12 moths to total wellness: Give yourself a break from stress with these simple solutions

Natural Health, Oct-Nov, 2001 by Carolyn Dean

HERE'S HOW THE PLAN WORKS.

YOU CAN'T ELIMINATE STRESS, BUT YOU CAN manage it better. During the next two months we're going to show you how. When you're stressed your body produces more of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol, and sometimes this extra charge works to your benefit, providing energy when you need it. But if your body is stressed for too long or too often, your health will suffer. As much as 90 percent of illness and disease is related to stress, according to a report sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Many of the topics we've already covered in this series--a whole foods diet, exercise, and meditation--give you a great head start on coping with stress and its effects. A healthy diet provides the antioxidant vitamins and minerals you need to support the parts of your body often weakened by stress, like your adrenal glands. Exercise helps relieve tension and worry. Both meditation and yoga trigger the relaxation response, a state in which your breathing slows, your pulse rate decreases, and your blood pressure falls. And research shows that a daily practice of relaxation techniques can reduce your body's reaction to stress hormones all day.

But there are even more habits you can add to your anti-stress arsenal. During October we focus on work stress, and then in November we cover personal stress. If trying to follow every detail of the plan adds to your stress level, cut back. As your advisor, I suggest that you at least do the journal exercises. They have the biggest potential payoff.

One way I deal with stress is to try to live in the moment. Loretta LaRoche, a stress consultant and author of such books as Life Is Not a Stress Rehearsal (Broadway Books, 2001), says it best: "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today is a gift. That's why it's called the present."

october and november

Feel less stressed starting today. At first you'll focus on the stresses of your work life, and in the second month you'll shift your attention to personal stress. Start with the journal exercises, and add whatever other stress-reducing techniques you can handle.

1 october: week one

Monday to Sunday

JOURNAL EXERCISE: WORK STRESS PART I This is a two-week exercise. For this week's project, isolate what exactly about work makes you feel stressed. Make a detailed list of these stressors in your journal, and for each stressor explain why it's a problem and how it makes you feel. Be specific. For example, "The project due next week makes me feel unqualified because I've never tackled this task before; it also makes me feel nervous and uncertain, because I'm afraid of failing." Next, examine the list you created and divide the stressors into short-term (projects that will end soon) and long-term (part of your everyday job). Work on this journal exercise throughout the week and finish it by Sunday.

GET ORGANIZED

If you don't already own one, buy yourself an appointment book; it can relieve your stress in several ways. It helps you schedule tasks, so you know what you need to accomplish and when. Putting these tasks on paper also eliminates the worry that often comes with trying to keep all the details in your head. And you'll feel a great sense of accomplishment checking off a finished task. Think about what type of appointment book--daily, weekly, or monthly--would work best for you, and buy it this week.

Wednesday to Friday

KEEP A LOG OF TIME

Starting today and continuing the rest of the month, keep a record of how much time you spend on tasks at work. (Use your appointment book if you'd like.) At the end of each week, go over how you've spent your time. Are you spending more time on a task than you thought? Are you spending time on the right tasks? What times of day do you appear to be more creative? Use the information to allocate your time better and, if appropriate, discuss your ideas with your boss. For example, maybe you spend an hour each day filing when someone else could be doing it.

If someone at work asks you to take on a project, refer to your time log and appointment book, and be ready to say no if your schedule is full.

2 october: week two

Continue using an appointment book and logging your time.

Monday to Sunday

JOURNAL EXERCISE: WORK STRESS PART II This week return to your lists. First, sort your work stressors on the short-and long-term lists, from the tasks you feel most confident you can handle to the least. Next, write about the first stressor on the short-term list: What could you do to solve this problem? Don't worry about whether or not your ideas are feasible. Just write, being as specific as possible. For example, you might say that to finish a project you need two extra weeks or help from a co-worker. Exhaust your options, and then organize your options list from best ideas to worst. Finish writing about this first stressor by the end of Tuesday.

You now have a list of potential solutions. It's time to act. Choose a day--Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday--to enact your plan. Get up 20 minutes early that morning and meditate, which will calm and center you. Visualize yourself as relaxed yet authoritative. Then do what you have to do (approach your boss, enlist coworkers). Whenever you feel nervous enacting your solution, quiet the emotion with deep breathing.