How to Remain Calm Through Crisis: Make Every Moment Count
With daily reports of economic hard times, it's no wonder people are feeling stressed and unsure about their future, says stress management instructor Sarah Ellis.
"Just listening to repeated messages of crisis in the news is enough to make you feel overwhelmed and out of control."
Big or small, immediate or projected - all stress creates the same reaction in the body, according to Ellis.
"Rising blood pressure, quickening heart rate and elevated blood sugar levels are just some of the physical responses. Digestion also shuts down as the body prepares to fight." Recognizing that headache or stomach upset today may be the result of fear of an uncertain future is a first step toward keeping your calm, she said.
"The key to stress management is not in changing the circumstances around you, but changing your relationship to what you encounter. The thing you fear may never come to pass."
Taking a moment to breathe and become aware of exactly what the present moment holds gives people the space to choose how to respond instead of being on autopilot, she says. Ellis links automatic stress reactions to many unhealthy habits, such as overeating, drinking too much alcohol and even impulse shopping.
"A retail fix is just about the last thing most people want to be doing right now," she said. Mindfulness - or being in the moment - can help people stop stressing and start dealing with immediate challenges such as a bill that needs to be paid or revisiting the budget.
"If you are present, you can be creative in how you deal with those challenges and then put them behind you," Ellis said.
Rooted in ancient practices of meditation, mindfulness is the cornerstone of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, a method developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979.
Ellis - who worked with Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center - studied the technique directly from its founder.
"The courses I teach are based on his book, Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. During the eight-week program, we build skills for taking mindfulness into the workplace, relationships and life," she said.
Some first exercises in mindfulness might include turning off the radio when you get in the car or paying attention to every bite as you eat a meal.
"People who've taken the course report more relaxation, better relationships, less chronic pain and feeling more in control and generally happier," she said.
"So instead of consuming all those media predictions, for example, you might just decide to turn off the news and enjoy the moment."
Ellis will teach the eight-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction series Tuesdays, March 24 - May 12, 7 - 8:30 p.m. at Mills Health Center. The cost, $275/$265 for age 62+, includes a Saturday retreat, May 2, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., and meditation tapes. Call 696-5600 for more information or to register.