Stress is just your nervous system doing its job.

When we're stressed, our brains don't work well. It's not just you - there's a physiological reason for it. When your nervous system perceives danger, it puts all available energy into getting you to safety.  Which is great when you're being chased by a bear. Less so when you're stressed because of a news headline or an email you received.

That's why it's difficult to remember stress-relieving strategies when you're feeling anxious or overwhelmed - the energy that would ordinarily enable you to remember what helps you is now being used to send blood and oxygen to your big muscles to GET YOU AWAY FROM THE BEAR.

What's a person to do? Seems a hopeless cause.

Practicing your stress-relieving tools when you're not stressed or anxious is a good first step.

What helps you feel better when you're anxious or stressed?

• connecting with your breath?

• EFT tapping?

• praying?

• walking?

What else can you think of?

Now you get to take advantage of neuroplasticity - the ability of the nervous system to rewire itself and create new patterns.

Choose the action that helps you to feel better when you're stressed, and repeat it when you're not stressed. Set several alarms per day on your phone to remind you. Hardwire that action into your nervous system so it will become more automatic, and eventually become the thing you reach for without thinking about it. (And maybe that bear will go away on its own, instead of you having to run away from it...)

Try this and let me know how it goes!