Shouts of “ the dog”, “the kids”, “my partner”, “my horse” and a lone voice called out “myself”, when I recently asked the question “who was the most important person in your life”, to a roomful of family lawyers attending a stress solutions seminar.
Hallelujah correct answer is, YES YOU! The majority of my work involves working with people who are in a constant state of worry and stress. Many are experiencing excessive pressure from balancing work with a home life and fulfilling relationships. As a result many are suffering acute stress symptoms, commonly insomnia, diabetes, indigestion, migraines obesity and drinking too much alcohol.
As a member of the core training team for the Stress Management Society, Neil Shah founder of the Society, encourages us to use this very tangible metaphor likening stress to
a bridge that has more and more buildings, tankers, double-decker buses and the like placed upon it until it starts to creak, groan and eventually collapse. When cracks begin to appear what we require when we are experiencing excessive stress is support mechanisms. Basically our bridges collapse when DEMAND EXCEED RESOURCES.
Frequently to illustrate the point I get clients to see themselves as a battery cell. Asking them to point where on their body do they feel their energy is currently located. Usually they respond that it is right down by their ankles. It is crucial that we look after ourselves and keep our batteries topped up to the very top. Otherwise our bridges do come crashing down. You can view it as taking responsibility for shoring and strengthening your own bridge. One of the first steps of managing the stress that many of us are under is to begin to look after ourselves and bring everything back into control.
How to Top up your batteries
So how exactly do we keep our batteries topped up, simply by attending to our own basic needs? Remember the golden rule you come first…by running on half empty you will be running like an inefficient machine or a sailing vessel at half mast trying to catch the wind.
Take frequent mental breaks to centre yourself- I teach self hypnosis, meditation and mindfulness techniques to aid instant recharging of your batteries.
Top up at the end of the working day with pleasurable healthy things that feel good to you mentally and physically i.e. join a gym, football, Pilates, yoga, running, rugby, walking, etc, go to the cinema, theatre, join a choir. Cook a delicious meal, play with the children.
Laughter is an instant top up – when our batteries are running on empty we get stressed, anxious and become ineffective. Laughter releases the feel good chemical Serotonin. Too much anxiety and stress releases cortisol the chemical hormone that keeps us in a flat unmotivated frame of mind. Switch on to some comedy and laugh.
Listen to your body – when you are ill, thirsty, or hungry do something about it. Aim to eat food that tops up your energy levels. Fresh seasonal food with a healthy balance of raw and cooked vegetables is very good. Cut down or cut out alcohol, sugary drinks and processed food. Processed sugar contributes to increased stress levels. Aim to go to bed early and top up with good quality sleep.
Ditch or limit the use of the blackberry, iPhone and mobile, when away from work. At the end of the working day block all work emails and calls…remember it is your relaxing time. Technology is a great tool and we are in danger of it taking over and infringing 24/7 in our lives.
Take a wonderful deep breath – when you start to feel overwhelmed and everything is whirling out of control how you breathe is essential. We rarely breathe properly… practice your breath control. Take a deep, deep breath breathing all the way down to your abdomen and fill up your lungs with air and then SLOWLY let it out…repeat this three or four times. Then again take a deep breath and fill your lungs with air and then hold the breath at the top before releasing very …very …SLOWLY.
Claim it and take responsibility to get the balance back in your life – make the time to get back in control.
Nicola Menage's Blog 