Relaxing Stress Out of the Body

It's not the one day of stress that hurts; it's the one day of stress becoming two, becoming a week, becoming a month, several months of unending, unchecked stress ruining sleep, body, and mind.

It's because stress can build up in us that makes stress such a lethal danger. When stress causes a stroke or a heart attack, the culprit isn't so much the immediate stress, but the lifetime of stress that has finally piled up so high it takes only a small nudge to start a domino-like collapse.

And once the end is reached, it often takes a miracle and a complete change of lifestyle to save a self-abused body. Understanding how diet, career, and family can be stress us out is only part of the solution. Another part, an even more important part, is "dumping" the stress. Not once in a while when the symptoms start to show, but daily.

And not stressing out about being stressed out in the process.

Below are several things I do to keep myself stress-free. These things aren't for everyone, and I encourage you to find your own hobbies and activities, but don't forget that whatever you do, make sure it's something at least a little physical (sorry, watching TV to unwind doesn't cut it). "Physical" activity is one of the best stress-reducers known to man.

• Mornings

Unwinding after a long day begins even before my day has started, early in the morning before the sun has risen, when the sky is a gray haze, and I am the only one walking the lonely streets. I cherish my morning walks, and they set a pace for the rest of the day. These early morning walks last thirty or forty minutes but help me prepare for whatever may happen over the next ten or twelve hours.

• Cooking

I know it doesn't sound like stress relief, but cooking dinner after work is usually a very relaxing way for me to wind down.

I'm a very diet-conscious person who tries to eat the healthiest foods. At work, the healthiest food is usually a Little Debbie granola bar, loaded with sugar. When I get home I'm hungry and find cooking dinner (spaghetti, rice, sweet potatoes, yum) forces me to concentrate on the task at hand, getting my mind off a long day and any unfortunate, uncomfortable events. I sit down at the table; no TV, just quietude, and eat my own meal. It's a ritual that says "I've come home, I'm safe."

• Meditating

After I've eaten something healthy I head outside. There's a tree I sit under for shade. I cross my legs and stare at the other trees around me, at the sky, at the grass and the insects crawling through the green blades. I hear the birds chirping from branches, cars driving by like white noise. I take in the World, the Earth, Nature. In my mind there is only room enough for one, and between stress and nature, nature almost always wins.

Often times when I meditate I'll let my mind wander or try to keep it focused on nothingness, silence. Other times though I'll go through a small list of positive affirmations, or goals, and think of ways I can implement these in my life. One such goal is "Patience." Another is "Compassion."

Much of my stress arises from not being patient and compassionate when other people aren't moving fast enough on a project or are themselves stressed out and have a shorter fuse than I do. It makes a big difference to try to relate to the people who hurt me, than it does justifying myself. Meditation helps by reminding me we're all in the same boat on the same ocean that rocks us all, though we're in different seats.

• Yoga

Yoga is my favorite stress reliever. Cobra, Downward Facing Dog, Intense Stretch of the West. Yoga stretches my body, gets my blood and oxygen flowing to places my body wouldn't have dreamed of at work. I must focus my mind on each pose, an act of concentration requiring more thought than I've used all day, and this just to keep my balance and not fall down.

After twenty minutes not only am I sufficiently unstressed, but I'm super flexible and feel like someone just turned on my hidden nuclear reactor. I often have as much energy after a bit of yoga as I did when I first woke up, amazing after a long tiresome day.

• Reading

I love reading more than anything else, and though I don't consider it a stress reliever, it works as one just the same. The words on the page are symbols unlocking another universe, or magical runes. It's impossible to read a book and think about the day's events, and after a chapter or two of an interesting book I find that much of my stress has dissipated.

• Breathing

While I'm cooking dinner, meditating, reading, and doing yoga I'm also doing something more important than all of the above. Deep abdominal breathing.

I breathe deeply as a way to fuel my cells and release the toxins that have built up throughout the day. Breathing through the abdomen (so your stomach rises with each breath but your chest remains unmoved) allows more oxygen into your lungs than chest-level breathing, because your lungs have more room to expand down through your stomach than they do to expand out against your chest. Your stomach moves and expands, your ribcage doesn't, and you can really tell the different after five or ten minutes. The more oxygen to start with the better your body and brain will perform.

Humans may not suffocate breathing through their chests, but neither are we getting the full benefit of all that inexpensive air around us.

• Put it all together

It's very important to unwind each day, whether we need to or not. Like most things in life, it's a lot easier to prevent stress when it's still in the mind than it is to get rid of stress when it's begun to cause bodily symptoms.

Remember not to get too wrapped up in gossip or work politics, and practice stress-reducing techniques even on days you feel great, to prepare yourself for the days you don't. When relaxing becomes second nature you'll be thankful you're not as caught up in the Rat Race as your friends and family are, and you can take some serious strides to help them as you've helped yourself.