April is Stress Awareness Month and it is always important to remember to relax, “chill”, “stop and smell the roses” and any meaningful way of saying, “let’s keep things in perspective”. Dr. Hans Selye was the first professional to prove that stress effected the human body. Published in the British Journal of Nature in 1936, it was known as the stress syndrome. Selye explained that the body prepares itself to deal with threatening situations with a “fight or flight” reaction. Normally, when the threat was over then the “fight or flight” reaction also stopped. However, if the perceived threat continued for an unusually long period of time then the “fight or flight” reaction continued until the body shows measurable signs of “stress”. It has been repeatedly proven that stress is related to cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and strokes), cancer and other physical illnesses.
Herbert Benson, MD wrote the book The Relaxation Response that was first published in 1975 encouraging a practice following four components;
1. a quiet place
2. a mental device –sound, word, phrase
or prayer repeated, or a fixed gaze at an object
3. a passive attitude – not worrying about how
well one is performing the technique and simply
putting aside distracting thoughts to return to one’s focus
4. a comfortable position
As his research continued over the years is was discovered that with practice only the mental device and passive attitude were required. A person could be jogging on a busy street and still illicit the relaxation response. This proves that if one practices mentally focusing on a calming or reassuring focal point and does not worry when a distraction arises (and it will) but simply goes back repeatedly to their focal point one can reduce both physical and emotional stress.
So take 5 or 10 minutes once or twice a day and in the beginning find a quiet place, make yourself comfortable, decide on one mental device or focal point that is calming to repeat such as the word “peace”, a short affirmation or prayer and when your mind becomes distracted simply go back to your focal point. You can live longer by regularly relaxing!
Another helpful technique is to be mindful of Stress Builders. Here are some work examples of Stress Busters to combat negative Stress Builders.
Stress Builder: “I’ll never get this project in on time!”
Stress Buster: “If I stay focused and take one step at a time, I’ll make steady progress.”
Stress Builder: “My supervisor didn’t say good morning, he’s probably displeased with me.”
Stress Buster: “I’m jumping to conclusions. My supervisor may have been distracted.”
For more information call EAP Works at 770-449-1111 to set up an appointment or go to the Worklife Resources Website, www.eapworklife.com, and log in using your username and password. The section on Trauma and Stress will be very helpful.