelmed and like the day is out of my control I take my kids and I on a long walk. While I’m on the walk I try to do what I call the “4 senses exercise.” As I walk I point out the pretty things I see, I touch flowers or walk bare foot in the grass to make myself feel more grounded, I take deep inhales and ask my kids what different smells they can smell in the air, and I listen to the birds chirp and try to find where they are hiding in the bushes and the trees. On days where I’m having high stress and anxiety, I find that the long walks and the 4 senses exercise helps me relieve my stress more than my regular 30 minute workouts.