Learning to live without stress: rules that are easy to follow. Life without stress 5 tips from a psychologist on how to live without stress

All doctors recommend avoiding stress. They say that this will help you not get hypertension and stomach ulcers, not gain too much weight, and not get a heart attack. And this is completely reasonable advice, which, however, cannot be followed. Because no matter where you go, stress awaits: parent meeting at school (your child is not a genius), at work (deadlines, inadequate clients, sick bosses) and even in the store where you went to buy bread (the bread turned out to be stale, and some old woman was rude).

What is stress for?

Life without stress is impossible. Moreover, stress is a great driving force, which makes us develop. Thanks to it, new neural connections are formed in the brain, valuable experience is formed and a person adapts to new conditions. Therefore, the idiot who cut you off on the road or the perfectionist boss should be perceived as part of a brain-developing environment and treat what is happening with a reasonable amount of complacency. A new job, which promises professional and financial growth, although it makes you worry, should be taken as a gift from heaven. This is “good” stress, which forces the brain to work hard, but does not carry the risk of burnout or failure of all body systems. Its result is the emergence of new skills, increased self-confidence, and expanded adaptive capabilities.

It's another matter when stress unsettles you. A loan that takes away more than half of your income. Death of a loved one. A serious illness that requires you to reconsider your usual way of life and imposes a lot of restrictions. Such events force the body to go into “emergency mode.” There is no question of adaptation here - just to survive. The body starts a chain of reactions that are not useful in the long term, but help to survive here and now. The level of the hormone cortisol in the blood increases. Appetite changes: either it intensifies, a craving for sweet and fatty foods appears; or it almost disappears, and the piece does not fit into the throat. Blood pressure rises. The mood changes. Anxiety appears. It is either constantly present or comes in waves of panic. Chronic diseases may worsen and new ones may appear.

It is important to understand that the division of stress into “good” and “bad” is conditional. For example, the birth of a child is clearly a positive event that should provide a unique experience. However, when high level With anxiety, parenting can be an eternity of hell. And “good” stress becomes “bad”.

Many of us are forced to exist in a state severe stress. And there is no way to change the situation, you can only change yourself. Good news: u healthy people with stable self-esteem, a low level of anxiety and an active life position are more likely to survive long-term stress without significant damage to the body and psyche

It is quite possible to achieve, if not complete zen, then at least a state of relative calm. Here are a few simple steps that will help maintain health in situations of prolonged severe stress.

Predictability

In a state of stress, anxiety takes up a significant part of the mental resource. Therefore, doing usual things becomes more and more difficult. It's a real problem getting out of bed in the morning. Brushing your teeth is a Herculean effort. Getting dressed and going to work is a feat. The hardest thing to do in this state is decision making. Therefore, it is worth making your life simple and predictable. Following a daily routine helps with this.

It needs to be compiled wisely, ignoring the hysterical advice of sad-sack healthy lifestyle people. To do this, you will need to remember what time you have to wake up in order to plan an approximate time for going to bed. Breakfast, lunch, dinner - at approximately the same time, but without violence against yourself. It is important to set aside a certain time for work, physical activity and, of course, for your favorite activity. That is, the daily routine should not turn into a prison routine, where there are only obligations to family and society. Time for yourself should be as sacred as project deadlines at work. Even if it’s just 15 minutes of daily cross-stitching or watching a funny cartoon.

Meditation

The hardest thing about meditation is to believe that there is nothing complicated about it and just start. Any quiet place where you will not be distracted for at least 5-10 minutes is suitable for this activity. You can meditate while sitting or lying down. To do this, relax all the muscles that are not needed to maintain a comfortable position, and try to stop thinking about anything, and just watch your breathing. At first, it helps to repeat “inhale” and “exhale” to yourself, fixing your own breathing cycle. Extraneous thoughts will still come. You just need to notice them, let them go and return to focusing on your breathing.

Walking meditation may help some. For example, in the morning, on the way to work, you can try to stop the flow of thoughts and listen to your own silence of the mind. At the same time, it helps to focus on the rhythm of steps and the sensations brought by cool air, birdsong, the noise of cars, and various smells. The main thing is not to allow yourself to be distracted by extraneous thoughts, but to switch to the “here and now” mode.

Just a few minutes of meditation a day can help keep your psyche in a resourceful state. Modern research show that even a short daily “silence of the mind” helps to establish the formation of new neural connections in the areas of the brain that are responsible for making volitional decisions, making plans, emotional reactions, memory and attention.

Full sleep

Sleeping at least 8 hours a day is another important component for the normal state of the body and psyche. When under stress, sleep is often disturbed: disturbing thoughts and negative emotions interfere. In this situation, you can and should fight for quality sleep in all available ways: ventilation, complete darkness of the room, the habit of going to bed at the same time, giving up gadgets 2-3 hours before bedtime.

If this doesn't work, you can try herbal sleep aids and melatonin-based medications. It is not recommended to resort to sleeping pills of the benzodiazepine group (diazepam, alprazolam, clonazepam) - they disrupt the structure of sleep and, although they increase the duration, make it unproductive. In any case, you should consult a specialist about medications to normalize sleep. In some cases, a cup of mint tea before bed helps. In other situations, a long course of antidepressants may be required.

"Doing Nothing"

Anxiety in a stressful situation forces you to constantly do something. And even though these actions are meaningless and unproductive, it seems that the person maintains an active life position and does not allow stress to take over. But that's not true. Imitation Brownian motion does not bring relief and increases the destructive effects of stress.

However, it is important to separate truly necessary things from vanity. This skill will help you make time for an important therapeutic technique for stress: doing nothing. It is especially useful for those who have never mastered meditation. A walk from work to home, half an hour in the kitchen with a cup of tea and an interesting book or just lying on the couch helps you slow down and establish a dialogue with yourself, better understand your own emotions and needs in the current moment.

Drug support

A common mistake is to treat your body in a state of stress like an unloved horse that you don’t mind driving. On this wave, people usually pour liters of coffee into themselves, and if that doesn’t help, the search for drugs with a psychostimulating effect begins. The belief that you can “hack” your own brain with nootropics without consequences, speed it up like a tired animal so that it can work for the benefit of the whole organism, is in fact a dangerous delusion.

Abuse of nootropics under stress can lead to sleep disturbances, increased anxiety, trembling hands, decreased concentration, mood instability, and tearfulness.

A stressful situation should be taken as a reason to treat yourself even more carefully than usual. Drowsiness, decreased attention and memory for current events are a sign that the “internal fuses” have tripped and it’s time to rest, and not at all a signal “it’s time to drink coffee and eat 200 g of sugar in the form of a chocolate bar from the machine.”

The main problem in a stressful situation is the feeling of anxiety. The body spends an inadmissible amount of effort to produce this emotion and neutralize its consequences. Therefore, drug support for stress should be aimed at reducing anxiety. For this purpose, the doctor may prescribe “daytime” tranquilizers that do not cause drowsiness, reduce attention span and do not in any way affect mental activity, as well as antidepressants with anti-anxiety effects or other drugs.

Prolonged stress is a test of endurance. Therefore, to overcome it you will need to think strategically. Chronic stress can be compared to running a long distance race. A one-time effort will not play a special role here, but the ability to rationally manage your own strength will help you win.

→ Life without stress

“The emotional state of a person affects the physical well-being of the body, causing illness, or vice versa – curing it. Desires, anger and fears influence our lives so much that they literally determine the physical plane of the individual’s existence.

A study published in the journal Circulation shows that emotional stress leads to long-term endothelial dysfunction. (Endothelium is a layer of cells lining internal surfaces blood and lymphatic vessels, cardiac cavities). And this leads to ischemia, cardiac arrhythmia and increased blood clot formation. But that's not all! Acute emotional stress leads to increased blood pressure and heart rate.

It has been established that the effect of one outburst of anger affects the endothelium for 72 hours! This is because of just one outburst of anger! For comparison: after smoking one cigarette, endothelial dysfunction lasts about 40 minutes.

But everyone around says that smoking is harmful, but no one says that getting angry, swearing and being angry is extremely dangerous! We somehow agreed that stress is an inevitable attribute of our everyday life. So we live in a constant state of so-called stress, because we get angry, swear and get angry, unfortunately, not once every three days, but much more often.

The more incidents of anger, the more heart attacks. The more anxiety, the more often heart attacks occur, because our astral body instantly transmits the emotions that arise in it to the physical level. Today, more than 90% of diseases are associated with stress and are psychosomatic in nature.”

From the book Tikhoplav V.Yu., Tikhoplav T.S.

ADVICE OF A PSYCHOTHERAPIST
Ten tips from Dr. Girish Patel, a famous Indian teacher and psychotherapist, author of many training courses and trainings. Dr. Patel, Secretary of the Brahma Kumaris Medical Wing of the World Spiritual University (Mount Abu, India), lives and works in Bombay and lectures in many countries around the world. In May 2010, Dr. Patel held a meeting and training with medical students from Novgorod state university them. Yaroslav the Wise.

Dr Patel says: “The 17th century is sometimes described as the age of faith. The 18th century was considered the century of reason; at that time the emphasis was on logic and rationalism. The 19th century can be characterized as the century of industrial and scientific and technical progress. What happened distinctive feature XX century? Someone will probably call information Technology. But I would say that the 20th century is a century of stress. Nowadays even small children say: “I’m stressed.” What will become typical in this century? It is increasingly being said that the 21st century may become a century of panic. Projections say that by 2020, depression will become the second most common disease, after cardiovascular disease. That’s why it’s extremely important to understand some simple laws that will help you effectively cope with stressful situations and significantly improve your quality of life.”

ADVICE ONE
The cornerstone of stress management: a problematic situation is not stress. The situation is lifeless; we breathe life into it by our attitude towards it. Not long ago I spoke with a famous doctor, a native of India, who is now successfully working in the United States. He said a characteristic thing: “I became a good doctor because my parents were poor. If they were rich, I would not be interested in studying, but in completely different things.” The moral is: it's not what you have or what happens to you that matters. It's what you do with it that matters.

The situation can be perceived negatively, as a threat, but it can also be perceived positively – as a challenge or opportunity. Let's say you have an exam coming up. Or you might be working with a difficult patient. Think like this: “This is an opportunity for me to realize my potential, to show my strengths, learn new things.” A good practical help would be some kind of visual reminder symbol. This could be a drawing, a quatrain, a short and succinct motto. Let them be before your eyes as often as possible - on the wall in your room, under the glass of your desktop.

TIP TWO
We tend to complain about difficulties you encounter. We complain a lot and do little. We believe that very little is under our control. If you want to effectively cope with stress and develop even in the most difficult circumstances, learn to see those things that are still in your control. For me very a shining example This is Professor Stephen Hawking*, a theoretical physicist at the University of Cambridge.

For many years he has suffered from an illness that has left his entire body paralyzed. And at the same time he continues to work on what is in his power. Fortunately, his brain is not affected by the disease, and the fingers on his right hand are moving. And he, practically immobilized, actively works, exploring black holes and other secrets of the Universe, without leaving his office. Today he is world famous. What is the reason for his success? He did not complain about illness or fate. He asked himself the question: “What is in my hands now?” - and made the most of the opportunities he had. So, even in the most difficult situations Don’t lose heart, but ask yourself the same question: “What is in my hands now?”

* A small digression, in no way detracting from Dr. Patel's excellent advice.

“The pathetic remnant of a once cheerful man, confined to an electric wheelchair, unable to pronounce the simplest word and therefore forced to communicate with people through a computer and a speech synthesizer, is Hawking. A brilliant mind and a world-famous researcher who strictly adheres to his work schedule, lectures around the world and maintains extensive correspondence, a loving husband and a millionaire - this is also Hawking.

More than thirty years ago, Hawking, who was then about 27 years old, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (the same disease that N. Ostrovsky had). According to doctors, he had two to three years to live, no more. However, he showed a colossal will to live in physical world, did not want to get rid of his sick, dilapidated physical body and turn into the “head of Professor Dowell” or go to the Subtle World, where we will never be late anyway. In 1979, having graduated with honors from Oxford University, Hawking took up the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, a position first held by the great Sir Newton in 1663.

“My greatest achievement is that I am still alive,” began Hawking, laureate Nobel Prize, who is rightly considered a modern genius, one of his last lectures on the origin of the Universe. It took place in one of the Chicago theaters and attracted several thousand listeners.

Where does this person get the amazing strength to withstand all the misfortunes that have tormented his physical body for several decades? It turns out that his third hypostasis comes to the aid of a person - “Extra-I”, his Spirit!

They say: “A healthy mind in a healthy body!” But Hawking has a healthy Spirit in a sick and helpless physical body. But this body ensures his stay on Earth. And a person is not defeated until his “Spirit is broken”, until he himself admits his defeat.

It is worth noting that Stephen Hawking is an “ardent” supporter of the creation of “human-machine systems”, the construction of more advanced individuals based on genetic engineering, transplantology, and enhancing their physical and intellectual abilities by implanting microchips. Apparently it would be easier for him if people physically represented something like himself.

The famous Soviet geneticist V Efroimson warned that more than 1.5 million years of human evolution have already removed everything “unnecessary”. He wrote: “It is naive to think that someone with a pipette, a screwdriver and a microcircuit will replace some block in a living organism, take something out, put something in, and, radically changing the situation, solve the issues of our time.”

* Tikhoplav V.Yu., Tikhoplav T.S.

TIP THIRD
If today you cannot find a place for yourself because of the upcoming exam in ten days, if today you are tormented by insomnia, it is not difficult to understand that this will negatively affect the quality of your preparation and your grade. As a rule, we live either in the past or in the future. For example, we feel guilty about our past mistakes or worry about the future. But yesterday, as well as tomorrow, is not in our power. Focus on the present. Treat it like a gift. Be grateful to the present moment - because in the present you have no stress.

TIP FOUR
Our system of views and beliefs is important. All of you are doctors or future doctors. If you believe that you have acquired a noble profession, that you have the opportunity to help people, and not just make money, you will be happy at work. If you perceive your work solely as a means to earn money, you may have problems, because sometimes doctors have to work extremely hard, day and night, at any time of the day. At the same time, material reward is not always adequate. If you believe that your most important asset is the blessings of your patients, you will never be disappointed or stressed.

TIP FIFTH
Stress management requires you to be able to work with your thoughts and emotions. It is very useful in this regard to keep a four-column table. In the first column, list the difficult situations that you encountered during the day. In the second, describe the feelings you had in these situations, for example, you were upset or angry, or nervous, or tired. In the third column, write down the thought that caused these unpleasant emotions in you. And in the fourth - the thought that, from your point of view, would be correct in this situation. Already at the very moment when you write it down, you will feel something changing. And decide for yourself: “In the future, when faced with a similar situation, I will think this way.” Just six to eight weeks of such work on yourself will give amazing results.

ADVICE SIX
We have certain goals in life, and certain problems that interfere with the achievement of these goals. Perhaps your goal is to graduate from university with honors and become the best doctor in Veliky Novgorod. But there are also problems, for example, difficult curriculum, lack of time, family situation or something else. If you focus on problems, then the problems put pressure on the goal, as a result of which the goal “shrinks”, and the problems, on the contrary, increase. The opposite should happen: focus on the goal with determination. Tell yourself: “I will make my dream come true no matter what!” If you focus on your goal with determination, a miracle will happen: you will find that your goal begins to... squeeze out, crowd out problems.

The simplest and clear example: on the eve of the exam, you are so absorbed in your goal (passing it successfully) that problems such as laziness, desire to sleep, computer games, etc., recede; not a trace remains of them, although just a month ago they seemed insurmountable. Treat any life goal with the same seriousness with which you treat the exam the day before it.

ADVICE SEVEN
Remember: when one door closes for you, another one is sure to open somewhere. You need to stand and look at the locked door. Find one that has opened up and you will discover new horizons for yourself. Does closing the door hurt? Maybe. But when we impartially evaluate our past, we see that if we have learned anything valuable in our lives, then - in the vast majority of cases - we learned it through pain. None of us learned anything from pleasure. Let's say someone criticizes you and you get upset. Change your approach, tell yourself: “I will learn from this criticism.” Thousands and millions of people around the world turn to psychologists and psychotherapists because they want to identify their weaknesses. The psychotherapist will ask them hundreds of questions, and then say: “You have such and such a weakness, you need to get rid of it in such and such a way.” And very often you have to shell out a tidy sum for this one phrase from a specialist. But your critics do exactly the same thing for you: they conscientiously identify your weak points, your shortcomings. And they don't charge any fees for their services! Be grateful to them - and develop.

ADVICE EIGHT
Our words, the language with which we formulate our thoughts, are very important. Compare the two phrases. First: “I failed four times.” Second: “I’m a loser.” One and the same? Not at all! Even if you fail four times, you are not yet a failure. The fifth time you can succeed. But once you think, “I am a failure,” that is really the end.

TIP NINE
Be patient. It’s not for nothing that they say: if God hesitates, this does not mean that He refuses you.

ADVICE TENTH
Try to find time every day to be alone with yourself. When you are in silence, you get the opportunity to dive deep into yourself, but your real resources are right there, your real strength is there. You have something within you that is permanent, eternal, whether we call this “something” life energy, soul, consciousness or something else. And one more thing: in silence we hear God. Why is this so important? If we simply learned to cope with stress, this is, of course, good, but this is not enough. After all, this only means that from a stressful state we have come to a neutral state. But we want not just a neutral, but a positive state!

What is the purpose of the healthcare system? This goal is to ensure that people not only do not get sick, but are healthy. And the absence of illness is not health. And in the same way, the absence of stress is not life. Life is joy, it is love, it is pleasure. And in order to feel the fullness of life, we absolutely need to get away from ordinary, everyday consciousness from time to time. Just as it is natural for water to be cool, so it is natural for the soul to be in a state of peace, love, and mercy. Feeling your true self in silence, you immediately touch these wonderful qualities of the soul. And then they will help you all day long.

You ask me whether it is necessary to turn to God in this case. In principle, sometimes it is enough independent work over yourself or, for example, communicating with a person who understands you. But if you believe in God, this is an additional advantage for you. When we are young, we tend to think that everything is in our hands, under our control. As we gain life experience, we increasingly understand the limits of our capabilities. One surgeon said: “I just bandage the wounds, and God heals.” Many modern doctors, very professional and experienced, place similar words on their business cards. I think this is no coincidence.

Almost every day in our lives something happens that makes us experience negative emotions, worries or shocks, or simply put: experience stress. And it is absolutely not necessary that these are some serious or tragic events, no. Minor quarrels, conflicts in a store or public transport, various troubles at work, at home. All this leads to the fact that we do not even notice that we are constantly in a stressful state. This state of the nervous system cannot lead to anything good. I set a goal for myself: to learn to maneuver between all these negative events, to learn to pass them not through myself, but by myself.

How to learn to live without stress?

I have never considered myself an envious person. Moreover, I really never felt jealous of anyone or anything. But after reading the recommendations of psychologists on the best way to relieve stress and relax, I “experienced” this feeling in relation to those women who can afford to do nothing but themselves all day long.

They are not stopped by the presence of household responsibilities and worries, children, and a husband. They live for themselves and for themselves. Perhaps their nervous system really is in a calm state, but, to be honest, I personally am not interested in calm at this cost and do not need it. If my husband finds attention and care on the side, and the children consider their mother an insensitive egoist who does not know how to give at least a little warmth and affection, then why do I need such peace? For what?

Perhaps someone will disagree with me - that is his right. But I believe that The purpose of a woman is the warmth and comfort of the family hearth . In every sense of this definition. I'm not saying that a woman should fall over the kitchen stove or walk around with dirty hair for a week. Of course not. A woman must take care of herself and be in shape, but not live in salons, solariums and shops while shopping. Everything should be in moderation.

And psychologists assure that it is precisely these women whose nervous system is in perfect order (why and where should they be nervous?!). To stay calm you need to work hard on yourself, spending a huge amount of mental strength. . I would even say that serenity and balance are an art. And I must admit, not everyone is given the opportunity to possess it. But it's still worth learning.

Main directions

Reassure yourself that you are in control of the situation. First you need to create, and then strictly adhere to, your own daily routine. Of course, no one is immune from unpleasant surprises, but, ultimately, only we ourselves influence our routine. People and circumstances naturally influence what happens in our lives, but not to the extent that we sometimes think. The final result and the decision on what to do should be ours alone. And this feeling of control over the situation is an important component of mental balance. .

• . There is a joke that a pessimist's glass is half empty, and an optimist's glass is half full. Hence the conclusion: you need to learn to look at things positively. Some people look at the world positively from birth, due to their character, while others need to make an effort to learn this. Often people experience stress if they cannot get or do what they want and, on the contrary, they enjoy it when everything turns out the way they planned. The fear of failure is so great that it can cause not only stress, but also panic and even depression. So maybe we shouldn't let our fears of a potential fiasco override our hope? After all, all our fears and concerns are exclusively in our heads. Therefore, only a positive attitude and faith in the implementation of our plans will help keep our nerves in order.
• Let's not forget about reality . Of course, it is important and necessary to believe in the positive outcome of any undertaking, but you should not do this with rose-colored glasses. You need to be able to look at things realistically, because believing in the best while heading into a sewer with your eyes closed is, to say the least, stupid. It happens that it is better to accept the situation as it is and just wait it out.
• This does not mean that people who know how to keep their emotions and feelings under control do not dream . They just dream more rationally: they make plans, but they can also laugh at their fantasies if they fail. And the main thing is that they always have several options for solving the problem in their heads. And this is important.
• We don't pay attention to the little things . One of the most important rules for a calm life: don’t worry about the little things! If the problem is minor and you will forget about it in a couple of months, it is not worth your nerves at all. You need to learn to set your priorities correctly, including emotional ones. For example, if in the middle of a working day a friend calls you and talks about some unimportant things, feel free to reschedule the conversation until later. working hours, and if he calls close person and he urgently needs your help, or something has happened, then you shouldn’t put off the conversation until later. Make it a habit to ask yourself, “Am I spending my time wisely?” at moments when you doubt the need for this or that action, if you answer yourself “No!” - feel free to put it off for later. Naturally, this does not apply to the performance of your job duties.
• We don't promise too much . It happens that the cause of stress is our desire to please others. Sometimes we say what people want to hear from us, and not what corresponds to our real possibilities. As a result of the fact that you cannot fulfill your promises and let people down, you get stressed. Plus, a gnawing feeling of guilt. And the solution is very simple: make fulfilling promises, or promise less than your capabilities.
• Keep calm and give in . Sometimes you even need to change your behavior to avoid stress. For example, your work colleague is proving something to you, and you know for sure that he is wrong, but you cannot prove it. Keep silent, give in, listen to his arguments. This will make it easier for you to understand where he made a mistake and try to explain the situation to him. In this way, you will help the person and show yourself as a reasonable, calm person.
• We take care of our health . The main enemy of stress, as well as other problems of the nervous system, is a complex of vitamins (which must include B vitamins), as well as antioxidants (as prescribed by a doctor). The basis of a healthy nervous system is sleep and proper nutrition.

Five secrets to a peaceful life

Secret #1: Rest breaks

Whatever you do, rest should be an obligatory element of your activity. Well, with the exception, perhaps, of doctors, or rather surgeons.

Take time throughout the day to relax and relax your muscles. The fact is that stress leads to muscle tension: we can clench our jaws or lift and tense our shoulders. Being in such a tense state for our body is the first step towards other, more serious diseases.

Secret No. 2. Reduce your consumption of coffee and strong tea

Coffee and other caffeine-containing drinks, such as tea and cola, stimulate nervous system and lead to increased irritability.

A person can drink no more than three cups of coffee a day, with a minimum interval of two hours. But for some, even one cup will be enough to become agitated and irritable. Therefore, you must decide for yourself whether you can take coffee or not. Observe the body’s reaction after drinking a cup, and when negative impact on the body to refuse it.

Secret No. 3. Exercise

It is quite possible to relieve tension, including stress, with the help of physical or aerobic exercise.

The processes occurring in the body during physical activity fill the cells useful substances and actively fight against overvoltage. It's enough to study physical exercise three times a week for half an hour. But one lesson is enough. As they say, it's better than nothing at all.

Secret No. 4. Proper breathing

To calm down, you should breathe evenly, deeply and slowly.

When we are excited and tense, our breathing will be faster and shallower. By slowing down our breathing, we will become more relaxed, calm our minds, emotions and, as it were, reduce the speed of our body.

Secret No. 5. Make friends with your problems

When you are constantly surrounded by problems, you are also constantly under stress. But sooner or later you will need to stop to understand what is wrong. What prevents you from relaxing and living a stress-free life? Is it possible to solve these problems?

If, after considering all the options, you have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to change the situation either on your own or with the help of loved ones, then you need to change your attitude towards it. It will become much easier for you when you accept your problem as a given and do not torture yourself every day.

To sum it up

These five secrets need to be taken as a rule and put into practice every day. At first it will be difficult and unfamiliar, but when you learn to follow them and use them regularly, you will like the result.

And remember: our stresses feed and grow thanks to our excessive attention to them. That is, the more we fear or worry, the stronger they grow. And vice versa, the less attention, the weaker they are.

Learn to let go of negativity, do not keep unpleasant memories, petty quarrels, depressing thoughts in your soul and memory. Positive people are much less likely to experience stress due to minor problems because they are confident that they have everything under control. And if the first option does not help, then the second will definitely help. To be more calm and balanced, you need to learn to do the same: remember the good, believe in your own strength and rest more . And then there is simply no place for stress in your life!

Whether we like it or not, our lives are often filled with tension and stress. We try to fight this and each look for our own ways to relax, relieve stress and tension. Are you familiar with the internal state of anxiety and worry “out of the blue”? That is, from scratch.

When everything seems to be going your way, you are coping with a lot of all sorts of questions and problems, but your feelings indicate that something remains unresolved? Is there anything else that urgently needs to be done and resolved? And for the hundredth time you again go through all your affairs in your head in search of a “weak spot”.

Feelings of emptiness and disappointment

I had a consultation with a man who had a built business behind him, a wonderful family, and many travels and achievements of various levels...

But inside, despite all this, he was completely empty, as if everything had burned out, nothing in life made him happy: so many opportunities and no internal strength or desires to realize them! Half my life was still ahead, but how to live if there is a “desert” inside...

This state of disappointment and depression occurs when we upset the balance of internal forces given to us by nature. We are given enormous forces to realize your plans and dreams. But it is our responsibility to fill ourselves with energy from within, giving ourselves rest and time to recover after hard work.

It is important to sometimes step away from everything external, plunging into our inner space, where we can be alone with ourselves, free, relaxed and open to new fresh ideas.

No one ever raised us in this way: to be able to take care of ourselves, fill ourselves with new energy, free ourselves from stress... We were raised to be strong so that we could cope with any difficulties in life and pass any tests. “Life is a struggle!” - a slogan that still controls many, many people.

Why is it so easy to identify a Russian person abroad...

How easy it is to identify a Russian person abroad by his tense face and behavior. My husband and I were vacationing in Prague, and we were easily identified by those who needed it: metro inspectors, knowing that foreigners (Russians) often get lost in new conditions and confuse something with tickets and the route.

Our tickets on public transport were checked several times and once we were fined a decent amount, which we were very offended by! It is impossible to agree in Russian!

The ability to relax in Russian is already a byword! We sailed on a beautiful cruise ship, where there were a group of 25 Russians for 1800 passengers.

And five Russian businessmen, for two wonderful weeks (and we visited 7 capitals of Europe), drank vodka every day and screamed and threw themselves into all the pools of the liner (there were 4 or 5 of them) in turn. This is how they relieved stress. At the end of the trip they said: “Well, now we can get back to business!”

Of course, everyone chooses their own ways of relaxation, but it’s great if this also happens with respect for yourself and with respect for other people. We are learning this, and all possibilities are now open to this!!

The lack of respect that existed in our country quite recently is now decreasing and melting before our eyes! A person always unerringly chooses the correct and best option for himself if he begins to listen to himself at least a little and rely on his criterion “what do I like?”

Source of peace and joy

No matter what happens in your life, no matter what dangerous situations you experience, no matter what difficulties you encounter, your inner source of well-being and happiness is always open!! No one will ever block it except you yourself. It is open to everyone at any moment of their life!

They said that even in concentration camps there were always people who shone with love and compassion, helped others and treated everything that happened around them with deep inner peace.

They knew that their source of life and well-being was within them and this was unchanged! It was from him that they drew strength to live on, not just to live, but to take care of others - as much as was possible then.

How to be filled with energy and calm?

We can do this and live in a sense of deep inner well-being every day. Even sometimes turning off the path, return there, simply realizing your desire for happiness, peace and joy. For example, meditating every day for 15-20 minutes, we are filled with energy and calm for a long period.

Meditation is a way to live consciously: to see your problems and see ways to solve them, to see your values ​​and follow them, to give yourself the opportunity to show respect for your inner Personality!! Take care of yourself and constantly grow!

Some people make this the meaning of their life – meditation. He teaches this to others and constantly improves himself in this. And for me, this is a way of caring and respecting myself and my life, an opportunity to fill up internal energy and confidence. It's the same as doing exercises in the morning. Exercise is taking care of your body, meditation is taking care of your mental state.

Both lead you to understanding yourself in life and to awareness. It is such simple things that can lead a person to such global issues, like Purpose in life and finding your place in the world.

It is such simple things that give you a feeling of confidence that only you control your life. Make it a rule to devote time to this! It's about creating healthy habits that can easily and simply improve everyone's life in a matter of weeks!

Excessive tension and stress are ready to go away from your life if you want it! Change your old habits of driving yourself, exhausting and stressing yourself out, without giving yourself the opportunity to rest and take a break.

Create new habits to take care of yourself: your body and soul. Get to know yourself better: “What do you really want in life?” And just start doing it!

Irina Udilova

It is possible, but it will be life-threatening. There are several congenital defects in the body when it does not produce stress hormones (adrenaline and) - and this is a disaster. Such people in a critical situation find themselves in a state of shock - they literally cannot move, as their blood pressure drops, their blood circulation slows down - and, as a result, complete helplessness sets in. In this case, the protective mechanism that nature has built into us in case of danger to life does not work.

In the 30s of the 20th century, Harvard physiologist Walter Cannon discovered the body's reaction in response to and called it “flight or fight.”

“Flight or fight”: a common stress response for humans and zebras

People and animals react to danger in the same way at the physiological level. The essence of the process that occurs in the body is to give maximum energy to the muscles. The muscles have to do crazy work to save the head.

To do this, they need energy right now, and a powerful mobilization of energy in the form of glucose occurs from all reserves - from fat cells, from the liver - into muscles. Glucose must be delivered as quickly as possible. The delivery system is activated - circulatory system, and, consequently, the heartbeat increases and blood pressure rises.

At the same time, the brain releases morphine-like hormones that block pain receptors. Therefore, often in a critical situation we do not feel pain.

And this is a very wise answer that helps save the life of man and zebra in danger.

The body activates, turning on the gas pedal. In this case, we can congratulate ourselves - the self-preservation system has worked.

How are we different from a zebra?

To do this you need:

1.Sit comfortably.

2.Close your eyes and feel your body. Relax all muscles, mentally rising from the muscles of the feet to the muscles of the face. Remember and maintain this feeling of relaxation in the body.

3.Be aware of breathing. Inhale and exhale and as you exhale say a word, for example “one.” Inhale-exhale-one, inhale-exhale-one and so on.

4. Continue for 5-10-20 minutes. Then sit quietly for a while, first with your eyes closed and then with your eyes open.

5. Don’t worry about whether you have achieved complete relaxation or not, just let go of any thoughts that come to your mind.

Perform this exercise once or twice a day, but be sure to do it at least 2 hours after eating, as the digestive process interferes with the onset of relaxation.

Herbert Berson compares the relaxation response to brushing your teeth. We know that brushing our teeth is good, even if we don't feel how it works.

It is important to remember that learning the right answer takes time and the desire to take care of yourself. Our wise body has a gas and brake pedal, and by pressing them correctly, we help it a lot. We part with fears and worries, become more relaxed, and, as a result, better cope with the burden of information, fears of change and deadlines, and let pleasure into life.

The editors' opinion may not coincide with the author's opinion.
In case of health problems, do not self-medicate, consult your doctor.

Do you like our texts? Join us on social networks to stay up to date with all the latest and most interesting things!