When stress threatens to get out of control

The past week has been one filled with tension because of the huge power outages we’ve been having. This wouldn’t have been such an issue if the workload had been light, but what with a birthday and friends dropping by and lots of time on the phone catching up with the usual suspects, school meetings and ….okay, you get the idea right….it has been a little crazy. I loved every single thing I did. But as usual, I’ve been wishing and praying that the day would be more than 24 hours.

I happily enjoyed myself chatting up, catching up,  visiting and everything, but when it came to settling down to work, I felt dead tired and my eyes saw three lines when there was only one. Stress. And no  matter how calmly I began the day, the power cut five minutes later was quite depressing. In fact, we had one hour of power cut for every hour of power – not giving any of our gadgets enough time to recharge themselves. So we do try and de-stress by singing and walking, but one can only do so much. Other than cuss.

Anyway, most of the time in the week gone by was spent outdoors or in meetings, yet the writing deadlines also had to be met. I am pretty much on schedule. But that stress can really get to you. And thanks to the birthday, its been a bit of a fest with sweets and what not. I read somewhere that according to research, stress makes you crave sweets and fatty stuff, skip meals or overeat. I suspect I’ve been doing all of those, although am not sure if stress is the only cause.

Chronic stress generally results from er….stress. You know what they say about the little drops of water making the mighty ocean. The thing about stress is – it upsets your eating habits and makes you put on weight around the middle, and this can be really hard to get rid of.

What can one do? To begin with, you can do three super-simple things to combat stress on a daily basis. Not only will this keep your eating habits on track, but also help you keep excess weight off.

Here are the three tips:

• Stretch and release

Stretching is an all time easy stress-relief method that you can do right from the comfort of wherever you are. So here is what you do. Sit in your chair. Hang forward. Allow your arms to dangle, loose. Keep this position as you take five deep breaths – inhaling, exhaling. This relieves the tension from your spine, shoulders, neck and gets the blood pumping to your brain. 

• Focused Breathing

Okay, this is something we already do for a living, ha-ha. But take a look at your breathing again. When you feel stress creeping in, which can feel like all the time on some days, do this five minute miracle exercise. Sit comfortably. Your back must be straight. Close your eyes. Forget everything else and consciously make the effort to focus solely on your breathing. Feel the breath going in, and out. Sense it, experience it. Feel every nanosecond of your breathing for about five minutes. Yes, it will seem like a long time. But you and I cannot speed up or slow down time, so five minutes is just that – five minutes. Do this every day. At your office, at home, wherever you’re comfortable. It gives you a great sense of calm and focus.

(I thank Keith Karabin for this image)

• A well deserved Sip

The eternal cup of tea. Brew one for yourself. Herbal tea is a great idea. Calms you down. Chamomile, mint and green tea are especially beneficial as they relax your muscles while giving your immune system a leg up.  

These three tips are a great starting point to help you keep stress from getting out of control.

Remember:

(That lovely image is from A Bit of Encouragement)

Only one life. Why not live it well? Relax. It is not so hard.

Vidya Sury

How do you tackle your stress? Got tips? Please share them!