Stress and Life Transitions
Nearly half of Canadians identify as feeling really or seriously stressed at least once a week.
Many factors contribute to our sense of stress: work, health, loss, family schedules, marriage, loneliness, divorce, parenting, caregiving, studying, even events we look forward to like weddings, trying to start a family, or a being promoted at work can contribute to stress.
In trying to do it all, sometimes our emotions, mind, and body indicate a need to slow down, a need to pause and reflect. It’s counter to what’s rewarded in our culture, but it’s important to our own sense of wellbeing. Sometimes our stress can’t be avoided, but how we think about it and care for ourselves can influence how we live with it.
Consider your life like a glass. What’s in your glass right now? What portion of that glass is filled with what activities, worries, thoughts, people, responsibilities? We all have a point at which that glass overflows. The result of that overflow is different for each of us – it might manifest itself as physical symptoms like bodily tension and migraines. Or it might manifest emotionally as anger, frustration, or depression. Sometimes it’s a combination of both, perhaps creating anxiety that is felt in both mind and body – racing thoughts and a barrage or fears going hand-in-hand with a racing heart and light-headedness.
Regardless of how the overflow presents itself, reflecting on the contents of that glass offers you an opportunity to empty some of it out – that emptying might come through expressing emotions or by making practical changes to life routines. Learning how to calm the nervous system, adopting healthy boundaries, and exercising self-care all help create space in the glass. Taking care of ourselves is often the first thing we eliminate in times of stress, yet over the long-term, it may be one of the most necessary ingredients for wellness.
The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.
~ Sydney J. Harris