“I have never known any distress that an hour’s reading didn’t relieve.” -Montesquieu
This man was born in 1689 I think we can take his word for it, I’m sure there were a lot of stress factors in his life.
Nevertheless In the hustle and bustle we live in today it is as if are all walking hand in hand with stress, our most faithful companions just ready to pounce the second we think the word.
Now there are varying degrees to stress like everything else.
If you can voice it and go “Omg, I am so stressed,” You are most likely experiencing the good stress or the tolerable stress.
Let’s dive in.
The “Good” Sister Stress is the stress you want, the stress you like. You are closing a deal you’ve been working on for the past year. That exhilarating feeling of taking a risk and it paying off. You’re in the clouds. You are feeling nervous and good and is usually just a mild elevation inf your stress hormones. This is normal and a healthy part of any human beings development.
Then we got brother “Tolerable Stress,” - which doesn’t feel tolerable once you are experiencing it. Tolerable Stress is here for you, when you’ve lost a loved one, natural disasters, you’ve failed an exam, have work deadline or fighting with your significant other. Here the alarm bell goes off but quiets down and turns off eventually. This kind of stress never last long and with support from individual close to you, most people tend to recover. But it is easy to slink back in here once you’ve been here once or twice.
The real bad boy is “Toxic Stress.” That is the real nasty one. It stems from anything, from childhood traumas, chronic illnesses and diseases to violence, war and abuse and it is a place people can be and stay in for years on end.
With toxic stress treatment is usually required with the help of medical professionals. Studies show that being exposed to toxic stress from an early age, or a longer period of time, or if it occurs continually can have a tremendous effects on a person’s behaviour and psychology. The effects tend to be lifelong.
Toxic stress can also lead to substance abuse, mental health problems, depression, heart diseases and diabetes and that is just the tip of the ice berg.
So how can we cope with stress?
Well there are different ways and some things that work for you won’t work for others. It is about finding a coping mechanism that you can utilise.
For me personally, it is reading. Like Montesquieu, I find nothing more relaxing than reading. It is my temporary escape to a world and characters that hopefully have bigger and more problems than I have. I can escape my problems and take a break.
Brew some tea, grab a book that you could enjoy or even an article and create that time for yourself to just relax and transport yourself somewhere else. It is temporary but sometimes that is all our brain needs to find solution or to get a rest.
Writing can serve as a therapeutic outlet for many individuals. Before exams in school we had a teacher that made us write a “diary.” It was Private and only for our eyes or she would in certain cases ask for permission. Her reasoning was that it is a healthy way to process emotions and organising your thoughts. It helps you to gain perspective on a stressful situation, release tension and cultivate some self awareness. Keeping a journal or even more creative outlet like writing stories or even poetry can help. Every artist knows this, misery is after all every artists best friend and getting it all on the pages could be the start of something unexpectedly amazing.
I have a sister who always starts baking whenever she feels stressed.
It doesn’t work for me, I get more overwhelmed and frustrated. She however, finds some sort of inner peace, a situation she can plan, execute and control. Which makes sense since stress stems from the lack of control most of the time. Control of time, people, feelings, loss, etc.
For her, baking gives her control over the whole process.
It is practical and many find that getting practical, working with your hands gets your out of your mind.
Which is also why many people enjoys handicrafts and puzzles.
Exercise works the body and the heart, but something for the mind could be anything from word games, sudokus, puzzles.
I found that building a Book Nook did just that. It got me into a state of hyper focus. A fried of my mothers has a child that is neurodivergent and she told my mother about the book nook she got for Christmas. The rest is history.
I love reading but I have the need to be active with my hands especially when I’m under stress. The Book Nooks have everything I love doing put into one big crafting experience. I get to work with my hands, escape to a different world for a bit and escape whatever problems I’m currently facing. I enjoy building the Book Nook alone but my younger sister loves to do it with the rest of the family.
No matter how you choose to improve your overall health, make sure you have a loving and supportive community around you.
Until next time!