Stop Stress Soon

Making life smoother.

- Mala Ashok

Your life – like everyone’s – is full of stress. You have tried yoga and meditation and listened to gurus who advocate various methods of “beating stress”. However, the truth is that you can never beat stress completely; and really would you want to? A life completely free of stress would mean a life without deadlines for projects you care about. It would also mean no more packed social calendars.

This article is not going to tell you to step back, say ‘no’ more often, not to overload yourself, or just stop worrying. Sometimes these steps are necessary, yes, but these are things you know how to do. What we are going to do here, instead, is to go over how to actually manage your stress so that it doesn't take over your life or wreck your health.

Why should you care? The mind and body effects of too much stress are very real. Chronic stress has been linked to the developments of a multitude of health issues, from minor stomach upsets to depression, and cardio-vascular illnesses.

Even though we often talk about the word "stress" like it's an external, uncontrollable force, it's helpful to think about stress as more of a biological state. The true definition of stress is simply "the brain's response to any demand”. Often this demand is some kind of change, whether that's a negative one (like the death of a loved one) or a positive one (like starting a new job). But it can also be daily triggers (like your morning commute in traffic) or extreme stressors, like living through a violent or traumatic experience.