How To Beat Stress

All of us are aware of the word ‘stress’ and even have a personal view of what it actually is. For employed people, it means work overload, deadlines and pressures. For school going kids, it means having to cover too much syllabus, in too less time. Like this, each and every person has a different meaning, as far as stress is concerned, but nobody knows what it exactly is. Stress is nothing but, the mental and emotional strain a person undergoes because of some pressures present in the outside world. The usual responses or reactions to it are tension, anxiety, irritability, bad temper, lack of concentration, headache, insomnia, etc.

 

Stress is an inherent part of the life of every individual, right from school going kids to retiring servicemen. It is impossible to live throughout your life without being introduced to stress, unless and until you have decided to renounce the world and become an ascetic. However, what we have to learn is coping with stress, through various stress reduction techniques, in other words stress management techniques. These techniques basically teach you how to be happy and enjoy life, even amidst tensions, and help you in relieving stress.

 

The first and the foremost thing to do for relieving stress, is to know that you are under stress. Signs like muscle tension, sweaty palms, high blood pressure, constant headaches, insomnia, fidgeting, rapid breathing and forgetting things, all indicate that you are undergoing stress. The next step is to accept the fact and make some small changes in your life that will help you in coping with it. The stress management techniques provided below will help you in dealing with the problem, before it gets out of control.

 

You meet so many people in a day that demand your attention. You have to recognize the important from the unimportant ones and learn to say NO. It is not necessary to go at every party and accept every dinner invitation. Take out sometime time for yourself. Sit at home or go to any place that will help you relax.

 

Your office or your home will not stop functioning if you take off a single day for yourself. You need to get away from all the things that give you stress and spend time on the things that give you happiness. For example - if you are a book lover, take an off from office, go to your nearest bookstore, buy a novel of your favorite author and spend the entire day lazing around the house, reading the book.

 

Remember the adage ‘Healthy Mind resides in a Healthy Body’. A good diet will help you in dealing with stress, in a much better way. However, don’t binge on high calorie food. Have more vegetables, fruits, cereals, etc in your diet. And, please don’t skip your breakfast. It keeps you energized throughout the day.

 

One of the best ways to beat stress is to exercise. Not only does it reward you with a healthy and fit body, it also helps you let off the steam. Next time, if you are getting too much irritated over something or somebody, go for a jog. I am sure that even a 15 min run will help you feel much better.

 

Successful people and happy people are those who know how to differentiate between professional life and personal life. The problems of one should not affect the other. When you go to home from office, leave your worries behind. After you get back to home, spend time with family, watch TV, listen to music or do anything you like, but don’t think about office.

 

Keep a worry time for yourself. Set a day of the week and a particular time of that day (say 7 to 8 pm) when you will worry and till that day and time comes, don’t think about the problems that have been hogging you.

 

Going for a body massage, indulging in your favorite hobby, talking about your problems to someone close to you, meditation, etc are some of the other ways through which you can beat the stress and stay healthy as well as happy.