We all know what stress is, and how it feels. But how many of us can honestly say we know how to manage it, and more importantly, build up our resilience to it? Effective stress management begins with making a thoughtful, conscious appraisal of the source of the stress, and making equally thoughtful decisions about how to manage it in a healthy and sustainable way.
Research shows that how we respond to stress—whether with awareness or avoidance—can significantly influence our mental and physical health (1). While temporary distractions may offer short-term relief, they often fail to address the underlying physiological and emotional effects of stress. To build true resilience, we need to engage in restorative practices that regulate the nervous system, support emotional processing, and foster long-term adaptability.
From Passive Escape to Active Ease: Rethinking Stress Relief.
While relaxation should be ‘relaxing’, distraction should not take the place of proper relief from stress and busy lifestyles. When feeling stressed, most people will immediately reach for their devices, and although under some circumstances, social media can be effective at helping people relax, it can just as easily do the opposite. Just passively taking in whatever content is available in your feed is not a good idea if you’re trying to wind down. Curate your feeds, and the platform that you use, to ensure that you are getting the desired effect (3).
Most people have a hobby or participate in of some sort of activity that is more beneficial to the brain in terms of modulating the stress response and allowing body and mind to relax. Physical exercise is a great example of an active stress management strategy and is proven to reduce feelings of stress, and improve resilience (1). Creative outlets are another way of actively reducing stress. As we know, creativity can take many forms: Drawing, cooking, writing/journalling, woodwork, gardening, craft. Not creative? Then think about what activities do relax you: It could be reading a book, spending time with your kids, going out fishing, or for coffee with friends.
Transitioning From Stress to Self-Knowledge: The Power of Awareness
Research shows that self-care practices reduce stress and foster resilience. Most importantly, they foster awareness. Awareness of your internal emotional state is important, because it’s this that will act as a call to action when your emotional state becomes overwhelming.
When you have the opportunity to do so, stop and reflect.
- What situation instigated this feeling? Identify your triggers.
- Do I know why I feel this way?
- What emotions are attached to this situation?
- What action can I take to calm myself?
- Are there any steps I need to take to process this any further?
A personalised approach to building resilience and stress management.
Building resilience is important – like charging up a battery, it helps you adapt the next time you feel stressed. Some other examples of effective resilience strategies include mindfulness and meditation, both tried and tested in terms of modulating the hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response and supporting mental health. But if you feel an eye roll coming on, don’t be too quick to dismiss these. I listened to a podcast recently where the guest speaker only meditated for 1 minute each day…this was enough for him to feel the effect.
Successful attempts to actively manage stress leads to increased resilience, so that over time, resilience and mental health outcomes are positively linked. And it makes sense that once you have learned what stress looks and feels like to you, you can also learn what it takes to work through and process the stress and the different emotions attached to it. Over time, this positively changes the structure of your brain and how it responds to stress – this is called neuroplasticity (4).
Dealing with stress is inevitable—but suffering doesn’t have to be. When we begin to view stress not as something to escape, but as a signal to pause, reflect, and respond with care, we shift from surviving to thriving. Resilience is built through small, consistent choices that help to recalibrate the nervous system and remind us that we are not powerless in the face of adversity.
(1) Joyce, S., Shand, F., Tighe, J., Laurent, S. J., Bryant, R. A., & Harvey, S. B. (2018). Road to resilience: A systematic review and meta-analysis of resilience training programmes and interventions. In BMJ Open, 8 (6). BMJ Publishing Group. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017858
(2) Lepping, K. M., Bailey, C. P., Mavredes, M. N., Faro, J. M., & Napolitano, M. A. (2021). Physical Activity, Stress, and Physically Active Stress Management Behaviors Among University Students With Overweight/Obesity. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 17(4), 601–606. https://doi.org/10.1177/15598276211020688
(3)Wolfers, L. N., & Schneider, F. M. (2021). Using Media for Coping: A Scoping Review. In Communication Research, 48(4), pp. 1210–1234). SAGE Publications Inc. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650220939778
(4) Hermans, E. J., Hendler, T., & Kalisch, R. (2025). Building Resilience: The Stress Response as a Driving Force for Neuroplasticity and Adaptation. Biological psychiatry, 97(4), 330–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.10.016