Reflective Writing Assignment: Self-Care, Stress, and Quality of Life

This reflective report examines the role of self-care activities in managing stress and fostering resilience. The introduction defines stress and highlights the importance of self-care practices, such as meditation, balanced diet, and social interaction. The report then delves into the specific self-care activities used, with a focus on meditation, and their impact on the individual's quality of life, particularly in stressful situations. It emphasizes the importance of consistency in these practices and suggests improvements, such as redirecting wandering thoughts during meditation. Furthermore, the report discusses resilience development, defining it as the ability to cope with difficult situations, and how meditation promotes emotional control and positive health outcomes. The conclusion summarizes the benefits of self-care for stress management and resilience, suggesting that these practices enhance the quality of life by balancing physical, emotional, and psychological well-being.

Reflective writing task

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Self care activities to manage stressful situation ........................................................................1
Impact of self care activity on quality of life ..............................................................................1
Suggested improvements ............................................................................................................2
Resilience development...............................................................................................................2
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION
Stress is defined as the discomforting situation or the response of body towards specific
changes demanding response or adjustment. The body can show the response in terms of
physical, emotional, mental discomfort or distress. Thus, for the overall well being of an
individual it is necessary to use various self care practices and activities (Blaustein &
Kinniburgh, 2018). These activities play a significant role in managing stress and leading quality
life. This reflective report will evaluate the impact of self care activities in stress management
and how they can lead to development of resilience.
Self care activities to manage stressful situation
For the healthy living it is very important for me to manage the level of stress and to deal
patiently wit every situation. To accomplish this I used to follow a variety of self care activities
such as meditation, counselling, medications, increasing my engagement in leisure activities,
taking balance diet and spending some time with the family. However, of all of these self care
activities I used to give preference to meditation. Though encouraging social interaction and
balanced diet and physical workout helped me enough to keep myself engaged but in extreme
stressful situations these activities does not serve any useful outcome. For dealing with the stress
increased physical activities and improved life style is also one of the effective way to manage
stressful events.
As per the view of Meichenbaum, (2017) when individuals lives a balance and healthy
living with proper balance between work, personal and social life, eating habits and thinking
process. In most of the complex situation meditation helps me to keep myself calm in every type
of situation. In my opinion meditation teaches me to identify inner myself and to explore various
possibilities to solve the stress causing situation. This self care activity is one of the major
preferences for me to resolve my stress and conflicts.
Impact of self care activity on quality of life
I believe that the most impactful activity for dealing with stress is making meditation as
routine part of the life style. There are various events which makes me upset and in which I fail
to cope with my stress level. In extreme situation due to stress level I also fail to emphasis on the
quality of my work and my health is also affected by the stress. Thus, adoption of meditation
plays a significant role as it provides me mental peace and relaxation. In the stressful and
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complex life events when I perform meditation I feel like I am trying to know myself as well as
my inner strengths.
According to Fortney and et.al., (2015) one of the critical aspect which makes stressful
events as complex deal is that with stressful state of mind one cannot have enough thinking
ability to analyse the situation and available possibilities or the opportunities to resolve it. Thus,
in such situation the practice of meditation provides an effective care approach to me so that
instead of getting anxious or panic over the situation I can learn to remain calm to figure out
solution for managing my stress level. Another benefit of pursuing meditation is that it helps to
control the breathing and thinking process of individuals which is effective for the personality
and self development. The self care technique also elicit the relaxation response so that stress
hormone, oxygen consumption, blood pressure, heart rate can be managed.
Suggested improvements
As per the view of Seaward, (2017) meditation can give a great relief in stress situations
if consistency is maintained instead of spending long practices. I used to make meditation as my
daily practices, performing 10 minute meditation for 6 week days instead of spending an hour for
only one day. It has been also suggested that individuals must focus on keeping continuity in
their practices. There are several instances when in order to achieve perfection I get disappointed
and I discontinue specific practices. However, in future I will try to assure continuity. One of the
challenge which I often encounter during practice is wandering of my mind. Though it is normal
even for long term meditation practitioners as well but it is suggested that for improving the
results and accuracy of meditation individuals must try to redirect and notice thoughts again to
the meditation. This is the real purpose and approach of mediation thus one must not get
disappointed or seek to perfection in terms of focusing mind.
Resilience development
According to Blaustein & Kinniburgh, (2018) resilience is defined as the ability to
recover or cope up from the difficulty or the critical situation affecting the health of individual.
In my opinion meditation effectively promotes the building of resilience. One of the major
consequence of stress is anger, anxiety, depression and fear. Through the practice of meditation I
used to learn ability to control over my emotions such as anger, fear as well as anxiety. Thus
even in the complex and extreme situations also I used to keep myself in balance condition.
There are instances when I get very hyper or over reactive in the situation but by meditation
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practices several benefits such as improved sleep and cognitive health, increased strength to fight
inflammation so that stress and adverse health impact can be eliminated (Biegel, 2017). The
ability to deal and cope with the stress in positive manner is also referred as resilience which
links with the longevity, improved life satisfaction and reduced rates of depression. By adopting
this practice I also feel a greater sense of control and positivity in my attitude which assist me in
having an optimist attitude and positive health outcomes.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above study that self care activities as per the needs of
individuals can help them to overcome the stressful events effectively. Thus, individuals must
focus on improving and bringing necessary changes to their stress management approaches. It
can be suggested that the resilience development through self care enhances the quality of life by
improving not only physical abnormalities but also managing emotional and psychological
balance and changes triggering in response of stress.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Biegel, G. M. (2017). The stress reduction workbook for teens: Mindfulness skills to help you
deal with stress. New Harbinger Publications.
Blaustein, M. E., & Kinniburgh, K. M. (2018). Treating traumatic stress in children and
adolescents: How to foster resilience through attachment, self-regulation, and
competency. Guilford Publications.
Fortney, J. C. and et.al., (2015). Telemedicine-based collaborative care for posttraumatic stress
disorder: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA psychiatry. 72(1). 58-67.
Meichenbaum, D. (2017). Stress inoculation training: A preventative and treatment approach.
In The Evolution of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (pp. 117-140). Routledge.
Seaward, B. L. (2017). Managing stress. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
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