Tom McGrath - Stress Therapy

Tom McGrath

Illustrated by R. W. Alley

Abbey Press

Foreword

Stress is a natural part of everyones life. Its the physical and emotional agitation you feel when faced with threats and opportunities. Life is filled with eventsbig and small, happy and sadthat bring about stress.

Since prehistoric times, the bodys automatic response to stressful situations has prepared humans for fight or flight. When you encounter a stressful situation, your body produces adrenaline for enhanced energy and strength. Depending on the perceived threat, your reaction to stress can be mild (a shaky voice, sweaty palms) or severe (muscle tightness, shortness of breath, panic).

Stress serves you well when it heightens your creativity, your courage, and your sense of being alive. Stress can alert you that youre acting against your values. When you need an impetus to right a wrong, change a bad habit, or defend an important value in your life, stress can be your call to action.

But your body isnt meant to be in a constant crisis mode. While the physical changes that accompany stress are beneficial in the short run, over a long period of time unrelieved stress will lead to such problems as chronic anger, frustration, headaches, muscle strain, even heart problems.

Unrelieved stress also impairs your spiritual well-being. If youre worried and anxious, on edge and wary, you cant be open to the gentle goodness of life. Its hard to open up to love when you feel caught in a state of siege.

With its lighthearted illustrations, Stress Therapy helps you to recognize the stress in your life and your ways of coping with it. The books wise and sound rules offer you easy-to-use strategies for stress management, so that your response to stress will be realistic, healthy, and effective.

The best resource for managing stress is a fundamental faith that, beneath the apparent chaos, all is right with the world. Nurture such belief; its a foundation on which you can build a stress-management strategy that will improve your life.

The impact of stress on your life is determined not so much by what happens to you as by how you respond to it. Observe your response to situations, and youll learn how your reactions increase or reduce the stress in your life.

Some people rush from one thing to the next, so driven by ambition and the need to succeed that theyve forgotten why theyve filled their life with stress. Slow down. And pay attention. You may be missing the best part of living.

Some people catastrophize every bump along lifes highway and anticipate the worst. Dont paralyze yourself by magnifying your fears of the unknown and the uncontrollable.

Some people believe life should be perfect and stress-free. This expectation only sets them up for more stress when life isnt. Take life on lifes terms. Accept its ups and downs with grace and humor.

Stress is in the eye (and heart) of the beholder. By changing your attitude, you can relieve your stress even when outer circumstances dont change.

Some people think they should handle difficulties on their own. But if you have the wisdom to know what you need from others and the courage to ask for it, youll ease your stress.

Giving yourself compassion and understanding lowers your stress level. No matter who else is on your side, you can be.

When youre feeling stress, youre more vulnerable to negative self-talk, that chronic criticism echoing in your head and heart. Counter the negative voice with affirmations about your ability and self-worth. Say, Im talented, worthy, and loved, and believe it.

Constantly trying to please others guarantees stress. You can respect and love others without living your life for them.

When you start to feel anxious, ask, How can I relaxnow? Know what stress-relieving techniques work for you, like deep breathing, putting your feet up, listening to music; then do them.

Take a deep breath is wise advice. Become mindful of your breathing. Draw your breath slowly from deep within your abdomen. Then slowly exhale, releasing your tension and worry.

Doing something for someone else is a great stress-reliever. Write a letter to a shut-in, make a phone call to a lonely neighbor, bake cookies for the new family down the block.

The world looks bleak to those who are overtired. Give yourself enough sleep. Your soul will gently work to relieve your anxieties and restore your strength. Your subconscious will creatively devise solutions to your problems.

Forgive others as well as yourself. Resentment and remorse waste energy on yesterday. Forgive and live today.

Be in touch with your deepest beliefs and act on them. Living according to your values gives you a serenity that will serve you well through the most stressful times.