I doubt you needed the just-released UCLA survey to tell you, but you might have been surprised that apparently more than half of freshmen think they are emotionally less healthy than their neighbor.
Granted, self-evaluation compared to the smiling masks around you is not exactly the most scientific inquiry, but still there is good information in those results. People are feeling stressed, and more than ever before.
Thankfully there are some things you can do with your body and mind to reduce your stress load.
Body
What does stress feel like in your body? Is it a clenched jaw? Hunched shoulders? Shallow breathing? Everyone feels it differently, although a common denominator is usually muscle tension. Physical stress reactions can snowball your experience and make everything seem worse. The first step is to find the stress in your body.
Once you have identified your body’s unique stress expression, place your awareness there, wherever it is.
Just turn your attention to that body part. Notice how it feels. Often, simply resting your attention on a tense muscle begins to help it soften. Now keep your mind there and take a few slow breaths. Imagine the breath actually going into that area. Allow the shoulders to drop, the jaw to open, the tense muscle to relax. Take another deep breath and blow that tension away. Repeat early and often.
Other bodily solutions to stress are stretching and moving.
Even sitting down, you can do brief stretches that make a big difference. Let your neck drop forward and roll it gently around in a circle. Then put your hands behind your head and lean back over your chair. Finally, fold yourself in half at the waist and let your body bend forward, dangling your hands by your feet.
Physical activity is a wonderful stress-reliever. Go for a run, hit the gym, take a short walk. Anything is better than nothing. Even a simple lap around the stacks in the library can shake you loose.
Mind
You can use your mind to relieve stress by choosing what to think about. Consider this: If you weren’t thinking about the exam or paper or overdue bill, you wouldn’t be as stressed about it, right? So don’t think about it.
I know, I know. It is not nearly that easy. But it is that simple. You’ll have to think about it eventually, when it is time to do something about it, but beyond that, there’s no point.
Most of us spend most of our time mentally absent from the here and now, busily ruminating over the past or obsessing about the future. What’s the point? If it already happened, it’s over. You can’t change it now. Why stew on it when all that does is make you feel bad?
If it hasn’t happened, the same thing mostly applies.
Unless you can affect the outcome, you don’t know how it is going to go down. Wrestling with the various possibilities in your mind will only wear you out. Have you ever dreaded something for days, only to have it turn out totally fine? All that worry was for nothing, right? Imagine those unpleasant hours that could have been joyful instead.
When you notice that your mind is in a fretting frenzy, put your attention on your body. Feel your feet on the ground, your buns in the chair. Look at something, anything, and examine the details. Listen to the sounds around you. Observe your own breath. Stop and smell the flowers.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
It sounds corny, but it works. Before you know it, you’re thinking about your breath instead of that other thing, and your stress levels have decreased.
Of course, sometimes it just gets to be too much, and you can’t manage on your own. That is normal and common, and there is help available. Call UNM Student Health and Counseling 277-4537 for a counseling appointment, or call Agora Crisis Center to talk to someone 277-3013.
Dr. Peggy Spencer has been a UNM Student Health physician for 17 years and a Daily Lobo contributing columnist for three years. E-mail your questions to her at Pspencer@unm.edu. All questions will be considered, and all questioners will remain anonymous. This column has general health information only and cannot replace a visit to a health provider.
