What happens when the stress is STILL THERE after you've "managed" it?
What good is the stress management if it doesn't make the stress GO AWAY?

If you've asked this question, and you've tried meditation, breathing techniques, counting backwards from 100, or anything else to help you manage your stress but you feel like it "hasn't worked", it's likely your expectations are misplaced.

Here's the thing with stress management techniques that most people forget: those techniques are not meant to *poof* your stress away.
It's not meant to make you feel miraculously stress free
What they are meant to do is to help you SLOW your brain down, helps you step back, and take a real objective look at what is truly causing your stress.

After you've done a few minutes of meditation or breathing, or whatever techniques suits you: now it's time to step back and take a good look at your problem now that you've dragged your brain out of that anxiety spiral of doom. Take your day one step at a time. Journal about the feeling of imposter syndrome, inadequacy, or fear of not being enough. Take a deeper dive into the REAL cause of your stress. And YES, this is definitely a PROCESS. And NO, stress doesn't just poof away. But the stress management techniques are the first steps in helping you find space to help yourself.

Are you willing to try stress management techniques again and want some guidance on the follow up and follow through? Send me a DM, or feel free to email me at pan@painreliefpath.com. Looking forward to hearing from you!