So this is how you get rid of your stress
(they say)
While I type this, my phone has gone off seven times, fourteen emails have come in (of which seven are unimportant), I have answered four WhatsApp messages (all four unanswered), there is a to-do list on an A4 sheet next to me, seven kids are jumping in my front yard (of which four are not mine and two are completely unknown) and I have a gala tonight and no idea what to wear. Or where it is. And my shoulders are tight. Not so strange. Stress symptoms. I have them, you have them. Ideally, you want to cry very hard, be put in a warm bath by your mother, and then drink Amarone and eat chocolate. But that doesn't shorten your to-do list, so there is only one thing to do. Tackle that stress.
And now there is a new remedy for that. It seems simple.
Do not see stress as an emotion, but as a physical state.
With an emotion, you think you can influence it (through that warm bath or a yoga session), but that is only temporary. See stress as a physical state that will affect your health. Because it does.
Write down what causes you stress
Make a list of everything that stresses you out. No babysitter for tonight/a looming deadline/three appointments at the same time that you don't dare to cancel/a difficult and unspoken situation with your girlfriend? Think about it and describe it.
Building blocks
Visualize a stack of blocks. Each block represents one of the stressors. Grab one of those blocks (in your mind) and remove it. Whoosh, gone. It works. They say. Apparently. Want to try it all tonight?
