A Look At Stress

I have been reading a lot about stress and anxiety.  I have a tendency to overly stress about pretty much everything.  It seems to run in my family, which leads me to believe it is a learned behavior.  If that is the case, it should be something that can be overcome, although not without much hard work, knowledge, and persistence.

Stress, in animals, only occurs during dramatic, life-threatening events.  For humans, it is still a response to danger, but we have taken it even further.  There are stages to stress - The first being fight-or-flight. It is the response we feel whenever our danger receptors are initiated.  This is a natural reaction.  Although, once you pass this first stage and still feel yourself stressing to the point of exhaustion (which is the last stage), you are no longer in the natural state of things.  When a pack of animals is attacked, they feel stressed and begin to flee (or fight if they feel powerful enough).  Once the danger has passed, they can be found licking wounds and tending to their loved ones before calling it a day.  They move on from the situation and resume their daily ways.

The stress we encounter in our day-to-day lives is brought on not by danger but by change.  Some people adapt quickly to change while others (like myself) need time to adjust.  I am a creature of habitual routine.  If something interrupts my patterns, I don't know what to do.  I freeze in place while my thoughts begin to race.  Sometimes I even rant and rave - similar to the temper tantrum of a toddler.  If I can get through the initial shock with a little help from positivity (this happens occasionally), I actually adjust quite quickly. 

The thing about stress is it's always there.  The way to overcome it is by taking action.  When I am stressed because I have too much to do, I take steps to get as much done as possible, leaving less important tasks for a later time.  This helps me to feel at least a slight sense of accomplishment.  The feeling of fulfillment then helps me to release my stress.  If the feeling of accomplishment isn't enough to take away the anxiety, there are a few other things I do to gain a sense of relief.

• Listening to music

The greatest thing about music is that you can use it while doing pretty much anything - or nothing.  You can put on some headphones and lie down in the grass, or you can pump the volume on the stereo while doing your housework.  There has never been a time when music didn't move me in some way.

• Meditation

I don't always use meditation in its best form.  In fact, to be honest with you, I haven't fully meditated in probably a year or longer.  However, I do take brief moments every day to meditate on the moment.  Usually I will go outside and focus on the sounds of the birds chirping, the feeling of the breeze traveling across my skin or the way the trees look in the sunlight.  When you take time out to focus on the moment, it reminds you that stress is not something that was brought to you. Rather, it is something inside that you can control.

• Exercise

While I have yet to begin a more strenuous exercise routine (I am the worst procrastinator), I have found the simplicity of taking a walk to be a great stress reliever.  Not only can it bring you back to the moment but sometimes the movement will help to slow down the racing thoughts.  I do, on the other hand, believe a regular exercise routine is a key to opening the door of calmness.  I'm in the process of setting something up for myself.  Perhaps I'll blog about it at a later time.

• Hobbies

This is the greatest point for me.  Get creative!  Making music, writing, painting, gardening or whatever might please you helps to diffuse situations which bring on anxiety.  This is the best choice when you find yourself stressing over something which you have no control over. 

Scientific studies show that overwhelming amounts of stress can lead to various physical problems.  Society finds more and more ways to stress us out.  In order to maintain a healthy lifestyle in a world full of anxiety, we must find ways to cope.  Each person is different.  Explore all the options, experiment and find what works for you.

Let's find relief!