Just to get things straight in the beginning. I am not talking about Generalised Anxiety Dissorder, also known as GAD. I thought that since summer is coming even though we often think its not the case, but anxiety seems to creep on all of us. The exams time is due for most of you, no matter if you are at university, school or college. Also its time when people start being more conscious about their looks, bodies and things like that, but my particular anxiety at this time of the year is that half year has gone, and I try to reflect whether or not I achieved what I wanted.
Like mentioned before I am not talking about anxiety disorder which can only be helped if you seek professional help. I am talking about anxieties we all deal with on day to day basis. Let me give you a bit of background on me. In general I am not a very stress person, I try to look at things realistically and when I panic I just ask my self “whats the worst that can happen?”. The worst is often not really that bad at all, I mean when you compare your failed exam to some real life problems its really not worth panicking and ruining your health right? My sister on the other side panics about every little thing, she likes to be prepared for every situation, some say she is more responsible (ha, maybe I am lacking that responsibility gene), but together we are a perfect mix, as I calm her down and she puts me in the speed when I need to do stuff.
So, todays post is not gonna be too long, I will try and tell you how I deal with stress and that uncomfortable feeling that you are experiencing when you are worrying about something. I get flushed and feel like my heart is sitting in my neck, I often get this when I am running late, when I have too many things to do and too little time, deadlines or when it seems that responsibilities I have taken on are too much for just one person.
Anxiety is not your friend, its this devil sitting on your shoulder making you take wrong decisions, taking away percentage of your skills and is really bad for your health. I often quote my friend Noor, she is the best in stress situations, she starts laughing and tells me “Tam-tam, stress is bad, we don’t want to get worry lines and get ugly” then we laugh and just get onto work without stressing.
Often fashion week is pretty stressful as I don’t have time to waste, I work 18 hours per day, 4 weeks in a row. That is when I try to do some of next things to help my body get back to de-stress mode.
1.Breathing exercises. This is the one that always helps me. When I hear bad news, when I am running late or when something stresses me out. I learned few breathing exercises that always help me. These are also elementary basis of yoga, which you can search for on YouTube. When stressing in the exam these can also really help.
2.30 Day Yoga Challenge. When I was at the peek of stress and battled with some personal issues I every time turned to physical exercise. This helps as you get rid of all the bad thoughts and toxins in your body and you increase serotonin levels (happy hormone). I am currently doing a 30 day yoga challenge, which means that every day I do 30 minute of yoga, that helps me unwind and relax.
3.I filmed a video which I will leave below about some things I do that help me relax. I call it spa at home and I would usually do this once the stress is over but I still feel the tightness in my body. Put a face mask, take a book, have a bath with some good lavender oil. Those things will definitely drought your thoughts from bad stuff. If you are worried about an exam, bath can also help, as sometimes its important to have that me time, to let your body recover from all the studying and time you spent in the library.
4.Have a conversation. I know this could be an obvious one, but I am known in my family for bottling my emotions. I rarely would come to people to moan about hardship I am going through, but would suffer within. Trust me, this is the worst thing you can do. I am learning to open up and talk about my problems, and my family proved to be so amazing in those times. I realised how stupid of me to hide my emotions, and how much better I feel when I tell them what worries me. Maybe your family won’t have the understanding, but then try to talk to a friend, a teacher, or writing stuff on the paper. Letting the emotions out is really good, and it helps put things in right perspective. So many times I realised I was worried abut disappointing people around me, but after I would tell them my fas they would reassure me and tell me what really matters. Conversation is the key.
Learning how to battle with anxiety is really important not only for your health, but also helps in life situations, as you can perform better. Being calm is good, as you don’t get your judgement clouded by fears and you are less likely to regret decisions you made and things you did. Now focus on what is bothering you and try to eliminate that horrible feeling by using some of the methods I mentioned above. Learning how to deal with stressful situations is a process, and the better you get the better the life will be ;)
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Da odmah razjasnim stvari na pocetku. Ovo nije post o generalizovanom anksioznom poremecaju, poznatijem kao GAD. Mislim da posto se leto blizi i stvari pocinju da se zahuktavaju svi mi imamo neke licne anksioznosti koje su deo svakodnevnog zivota. Ispitni rokovi se blize, bez obzira da li ste na fakultetu, skoli ili slicno. Takodje je vreme godine kada su ljudi samo kriticni po pitanju spoljasnjeg izgleda, neki brinu o tome kako ce izgledati u kupacem, neki brinu gde ce na more, a ja konkretno kako jun krene razmisljam o tome sta sam postigla i da li cu stici da ostvarim sve ciljeve koje sam zacrtala za ovu godinu.
Necu previse objasnjavati i duziti u danasnjem postu, ali cu pokusati da podelim sa vama nekoliko mojih trikova kako se nosim sa stresom i onim nezgodnim osecajem kada brinem oko necega. Znate vec simptome, ubrzano disanje, nelagoda i osecaj kao da vam se srce popelo u vrat. Obicno se osecam ovako kada kasnim na neki bitan sastanak, kada imam previse obaveza a premalo vremena ili kada imam gomilu rokova koji se priblizavaju.
Anksioznost nije vas prijatelj, to je vise kao neki djavo koji vam sedi na ramenu i tera vas da donesete pogresne odluke, umanjuje vase sposobnosti i odnosi vase zdravlje. Cesto se prisetim kako moja drugarica Noor kaze kada god smo obe u nekoj stresnoj situaciji “Tam-tam, stres je los, ne zelimo da dobijemo bore od stresa i postanemo ruzne”. Obe se uvek tome nasmejemo, jer zvuci zaista glupo, ali na kraju krajeva, sta imamo od stresa?
Fashion Week ume da donese mnogo stresa i anksioznosti, jer zaista tada nemam vremena za gubljenje, radim po 18 sati na dan, 4 nedelje za redom. Ovo je vreme kada se fokusiram ne neke od sledecih trikova kako bih uvek bila zdrava i smirena.
1.Vezbe disanja. Ovo mi bas uvek pomogne. Kada cujem lose vesti, kada kasnim, kada brinem oko bilo cega. Naucila sam par razlicitih vezbi disanja koje mi uvek pomognu. Ovo je takodje osnova joge, a sve te vezbe mozete naci i na YouTube-u. Kada sam izlazila na ispite, ovo mi je takodje dosta pomagalo.
2.30 Dana Joge. Kada sam bila na vrhuncu stresa i borila se sa neki licnim problemima fizicke aktivnosti su mi uvek pomagale. Ovo je odlicno za oslobadjanje od toksina i povecavanje nivoa serotonina (srecnog hormona). Trenutno radim pola sata joge svaki dan i to cu raditi narednih 30 dana. Ovo mi mnogo pomaze da se opustim i smirim misli.
3.Snimila sam video koji cu ispod zakaciti na temu kako se opustam kada sam kod kuce. Ja to nazivam Spa kod kuce i ovo uglavnom sebi priustim kada imam malo vise vremena na raspolaganju. Tada stavim masku na lice, uzmem neku laganu knjigu, razbibrigu, napunim kadu i u nju stavim par kapi opustajuceg lavandinog ulja. Ove stvari zaista odvedu vase misli na neko lepse mesto. Ako brinete oko ipita, opustajuca kupka takodje moze pomoci, nekad je bitno posvetiti se sebi u ovim trenucima kako biste se opustili od visecasovnog ucenja i svih sati provedenih u biblioteci.
4.Razgovor. Jasno mi je da je ovo ocigledno, ali ja sam poznata u mojoj porodici po tome sto emocije cesto zakljucavam u sebi. Vrlo retko razgovaram o poteskocama kroz koje prolazim, neko sam ko ne voli da se zali i generalno mrzim kada me ljudi sazaljevaju, tako da nikada necete od mene cuti one tuzne price i slicno. Ipak, zakljucavanje emocija je nesto najgore sto mozete sebi uciniti. Ucim da budem otvorenija i da pricam o svojim problemima, a moja porodica je zaista odlicna u ovim situacijama. Shvatila sam da sam poprilicno glupa sto sam zatvorena, jer se osecam mnogo bolje kada nekome ispricam o svojim brigama. Mozda porodica nije ta sa kime vi zelite da razgovarate, mozda je to prijatelj, profesor, a mozda jednostavno za pocetak samo zelite da sve svoje osecaje stavite na papir. Mnogo je lakse sagledti situaciju kada kazete ili ispoljite emocije. Mnogo puta sam se bojala da cu razocarati ljude oko sebe ako im kazem kako se osecam i cega se bojim, da bih shvatila da oni razumeju i da je najbitnije dati sve od sebe. Razgovor je kljuc.
Nauciti kako se boriti sa stresom i anksioznoscu je jako bitno, ne samo za sopstveno zdravlje vec i kako biste se bolje pokazali u situacijama. Biti stalozen je bitno, jer tada vase misljenje nije pomućeno raznim hormonima stresa, te lakse donosite odluke i obavljate obaveze. Sada se koncentrisite na ono sto vas brine i eliminisite ga iz svojih misli pomocu nekih od mojih trikova. Nauciti kako se izboriti sa mislima je proces i sto bolji postanete u tome bolji ce vam i zivot biti :)