What is Stress?
As per the Mental Health Foundation, It defines Stress as “The degree to which you feel overwhelmed or unable to cope as a result of unmanageable pressures”.
However, Quantification of Stress levels is not that easy. Though many organisations and health bodies had devised methods to calculate stress score, but none of them is of standard value or universally acceptable.
As per the American Institute of Stress (AIS), the US is the most stressed country- 55% of the total population face stress during the day, while the world average is 35%.
When it comes to causes of stress, it may be due to Family, Relationships, Money, Health, etc., But as per AIS, work-related stress is the major one with 83% of US workers suffering from the same issue.
Now we all know the definition and brief causes of Stress, let us explore the important part about how to cope with this big problem, what world population is facing.
Different techniques for Stress Management
There are a total of 3 elements that help a Human lead a life free from any disease, and stress is no exception. All these three elements are coherent and play an equal role in the overall wellness of an individual. If we give less priority to any one of these, the whole balance gets disturbed, leading to a disease or two.
Now lets read about each of these elements in detail:
Physical Wellness
The first and foremost aspect whenever we talk about any disease is the abnormality in any body part. Though many will say that stress doesn’t have any role with the Physical body, but in actual it is. Stress leaves many harmful effects on the physical body giving birth to several diseases, and the same holds for vice-versa as well.
Physical wellness is related to the maintenance of all the body parts (Outer and Inner). And to keep it functioning in the right manner, we need to engage it in some activities, some of them explained below:
Sports including, Cricket, Football, Hockey, or simple Running,
Fitness Classes of Yoga, Gym, Pilates,
Any Hobby related to Cycling, Swimming, or Dance Classes.
Choose one or more activity that is of interest to you and try to excel in that activity. Apart from keeping your body fit, it sends a positive sensation to the brain for Sense of Achievement, leading you to happiness.
Mental Wellness
The second and another important aspect of leading a stress-free life is to maintain a state of mental well-being. If you are mentally unfit, along with stress, your complete lifestyle will get disturbed, whether that is relations, family, business, or Physical health. Fortunately, there are many solutions for keeping your mind calm and stable:
Breathing Exercises such as Pranayama, Meditation;
Sometimes Healthy eating also gives us a mental satisfaction;
Do activities that give calmness to your mind such as Chanting Mantras, Bathing in the Rain, Doing Gardening, etc.
Spiritual Wellness
Lastly comes the utmost component that is ignored by many individuals but is of great value. It talks about the meaning of life, or the bigger Purpose of Life.
Helping others through Food, Money, or Even making someone Smile.
Building relationships, Spending time with Family, Kindness with people around
Or Connecting with your Guru or Lord.
All these activities let you give a deep sense of satisfaction that is inexplainable beyond words and can only be experienced.
Build a lifestyle to pick at least one activity of each of these three elements and make a routine to follow it, to reach a state of Stress-free life.
Conclusion
Stress is a condition, which any individual can suffer at any point in his life. The only solution to this problem is the modification of lifestyle and incorporating changes, as suggested above, in your daily routine.
Live in the present moment, not in the past, nor the future.
As Winston Churchill said:
“When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened”
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