This is part two of my article on stress. My advice is avoid it wherever possible!
Sometimes we have been suffering from stress for so long that we almost get used to it.
This is dangerous as we then regard the way we feel and act as “normal”, simply because we cannot remember being any other way. There are many warning signs of stress. Listed below are just some of them:
Regarding the rest; if you tick a lot of the above boxes, you need to take a long hard look at your life.
YOU are the most important person in your life.
Yes, I know you love your partner, kids, parents, boss (well, maybe not the latter!), but if you don’t start putting yourself first, you’re going to fall off your perch. Don’t tell me you haven’t time to consider yourself…
you’d sure as hell find the time to be ill or have a breakdown, ‘cos you wouldn’t have a choice!!
Er, spot the rant, anyone?
So, can doing Pilates help lower your stress levels? Well, to quote a well-known bulldog, “Oh, Yesss!”
Many of my clients shuffle into class with their shoulders hunched up around their ears and a strained look on their faces. No, it’s not because they hate coming!
They’ve all had stressful days. Some are working mums, some are retired, some are doctors, dentists, civil servants.
And an accountant. Many have driven miles through rush hour traffic to get there, or arranged a babysitter or fed the horses early or pressganged hubby into cooking tea…
just to be there. It’s humbling, actually, and it motivates me to give them the best class I can.
And as we do our Pilates, I watch their tense, painful shoulders drop away from their ears, their tired spines straighten, their strained, worried faces begin to relax. Sometimes they start yawning….not boredom, but relaxation of the muscles that help you breathe.
And we often laugh. They answer me back. Frequently. Sometimes someone makes such a funny remark that everyone (including me) falls around howling with laughter.
It’s all good.
And by the end they’re standing taller. Smiling. Shoulders down and away from their ears. And they almost float out of the door. They feel loads better. And they tell me so.And that, for me, makes it all worth it.
Sometimes we have been suffering from stress for so long that we almost get used to it.
This is dangerous as we then regard the way we feel and act as “normal”, simply because we cannot remember being any other way. There are many warning signs of stress. Listed below are just some of them:
- Mood swings
- Self-abuse
- Endless colds
- Insomnia
- Inability to concentrate
- Lack of forgiveness – both of others and yourself
- Memory loss
- Excessive sweating
- Confusion
- Nervous or inappropriate laughter
- Anger, often culminating in bursts of tears
- Suicidal thoughts
Regarding the rest; if you tick a lot of the above boxes, you need to take a long hard look at your life.
YOU are the most important person in your life.
Yes, I know you love your partner, kids, parents, boss (well, maybe not the latter!), but if you don’t start putting yourself first, you’re going to fall off your perch. Don’t tell me you haven’t time to consider yourself…
you’d sure as hell find the time to be ill or have a breakdown, ‘cos you wouldn’t have a choice!!
Er, spot the rant, anyone?
So, can doing Pilates help lower your stress levels? Well, to quote a well-known bulldog, “Oh, Yesss!”
Many of my clients shuffle into class with their shoulders hunched up around their ears and a strained look on their faces. No, it’s not because they hate coming!
They’ve all had stressful days. Some are working mums, some are retired, some are doctors, dentists, civil servants.
And an accountant. Many have driven miles through rush hour traffic to get there, or arranged a babysitter or fed the horses early or pressganged hubby into cooking tea…
just to be there. It’s humbling, actually, and it motivates me to give them the best class I can.
And as we do our Pilates, I watch their tense, painful shoulders drop away from their ears, their tired spines straighten, their strained, worried faces begin to relax. Sometimes they start yawning….not boredom, but relaxation of the muscles that help you breathe.
And we often laugh. They answer me back. Frequently. Sometimes someone makes such a funny remark that everyone (including me) falls around howling with laughter.
It’s all good.
And by the end they’re standing taller. Smiling. Shoulders down and away from their ears. And they almost float out of the door. They feel loads better. And they tell me so.And that, for me, makes it all worth it.
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