This is How to Be a Better Human. I'm your host, Chris Duffy. And I'm very stressed. Why am I stressed? Because I have access to the internet. Okay? I read the news. I know what's happening in the world. Also, I have young children and I worry about the kids. And then sometimes the kids need things in the middle of the night. So then I'm up in the middle of the night. So then I'm tired the next day and I still have to record a video

making an intro for the podcast, but there

are these deep dark circles under my eyes, and also there's so much work to do. And speaking of work to do, there's always more work to do, and there's also always more laundry, and always more cleaning, and always more groceries, and always more bills to pay. There's so much stress, and it all just keeps coming. You know, all of us have stress

in our lives. And some of us handle it in healthy ways and others of us maybe in less than healthy

ways. So I think that I know that I need to, and I bet a lot of you also need to talk to today's

guest, Dr. Jenny Tates. She is a licensed clinician

with a doctorate in clinical psychology, and she is the author of the new book, Stress Resets,

How to Soothe Your Mind and Body in Minutes. Now, soothing my mind and body in minutes, that sounds

pretty dang good. I would love that. The stressors are not going to go away.

They're always going to be there. But maybe I and maybe we can learn some strategies to deal with

them. So let's find out how to do it. To get us started, here is Jenny reading a passage from her book.

Let's take an example that unfolded in my house. One morning when my husband Adam was tired and rushing, not a good

combination, he dropped a full carton of milk on the kitchen floor. Fuming, he cleaned it up

rather aggressively, then cut his hand on the kickplate at the bottom of our refrigerator.

Unfortunately, we didn't have any bandages in the house. So, feeling even more frustrated,

he jumped in the car for a drugstore run. Agitated and replaying his horrible morning on the way

home from the drugstore, he then got into a minor car accident. You can't make this stuff up.

Of course, I have plenty of examples of how I've

exacerbated an already stressful situation. Years ago, exhausted and newly back to work after the

recent birth of my second child, began gnawing endlessly on my fingernail to the point where I found

myself in the emergency room with an antibiotic resistant infection that

required minor surgery. If I had only paused, observed my stress-fueled urges, taken a few deep breaths,

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