Stress Management Lesson Plans

Stress management lesson plans are helpful for both students and teachers, and knowing how to prepare your own lesson plans and where to obtain free copies of ready-made plans online can help you prepare for class easily.

Stress management classes are popular.

Symptoms of Stress

People react to stress in different ways. Certain things give evidence that a person has too much stress in their lives. One of the most commonly referenced stress management information sources is the US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine (USACHPPM). The following represent some of the signs of someone suffering from stress:

• Frequent stomach upsets
• Trouble sleeping
• Feeling tired all of the time
• Feeling burned-out at work
• Frequent migraine or tension headaches
• Being impatient with other people

In order to learn to deal with stress effectively, individuals need to understand what is triggering the stress behavior. Stress is anything that places demands on the body physically, mentally or emotionally. A little bit of stress is normal and it keeps people motivated in their daily lives. However, too much stress can have a negative effect on the body and in personal relationships both at home and in the workplace.

Teaching Stress Management

Teaching stress management techniques and presenting information in front of a classroom can be easy if you have the information and resources needed for this project. An effective a stress management lesson should cover the four components of stress management:

• Avoiding Stress
• Altering Stress
• Accepting Stress
• Adapting to Stress

Avoiding Stress

Managing stress can help people live longer and have better relationships with those they interact with each day. People that are under stress can have health problems that are a direct result of not managing stress properly. The purpose of teaching stress management techniques is to provide people with the tools they need to deal with life's problems on a daily basis.

The following tools can help people avoid stress in their lives:

• Use the Serenity Prayer
• Learn to say "no"
• Avoid negative people
• Exercise
• Eat healthy
• Avoid hot-button topics
• Control the environment
• Keep a short to-do list and eliminate things that can be done later

Altering Stressful Situations

Adaptation techniques are effective ways for people to deal with stress when they cannot control the environment they are in. Ways to alter an environment include:

• Express your feelings in a respectful way
• Be assertive and honest
• Compromise when necessary
• Use time wisely – plan ahead to avoid being late and to get things done on schedule

Accepting Situations

No one can control everything in their life and all situations. When people learn to accept the things they cannot change, they can alleviate some of the stress in their lives.

• Accept that no one can control everything
• Look for the bright side of a situation
• Share problems with others – friends, family, or therapists
• Forgive others

Adapt to the Situation

Sometimes the only thing that can be done to change a stressful situation is to adapt to it. Regain control of the situation by using these techniques:

• Try to view a situation from all angles
• See the "big picture"
• Adjust standards
• Focus on the positive

Free Stress Management Lesson Plans

Find plans online.

There are dozens of free publications and downloads that you can use to create your own stress management lesson plans for use in a workshop or classroom. The following are a few of the many resources that can be found online.

• Targeting Health: Stress Management – includes a complete outline, lesson plans, and overheads that can be used to teach stress management in the classroom.
• Managing Stress: How to Reduce, Prevent and Cope with Stress – includes stress management tips and how to create a stress management plan.
• Stress Reduction Techniques - printable list of stress reduction techniques for teachers.
• Relaxation Techniques - for use in a workshop or classroom.
• Taking Care of Me – stress management lesson plans for school-aged children, grades 6-8.
• Stress Management lessons from the Center for Disease Control.

Being prepared in the classroom can help teachers avoid stress even while they teach stress management techniques. Whether the classroom is filled with elementary school students, teenagers, college students, or adults, the right lesson plans will lead to a stress-free lesson.

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