10 Ways To Beat Stress In 2005
24 Dec 2004
Voltaire was right when he wrote, "Most men live lives of quiet desperation". As we enter another year the desperation seems to be getting worse. There’s the escalating violence in Iraq, the concerns about our economy and more headlines warn us of another prescription drug that causes heart attack and stroke. So here are 10 non-prescription ways to help you relax in 2005.
One
The laying-on-of-hands cures more stress and sore muscles than a cartload of pills. In fact, this message has not been lost on industry where anything to help the bottom-line becomes top priority. Some companies are now using massage as a form of stress management to decrease fatigue, headache and back strain in their employees. This results in greater employee retention and job satisfaction. Remember that athletes and boxers don’t get rub-downs just to get a good feeling. Muscle activity burns glycogen which in turn produces lactic and carbonic acid. Massage helps to remove these products of metabolism.
Two
Learn to separate the possible from the impossible. I see every week problems that a trainload of psychiatrists couldn’t cure. If you have an idiotic boss who should never have been promoted there’s usually no way to tell him or her to go to hell unless you win the lottery. And if your partner has run off with your best friend you have to remember how Joseph Stalin reacted to these situations. He remarked, "One has to live with the devil until one reaches the end of the bridge". In other words accept your problem until a solution comes along, but in the meantime don’t kill yourself with the stress.
Three
Always cast a wary eye at medication. Of course some patients with hypertension require severe disease need strong medication. But untold numbers of patients were taking Vioxx and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that were never intended to be used for minor discomfort.
Then you heart won’t beat when you see the morning’s headlines ‘Another drug causes heart attack you won’t suffer anxiety when the It’s unfortunate some people Allegedly from Vioxx and other painkillers. But on the positive side it’s bee the "great alert" that there’s danger in them thar hills.
# 1- Learn to separate the possible from the impossible.
Stalin
Ten
I sometimes write this prescription for tense patients, " Rx take a train ride". They look surprised, but I stress it’s a great way to relax and as recent headlines show less dangerous than prescription drugs. This Christmas rather than line up for hours at airports my wife and I boarded Via Rail for Montreal. We splurged by staying at The Ritz Carlton and savoured the delights of Old Montreal. Then on by Via Rail to the historic Chateau Frontenac hotel in Quebec City and its relaxing ambiance. We returned knowing there’s more to relieving stress than pills.
# 4- Learn to live with less
# 5 – Make exercise a religion
# 7 – Don’t put off things that must be done. Like colonoscopy Like writing this column
