Spinal thought 287. Stress-related disorders of various kinds are costing individuals and the economy huge amounts. Finding a way to prevent and deal with the build up of the effects of minor (and not so minor) fight and flight responses is essential in the efforts of dealing with stress problems. First of all we need to change our initial reactions to stress-creating stimuli bombarding us from outside as well as those emanating from our own minds. Anxiety and fear, exam or interview nerves can trigger this perfectly normal response to a danger or threat. However, if this happens too frequently we feel stressed, muscles become tense, we suffer pain, perhaps have difficulty sleeping, grind our teeth at night, develop digestive problems, breathing becomes disturbed, get heart palpitations, sweat…A list of stress symptoms we are all familiar with. There are a lot of different approaches to try to avoid becoming trapped in a vicious circle of stress reactions and the number one I recommend to anyone is to learn the Alexander Technique. The first muscular manifestation in response to stress tends to start with tension in the neck muscles, pulling the head back on the neck. The Alexander Technique teaches us ‘STOP’ in the face of a stimulus which is going to make us pull the head back. Simply to stop so that there is a space, a hiatus, a pause where it is possible to choose a different response. This way we can become aware of the mind-set that leads us into thinking that ‘something bad might happen’, that we ‘won’t get this done in time’, that ‘we will fail’, that we must achieve the outcome whatever the cost. If we are aware of the habit forming thoughts we can recognise them for what they are and learn to change them.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 06:47:46 +0000
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