Health : Learn to Relax

A person living in a modern urban city is exposed to many kinds of stress. Many of these are unavoidable. Commuting long distances in busy transports among heavy traffic, tight work schedules, noise of traffic, beep of mobile phones and other electronic items, all these add to stress levels and are unavoidable. Result of this constant exposure to stress is increase in prevalence of non communicable diseases like hypertension, heart diseases and diabetes. But a man has to live with it. With increasing development and urbanization, these factors are entering the lives of people living in small towns also. Therefore it is important that a person should learn to avoid stress and relax, while living and working in modern urban circumstances. Most important thing for relaxation is the mental attitude of a person. Once an individual considers his schedule as too much to handle, he would automatically get stressed up. Therefore it is important to accept his routine mentally as a normal one and take things in their stride as they come. People tend to give undue importance to mundane things which tends to cause and augment stress. But it should be remembered that nothing is more important than life. Therefore if something does not affect life, it can be dealt with less seriously. Positive thinking also helps in keeping mind relaxed and happy. Some persons give way to negative thoughts. Even in face of smooth circumstances, they worry unnecessarily, by thinking negative things like, hope things do not go wrong, hope I haven’t forgotten important documents, e.t.c. Thus in this way, they always remain tense. Prayers and meditation aid a person to relax mentally and also help in improving positive thinking of the mind. One should also try to avoid other negative feelings like jealousy, frustration and anger as these also rob the mind of mental peace and cause mental stress. Deep breathing also helps in relaxing the mind. When feeling stressed out try taking deep breaths while counting from 10 to 100 mentally. Immediately you will feel relaxed. One can do deep breathing to relax, before an important meeting or examination to avoid mental tension for that event. Another important way to relax mentally is counting mentally. You can count forward from 1 to 100 or reverse from 100 to 1. If that seems difficult, just try going in tens like 10, 20, 30 and so on. Within seconds mind will get totally relaxed. It is very important to be organized to avoid getting stressed up. One should spend at least 15 minutes every evening for becoming organized for next day’s work. Similarly getting ready at least 5 minutes before moving out also keeps an individual relaxed. Good nutrition and regular physical activity keep both the body and mind healthy. A healthy mind is always stronger than a weak mind and can cope with any amount of stress. Therefore it is necessary for an individual to try to keep the body healthy. Alcohol and other addicting substances should be avoided. Breathing exercises of yoga have proved to be beneficial in avoiding mental stress and promoting mental relaxation. They can be done at home with no extra expenditure involved. By following these simple tips, an individual can remain stress free, and free from the hazards of mental stress. Work is important for living and mostly more work opportunities are available in cities. But they should not become a cause for mental stress and its resultant problems. –rachna212002@yahoo.co.uk