How to manage stress during lockdown?

1 Comment

 How to manage stress during a lockdown? 

 


“Stress is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere”-Erma Bombeck

Stress is inevitable and has always been present & will continue to exist regardless of age, gender, class, wealth, profession, and the current situation. It is not necessarily always harmful but may function as an asset if in a controlled manner. One may consider stress as a catastrophe as it leads to unpleasant consequences, & in the current situation we cannot ignore its inevitability, it is necessary to handle stressful situations carefully.

In simple terms, stress is like fire-more precisely, embers, permanent embers. We can either control them to be harmless embers and enjoy their glow or fan them into huge fires that may create colossal wrecks.


Stress as a boon:

What would happen if I tell you that you have to learn nursery rhymes for a month? You will feel bored and won’t be able to focus or become productive. What would happen if I say that you have to give an impromptu presentation in front of Bill Gates just half an hour before the presentation? You will be highly stressed out & again won’t be able to focus. Will you be able to focus on any of the situations? NO. But if you do a bit challenging task, you feel moderate stress but you will be able to focus & be more productive because in such situations your brain releases a chemical known as noradrenaline and you will feel more productive. Frederick Febritius the author of ‘the leading brain’ states that our brain does not give its best when skillset & challenges are aligned but when the work is a bit more challenging than skill set.


Stress as a curse:

We saw that in the right magnitude stress acts as a boon but it may turn into a curse if taken a lot of stress. Stress can affect our life emotionally, mentally, physically, or economically. Stress affects your thinking process as well as your life because your relationship suffers whether it be with your family or your colleagues or with friends. If you are suffering from occupational stress then work may seem scornful & life meaningless. Stress has hidden & much deeper consequences like; depression, low confidence.


How to handle stress:

It is time to understand how to manage stress? Stress management is an art through which we prevent stress from turning into a curse and continue to use it as a boon. It is a skill that allows you to remain ever happy. If stress is like fire then consider stress management as a fire extinguisher that smothers this fire when it starts creating havoc. The few most popular & effective methods to deal with stress are:

Positive-thinking


1.    

  1. Manufacture only good thoughts: Watch your thoughts as they become words. Watch your words as they become actions. Watch your action as they become your habits and watch your habits as they form your character. Hence, try that only positive thoughts go in your brain as they will bring you positive results. Try to stay away from negative influences whether it be media or people. Some people are like garbage trucks they fill the mind of everyone around them with useless negativity. Don’t let your mind grasp this garbage & store it.

 

Arjun-Pandit

2.    

 2. Detachment and letting go: We should develop an ability to detach ourselves from things that we can’t control. Sometimes we get tensed about things that are not in our hands, for example, people are still not trying to adapt to this lockdown situation. They are still stressed about things like ‘cases are rising every day, we have to understand that we have to adapt & move on, we can help in two ways ‘stay home and follow guidelines’ and ‘spread awareness’. See how positively you can use current situation, you can give time to your hobby or spent some time with your family. Hence, detach yourself from everything that you feel is not in your control.

Detachment-and-letting-things-go

3

 3. Keep yourself busy: You may think that being busy increases our stress, but that is not always correct. You don’t sit idle when you are sitting idle, you tend to think things that you should not. Keep yourself busy with things that you love. This is ‘ikigai’ a Japanese formula for long life. Iki meaning “to live” and gai meaning “reason.” Therefore, your Ikigai is your reason to live. Japanese believe that if you keep yourself busy in doing things that you love, you may live a long, healthy & happy life.

Laughter-the-best-medicine
4. Laughter- the best medicine: We all know laughter kills stress but we still prefer to produce stress even after knowing its consequences. Laughter is nature’s greatest tonic. A good laugh shakes up the liver and we immediately feel better in every way. How to laugh? Read funny books, jokes and chat with people who have a nice sense of humor or watch a comedy movie. Laugher is a prayer. If you have learned to laugh, you have learned to pray.

1 comments

  1. Unknown21 January 2022 at 12:55

    informative post thanks for sharing !
    Sudheer Sandra is the leading Motivational Speaker in hyderabad and Psychologist. Sudheer Sandra Career Counselling Centre in Hyderabad with the intent to provide solutions to all kinds of career confusions among students and professionals.
    He is very passionate about Psychology and is intend to spread awareness about psychology and mental health. The process of finding your purpose involves finding your passions first, which made him to choose psychology after his Engineering

    ReplyDelete