HANDLING STRESS WITH EASE

​HANDLING STRESS WITH EASE

​WHAT IS STRESS

Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It is your body's reaction to a challenge or demand that comes from fight or flight mode. In ancient times, human can get stress because of being faced with a tiger for example. He knows his life is in danger. His body is rushed with adrenaline and his only choice is to fight the tiger or to run away. This is called "Fight or Flight" mode. In modern times like where we are now, the fight or flight mode is not necessarily needed anymore. However since it has happened for a long time with our ancestors, it is now within our DNA too. When we are in stressful situations, our body will automatically be in fight or flight mode because it thinks we are unsafe.

The cause of stress is usually because we are not staying in the present moment. It's either there are unresolved issues or emotions in the past which we have not letting go completely yet or we are worried about the future which has not existed yet. Stress that is not handled properly can cause anxiety, depression, insomnia, headaches, high blood pressure, low back pain, body weight issues, and many more. It is important for us to understand ways to manage it properly through awareness.

Stress can be reflected not only on emotional level, like getting irritated or angry easily, or getting frustrated, but stress can also be manifested in the physical level. There are five areas where we usually hold stress:
a. jaw/neck/face
b. the shoulders/heart
c. the diaphragm/lungs
d. the stomach/gut
e. the pelvic floor/hips

Our body is made up of energy, and energy must be in motion (e-motion) and flowing to stay vital and clear. When we are having stress, the energy flow (chi) in our body becomes stagnant which causes stiffness, pain, tension, and rigidity in fascia or the connective tissues. The physical body is always trying to release emotion ~ if we do not express it, that energy gets stuck in our joints, tissues, and organs.


HOW TO HANDLE STRESS WITH EASE

Since stress is a reaction, we can CHOOSE how to react to it. There are many simple ways we can cope up with stress. The first and the most important step is to PAUSE and STOP for a moment. Be aware of where we are at the present moment, what we are doing now, how our body feels, where our mind goes, what our feeling is. Be MINDFUL, not MIND-FULL.
The second step is to BREATHE.  Breathing mindfully can help us to get centered or grounded again. Pay attention to how we breathe. When we are in stress, our breath becomes jagged, short, and shallow. We can change this breathing pattern into a longer and smoother breath by making the exhalation longer. So, the next thing to do is to inhale air from the nose and exhale from the mouth while imagining that we are also releasing any tension or negative emotion that is trapped within our body. Afterwards, we can do 4-4-8 breathing pattern. 4 counts on inhalation, 4 counts on pause, and 8 counts on exhalation. Keep repeating this pattern for a few times until we can breathe smoothly.
An idea that we can do is to check-in with our body every hour by taking mindful breath for 1 minute everyday. Therefore, we can take precaution and quick appropriate action when we feel we are in stress. Breath and emotion are closely related. When we change how we breathe, our emotion will also change.

There are some stretching exercises or yoga poses that can help  to release tension in our body due to stress which can be done at our desk at work:

1. Neck stretch and neck rolls.     
You may look up towards the ceiling on inhalation and drawing chin to chest on exhalation. Do this slowly, mindfully, and with gentleness. Feel the stretch at the front and back area of your neck. For neck rolls, you can draw your chin to chest and then draw circles in clockwise direction and then anti-clockwise direction. Give yourself time to pause after doing the pose and pay attention to how your body feels.

2. Some people hold tension in the shoulders area, and without them realizing it, their shoulders are hunching and it makes the breath shorter because the heart and lungs area become restricted. There are few poses to help opening up the body and lengthening the spine:

a. Chest opener in seated or standing position.
Interlace your fingers behind your low back and squeeze your shoulder blades closer to each other. Stay for a few breaths and feel your heart opens up.

b. Shoulder rolls.     
When you breathe in, bring your shoulders up and when you breathe out, roll your shoulders back and down. Then you can roll your shoulders back to front. Repeat this for about five times for each roll.

c. Seated Cat-Cow Spine.
Interlace your fingers and reach your arms up over your head when you breathe in, and round your spine and bring the arms forward when you breathe out. You can repeat this for about five times. Make sure that you combine your breath and movement mindfully. The slower you move, the better you will feel.

3. Side bend.    
Reach both arms up over the head and grab opposite elbow. Breathe in and when breathing out, bend your body side to side. This pose is good to open up rib cage in order to help us breathe easily.

4.Twisting.     
Sit on your chair. Inhale here, exhale turn your body to one side. You can place both hands on the seat behind you or one hand on the back of the chair. Stay for a few breaths and then release on exhale and switch side.


There are also few more suggestions that you can do for when you are at home to release stress out:

1. Rebounding or bouncing.    
Stand with hip-width apart or wider and then bounce your heels up and down. This is a natural way to let the energy flow throughout the body. You may also shake your hands while doing this and remember to smile :) You will not say you are in stress while doing this. This pose is relaxing and fun. Even kids do this intuitively when they feel they are stuck. After you feel satisfied, you can take a moment to pause and feel the energy flowing throughout your body. It can be a tingling sensation.

2. Savasana.
Savasana or corpse pose is the most favorite pose in yoga. All you do is to lay down on a mat or big towel if you do not have mat, in a dark room. Place your arms out to the side in 90 degrees with palms facing up. Legs are open wide in relaxing position. You may also place pillows for underneath your knees and head. Close your eyes gently and pay attention to how you breathe. There is nothing to do at this moment. Just breathe and enjoy each breath. You can scan your whole body from top of the head until your toes. Feel your body is getting heavier and heavier towards the ground. When you inhale, you breathe in new energy into your body and you are aware of the present moment. When you exhale, you release all  tensions out of your body and relax, and soften to the resistance. Feel the sense of being at ease in the body. Savasana is excellent to be done everyday for 15 to 20 minutes because the healing process happens after 10 minutes when we are in this pose. Other than relaxation effect, it helps our digestion system to function properly because the Parasymphatetic Nervous System (PNS) that is responsible for rest and digest can flow nutrition throughout the body optimally.

Hopefully the tips can help you to reduce your stress and you can maintain a healthy life style without stress. If you feel that you need to ask for help, then please reach out. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Life is meant to be experienced in joyful way because life is amazing. So, do not let stress hold you down because deep inside you know that YOU ARE AMAZING.