Author: Dr. Jyoti / 30/11/2019 10:40:40 AM
 

It’s Monday morning and you are pushing yourself to work and that gives you stress. No matter how much you love your work but Monday blues are a serious feeling at least once a while. If not the blues another reason for high stress levels are the problems in relationships.
 

Your parents do not understand you? Stressed! Your girlfriend makes a mountain out of a molehill? Stressed! Your husband doesn’t consider your career to be important? Stressed! No one gets your business ideas? Stressed! And hence goes on the list. The real stress arises when you plan to escape stress. How on earth can one find ways to escape stress? It seems quite impossible!
 

A feeling of emotional or physical tension describes stress. The causes of stress may vary from person to person but it breaks you down and picking yourself up from the left over pieces takes a lot of strength.  Putting up a smile on your face requires a lot of courage. Crying all night and then facing the world next day is no easy task. Deranged emotions do not only shatter you but also interfere with every work you do. Uncontrolled emotions may also manifest themselves in unhealthy ways and you may lash out on your colleagues or siblings. Along with mental sphere, even the physical effects of stress can be noted. Depending on how the stress hormones released in your body affect your body; you may experience the following symptoms:

• Stress can derange your bowel movements!
  When you go undiagnosed for the reason of your diarrhoea or constipation, stress may be lying at its root cause.
   
• Stress challenges your power to remember!
  Due to stressful events in life, you may start forgetting things. Remember when you forgot to take your important document as you were constantly under exam pressure!
   
• Stress hurts physically too!
  Apart from emotional heaviness, stress can also be responsible for frequent aches and pains. Headaches may become a constant companion when you remain stressed.
   
• Stress can make you lose focus!
  No one is asking you to become ‘Arjuna’ and aim at the fish’s eye all the time. But remaining focused and concentration are important to avoid recurrent mistakes at work and home. Stress may not let you focus at all.
   
• Stress can cause sexual problems!
  Too much cortisol or stress hormone in your body can decrease your libido which can make your sexual life devoid of enjoyment.
   
• Stress can keep you tired all the time!
  Keeping stress with you for a continued time can put an additional load on your physical and mental health. This keeps you feeling tired and sloppy all the time.
   
• Stress may cause alcohol and drug addiction!
  To escape a stressful situation, one may turn to smoking, alcohol and other unhealthy habits.
   
• Stress affects your weight!
  If you have suddenly gained a lot of weight or lost a considerable amount of weight, it might be your stress that you actually need to deal with.
   
• Stress disturbs sleep!
  It is a vicious cycle. Stress disturbs sleep and lack of sleep decreases your body’s ability to deal with stress which in turn leads to additional stress.
   

Dealing with your stress is important to avoid emotional, mental, and physical trauma. ‘It is not the load that breaks you down, it is the way you deal with it that matters.’  To make things easier for you and for the people around you, it is important to take little steps which can help you deal better with stress.

• There is always light at the end of the tunnel!
  Stress may put you in a dark space. You might be constantly searching for a light around you but you may find none. Take deep breaths and focus on the things that are causing that problem. Instead of over thinking the problem, addressing the reasons that cause the problem is better way to deal with it.
   
• Self care!
  Take a day off from your routine. Pick up the book you’ve been meaning to read. Go on a shopping spree. Meet a friend or family member for coffee. Take a long bath and cook yourself your favourite meal. Or simply just clean up your room or office desk. These simple everyday tasks can help us channel our energy and make us feel accomplished or just feel good about ourselves. These tasks are more helpful than we give them credit for.
   
• Asking for help when it’s needed!
  Always look towards a trusted friend or family member if you are overwhelmed. There is no shame in asking for help and the other person might have a solution or different perspective that may change your thinking. Even if they don’t, simply knowing you have someone in distressful times can be comforting. If stress has become a regular part of your life and feeling low has become the norm, take professional help and sign up for a therapy session!
   
• Make tea-time a stress-busting time:
  Relax when you sip your cup of tea. Make use of herbs that relieve stress including chamomile flower, Assam green tea, Lemon grass, rose petals, lavender flower, liquorice root, valerian, mint leaves and Hibiscus flower. Drinking this concoction improves the secretion of mood enhancing hormones and reduces the release of stress hormones such as cortisol. These herbs produce a calming effect on nerves that makes you deal with your stress in a much better way.
   
• How about taking Ayurvedic herbs!
  The correct combination of Ayurvedic herbs not only helps in alleviating stress but also acts as a complete brain tonic. Gotukola, Holy basil, Tagar, Shankpushpi, Hypericum, Vach, Gokhru, Ashwagandha, Jatamanshi, cumin and curcumin in Stresaway Tablets reduce muscular fatigue and stress responses of the body.  These herbs improve concentration, memory and the quality of sleep. As they act on the whole body, a little extra help from these herbs can make you win over stress emotionally, mentally, and physically.

Don’t let stress take over you, find a healthy way to overcome it.