Enjoy more, worry less

Renee Singh

In today’s dynamic world, stress is perhaps the most common buzzword. Almost every problem, be it mental health, physical or emotional, is related to the stress we are experiencing, knowingly or unknowingly.    

Stress is the body’s response to changes in the environment, which is affecting our lives. In each individual’s life, there is a constant bevy of changes happening. Adjusting and adapting to these changes is inevitable. But this effort of adapting to changes definitely leaves us with a load of stress to deal with. 

We can broadly define the reasons as to why stress overtakes our lives, but we need to also understand, that stress is a normal part of everyday life.  

All stress us created by our personal encounters in life. Factors which influence the creation of stress in us are: 

• Mixture of personality traits
• Busy schedule
• Thought patterns 
• Health problems 
• Financial issues
• Job scenario

Almost every activity we perform leaves a stressful trail, no matter how small it may be. Learning to handle this situation within us is the key to successful and joyful living. It is important to develop a good stress management plan.  This can  be done by mixing a few stress relievers.

Quick stress relievers

Some stress relief techniques work real fast to calm the body’s stress response. These “quick fixes” can calm you momentarily.  You also need a regular fixture for ensuring long-term benefit.  

• Breathing exercises are the best ways of calming the body’s physiology, once the stress response is triggered from within a person. 
• Even before stress has had time to blossom, and is still at the brewing stage,  it is really essential that it must be nipped.  Long term healthy habits like meditation, regular exercise, proper communication skills can be used to manage stressors.
• Stress could have a positive effect, as it challenges your mind to lead a more exciting and aware life. It keeps you feeling constantly challenged, to create an action oriented life. 
• There is no real way of clearly eliminating stress totally from your life, but there are ways in which you can, reverse your body’s reaction to stress. Clear thinking is a buffer from damage to your health. It will lead you to a path, which teaches you how to effectively deal with your immediate environment, your current state of mental, emotional and physical health. 

Deal with your stress, and let happiness be the flow.  

(Singh is a Chandigarh-based psychotherapist)