Five Culturally-Responsive Steps to Stress Management
The RUMERTIME Process®
Stress Awareness Day!
November 2nd, 2022
“Behind every behavior is a belief.”
Dr. Yvonne Larrier
“I am so stressed out!” “This is stressing me out!” “You are a major source of stress for me right now!” “This stress is making me sick, literally.” “The things that are stressing me out, I don’t know how to remove them from my life, some of those things are not things, but people!”
We don’t need a day to make us aware of our stress, stress is a very present state of existence for most of us and we are very much aware of it. It comes in all shapes and sizes, colors and degrees of intensity, at anytime- morning, noon, and night. It is no respecter of persons, race, religion, gender, educational attainment, economic status, cognitive ability, physical ability, or region of the world that we live in. Whereas, the sources of stress are as diverse as we each are, but yet it shares many similar characteristics in its impact in our lives.
GCSCORED wants to support you in the management of your stress by educating you about the RUMERTIME Process® and its five steps to effective stress management.
So what is stress?
Here is GCSCORED’s real talk, lived experience definition of stress:
Stress is the daily stories(events) of our lives that we experience and which shows up in our physical body, our brain and our mind. These stories occur in diverse settings, such as home, school, work, play, places of worship, and community. Our responses to stress vary and can show up as fight, flight, or flock.
Here is the standard, research-based definition of stress:
Stress is our body’s automated response to pressure, commonly known as the “fight or flight” response. Pressure shows up as “hearing bad news, feeling sick, being overwhelmed at work or taking care of your children, to name a few.” Many persons are able to recognize the pressures of life but are ill equipped in the effective management of life’s pressures. This results in persons finding unproductive, unhealthy and unsustainable ways to navigate through life. There is a better way to manage stress- the RUMERTIME Process®.
The RUMERTIME Process® is a five-step, culturally responsive, social-emotional problem-solving strategy that helps individuals move from a position of intra and interpersonal imbalance to balance and from unconscious living to conscious living. As you utilize the RUMERTIME Process® to navigate life and its stressors, we at GCSCORED like to say that you are engaging in the process of Rumerizing, (processing) how to effectively relate to yourself, others, and your stressors. A component of rumerizing is managing your response to stressors as you interrupt harmful patterns of thinking, acting, believing, and feeling.
Rumerizing creates a safe space for you to Recognize, Understand, Manage, Express and Reflect on your Thoughts, Interactions, Mindsets, and Emotions. Rumerizing also equips you with the skills to shift your focus from the stress response, to the root of the triggering event.
The following is an abbreviated version of the RUMERTIME Process®. If you would like to fully engage in the RUMERTIME Process® and have a Wellness Champion® and Course Facilitator walk alongside you contact us at: listeningoasis@gcscored.org or visit our website at: www.everypiecematters.com or call and leave a message at 574-514-9981
RUMERTIME Process®- Short
Step #1
RECOGNIZE your Thoughts about your stressors. Make a list of all your stressors.
Step #2
UNDERSTAND your Interactions. Choose one or two of your stressors and dig deep into its roots or origins.
Step #3
MANAGE your Mindsets. What are your beliefs(mindsets, attitudes, worldview, perspectives) about your stressors? We recommend that you use the RUMERTIME Guided Activity Journal as a way to manage your stressors.
Step #4
EXPRESS your Emotions. “Feelings have no intellect. They are influenced by our thoughts about self, others, and situations in and around us.” So when you feel your feelings, ask yourself, “what is this feeling here to tell me? “ Feelings are like messengers, they come to bring us messages about what is happening in our body, brain, spirit, and mind.”
Step #5
REFLECT on Your TIME (Thoughts, Interactions, Mindsets, Emotions)
As you take a critical look at your stressor(s), reflect on your TIME as it relates to yourself, others, and your stressors. GCSCORED is here to educate, equip and empower you with more in-depth, individualized, culturally responsive social-emotional wellness support as you manage your daily stories that show up as stressors.
“In order to be effective, you must be reflective.”
Dr. Yvonne Larrier