Managing stress - Brainsmart - BBC

Watch this. One little piece of paper can have a remarkable effect. Stress is stressful. But if you understand a bit about what it is you'll be better able to deal with it. First though, take a few deep breaths. In fact, do that any time you feel stressed. It helps. Stress is a survival mechanism. When danger appears, it can get you out of trouble quickly. Your body crashes up the gears and throws all its resources into getting you moving. Your heart pumps furiously to increase blood pressure. Glucose is sent to the muscles as a fuel injection and you become total focused on what psychologists call fight...or flight. Thing is this emergency state is only meant to last just long enough to get you out of danger. But here in the 21st century we stress about different things and for much, much longer. Your brain and body stay on red alert and you'll be less able to think clearly, learn, or remember things. Take a few more deep breaths because as you now know stress is a physical reaction and deep breathing helps to counteract its effects. So what else can you do? Ok, top tips to reduce stress. First, get plenty of exercise. Let out all that locked up energy. Now, back to the problem. Get in control. Scope out the situation and how you're going to tackle it. Don't stress alone. Talk to someone. Socialize and have a laugh. You can't laugh and quake with fear at the same time. Get down with nature on a big or small scale. And if your mind won't stop worrying give it something else to do instead.

Mechanism : /ˈmɛkəˌnɪzəm/ : mécanisme
To crash up the gears : /ɡɪə/ : s'emballer
Throw : /θrəʊ/ : lancer, jeter
Focused on : focus : /ˈfəʊkəs/ : concentré
Counteract : /ˌkaʊntərˈækt/ : contrer
Plenty : /ˈplɛntɪ/ : abondance, grande quantité
Scope : /skəʊp/ : cadre
Tackle : /ˈtækəl/ : tacler, s'attaquer
Quake : /kweɪk/ : trembler
Scale : /skeɪl/ : échelle