Muscles tighten and your breath flow decreases.STRESS IS OFTEN talked about as being a ‘modern’ malaise, as though it didn’t exist in former times. However, there has always been stress. But these days there always seems to be so much to do in life but not enough time to do it in; what you might call ‘the hamster on a wheel syndrome’. The speed of technological advances can help us with gadgets that save us time and, supposedly, stress, but at the same time they compound it. A good example of this is the ability to send and receive emails, texts and phone calls (plus social media communication) wherever you are, so that you never actually relax, switch off and recharge your batteries, away from work and responsibilities.
An antidote to stress and tension is clearly required in our society and one that will be effective in arresting stress-related disorders.
Understanding and managing stress is key to your wellness and your gut is unhappy because of stress. Research has shown that the stress response can alter the natural balance of healthy bacteria in your gut, causing the gut ecosystem to shift in favour of a more hostile group of bacteria. The Mind Body Cleanse techniques described in this book can help and incorporating them as part of your daily routine can take as little as ten minutes every day – however, those few minutes will pay off with great rewards for your gut, stress levels and your general wellness.
THERE ARE MANY different symptoms of stress. The body is directly affected by the stress felt in daily life. Here is a list of the commonest signs:
Muscles tighten and your breath flow decreases.
Responses to stress are reflected in your posture, which alters according to where and how you hold tension in various parts of your body – your neck may be bent, causing your head to come forward or your chin juts out, with your whole head moving forward on your neck. Your neck should be lengthened and brought into line with your spine.
Stress and tension are also carried in your jaw and face, which appears tight with tension – it should be loose and supple. Your teeth may grind, lips tighten, tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, brows furrow and your eyes screw up.
Tension in your shoulders may cause them to lift to your ears or cause them to round. Your shoulders should be wide and relaxed.
Your upper arms may stay close to your chest, to your side or in front of your chest.
Your elbows may be bent upwards. Your arms should hang easily from wide and relaxed shoulders.
Your chest tends to be caved in and constricted, whereas it needs to be opened out and widened.
Your fingers and thumbs curl to make a fist or your hands may clench each other. There should be space between your fingers – not too much space so that tension is created, but not too little so that your fingers remain inactive.
Your spine may be rigid and locked – it needs to be relaxed and extended upwards.
Tension in your pelvis causes it to be locked back. It needs to drop forwards slightly, under your upper body. Tucking the tailbone under helps.
Your legs may be stiff with tension; they should be loose and flexible. Both men and women tend to show tension by crossing their legs, holding the top foot rigid, or moving the ankle up and down. While standing, you may tend to cross and uncross your legs and walk about distractedly.
Your knees may be stiff and locked, whereas they should be loose and flexible.
You may hold your upper body rigid and lean forward, which will eventually cause pain in your back. Your feet should be stable and shoulder-width apart in order to support your body weight evenly.
While some stress is inevitable in our lives, such as the positive stress created in order to be able to get up and dressed in the morning, too much stress can lead to harmful emotional and physical side effects. Physical indications of stress may include:
Repeated headaches
Heart palpitations
Chest pain and tightness
Sweating
Indigestion
Breathlessness
Nausea
Muscle twitches
Tiredness
Dizziness
Vague aches or pains
Skin irritation or rashes
Susceptibility to allergies
Fainting
Frequent colds
Flu or other infections
Recurrence of previous illnesses
Constipation or diarrhoea
Rapid weight gain or loss
Alteration of the menstrual pattern (in women).
The emotional signs of stress may include:
Mood swings
Increased worrying
Irritability
Feeling tense
Feeling drained
Lack of enthusiasm
Feeling cynical
Feeling a sense of rising panic
Apprehension
Feelings helpless
Loss of confidence
Lack of self-esteem
Lack of concentration
Withdrawal into daydreaming
Overreacting to things unnecessarily or unrelated to the cause of the stress
Overactive imagination or fast and negative internal dialogue
Being short-tempered and snappy with others.
The psychological signs of stress may include:
Not having clearly defined goals
Being uncertain about the future
Feeling powerless to change or influence your individual circumstances
Believing that your opinion doesn’t matter, isn’t heard or valued
Feeling judged, criticised or ignored by others
Bullying or unreasonable behaviour – a manifestation of insecurity
Believing that working hard or being successful is the key to being a ‘good’ person
Having regrets about the past and what could have been
Feeling stuck in relationships or jobs that aren’t working but being afraid to make changes
Not having the skills or the confidence to carry out a task and feeling that admitting this would be a sign of weakness
Living a life/doing a job or career that you fell into or someone else chose for you, but which isn’t actually what you really want to do in life.
The behavioural signs of stress may include:
Lack of energy
Accident-proneness
Poor standards of work
Increased smoking
Increased consumption of alcohol
Increased dependence on drugs
Overeating or loss of appetite
Change in sleep patterns
Difficulty in getting to sleep and waking up tired
Loss of interest in sex
Poor time management
Impaired speech
Withdrawal from supportive relationships
Takingork home more
Being too busy to relax
Generally not looking after oneself.
Tips to help you manage stress:
Anticipate stressful periods and plan for them
Know your individual warning signs and stress triggers and catch them early
Develop a number of constructive strategies and practise them (get enough sleep, eat a balanced diet to maintain correct weight and do enjoyable exercise)
Smoke and drink alcohol and caffeine in moderation, or not at all
Avoid eating refined and processed foods
Do not suppress your feelings; acknowledge them to yourself and share them with someone you trust
Learn to be more flexible and adaptable
Avoid blaming others for situations
Provide positive feedback to others
Learn to say no and be more assertive
Be receptive when genuine help is offered
Use free time productively (pamper yourself in a way that is right for you: massage, listen to music, have a hot bath, watch a comedy show, etc.)
Take 30 minutes each day to take stock and refine how and when to deal with the causes of stress
Book a specific appointment after your normal working day (e.g. an evening class once a week – so that you have to leave work on time)
Take mini breaks during the day and stretch your limbs
Increase your self-awareness and knowledge by reading ‘self-help’ books
Plan ahead for weekends away and holidays to wind down and de-stress
Attend a stress-management course or read stress-management books
Seek out variety and change of pace in your life
Spend time in nature and enjoy simple, enjoyable things (e.g. kicking autumn leaves)
Remember to attend to your spiritual development
Maintain a sense of proportion at all times.
When people are stressed, they often turn to cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, gambling, shopping, food – anything to ‘get rid’ of their feelings of discomfort or feelings they don’t like. However, if you take a deeper look at the stress, it’s probably an unfounded fear that’s causing it (this is usually the fear that we’re not good enough), and if we examine that fear and give it the light of day, it will start to go away, to melt and disappear.
By the time stress has manifested in the body it is too late – it has become symptomatic. This is the precise moment that people come to one of my Mind Body Cleanse classes or workshops, expecting that the postures and breathing practices I teach them will deal with their stress – not a bad guess, in fact. However, the truth is that we can do all of the neck rolls, Downward-facing Dogs, shoulder balances to help to relieve tension in the musculature of the upper body, where stress collects, but it is far better to deal with the root cause of stress rather than waiting for it to become symptomatic.
‘If you take a deeper look at the stress, it’s really an unfounded fear that’s causing it.’
Of all the skills I have learned since I first started on my spiritual journey in India many years ago, a particular one stands out, and that is: learning to be comfortable with discomfort – and that includes the discomfort of stress.
If you learn this skill, you can master pretty much anything that life throws at you. It might sound counter-intuitive, but discomfort can be the joyful key that opens up everything for you. You can climb a mountain, beat your tendency for procrastination, make your diet healthier, explore new things, speak on stage, start exercising, learn a new language, eradicate clutter in your home, make it through tough times, write a book – all of these things can be sources of stress.
Unfortunately, most people avoid discomfort. I mean – they really avoid it. At the first sign of discomfort, they’ll run as fast as they can in the other direction; spend money, take pills, eat unhealthy foods or indulge in some other form of toxic therapy. These people mistakenly believe that their discomfort will go away as a result; I call these people ‘comfort addicts’.
Comfort addicts are the types of people who don’t eat vegetables because they think they don’t ‘like’ the taste (or they disliked it when they were children, their parents failed to address the issue and they never grew out of it). And so they eat what they have already grown to like since childhood, which may well turn out to be sweets, fried foods, meats, cheeses, salty things and lots of processed flour goods. These people don’t like things that feel uncomfortable, but in the long run they will create a life that is deeply uncomfortable as a result because their health will deteriorate.
The wonderful thing I have learned in my own practice is that a little discomfort isn’t actually a bad thing. In fact, with a little training, discomfort can be something you can enjoy. When I discovered this, I was able to change everything and even start enjoying my yoga practice! Now a little discomfort has become part of my master plan.