Stress often creeps up on you with out you ever becoming aware of it. It becomes more noticeable to your partners and friends long before you have come to terms with it. It is a highly dangerous condition that will manifold itself in so many ways and in many cases leads to depression.

 

There are both physical and mental symptoms, both of which can cause harm to your health. Physically, our muscles become tense, which in turn leads to further problems as the body tries naturally to compensate to the pressure it is under. Aches and pains appear in different places at different times . Blood pressure increases,resulting on strain to organs. We sometimes compensate that with smoking/drinking more, our eating habits go all over the place and we end up in a mess,

 

To reduce stress, we need to break our habit, our daily routine, and change the way we look after ourselves. Exercise is an obvious solution, but goes only party to solve the problem. We need to clean our minds as well.

 

Mentally, stress, clouds our judgement,especially when it is in overdrive. Not all of us are equiped to deal with this. Losing patience,bad temper,loss of sleep etc are all symptoms of a stressful state.

 

The starting block is to look after No1... yourself. Give yourself some time and space. You may find something like yoga which you may have never considered before beneficial. It teaches you to relax and focus within. Yoga breathing exercises are fantastic in calming the troubled spirit. Massage will help relieve those tight muscles,rid you of the nasty toxins, and teach you to become more aware of your body. It also gives you that time and space so desperately needed to recharge those physical and mental batteries.

 

Then concentrate on the diet,excercise and break the habit of the drinking and smoking. Go to the gym, or walk around the park when you normally go to the bar. Once you have done this a few times the pain becomes less and the benefits become greater.

 

Depression is what I call the Devil's illness. He arrives without warning, and sends you to places that are very lonely,dark and dangerous. I know I have been there, and understand the trials we go through. Very often we feel alone and isolated and the sun never seems to shine.  We push the very ones who love us the most, away.

 

Like a recovering alcoholic, I have to take each day as it comes. I desperately try and see a positive side to life, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It is a very lonley place to be, and of course, because no one can see the injury, very few understand the anguish we go through.

 

I believe all this is compounded as we grow older as we see the time left on this earth get shorter and we desperately want to enjoy what is left....but the devil will have none of it.

 

One of my greatest consolations is that by helping other people, I have found a strength that keeps me going on and gives me huge satisfaction. . This has given me a huge boost, and my appetite to do more has grown.

 

Whilst the devil will visit us from time to time, we can perhaps prepare ourselves more by feeding our soul with satisfaction.......it makes the knock on the door that more bearable.

 

Massage can give you that time you so desperately need and with the added bonus of someone willing to listen. 

 

You also have to believe in yourself, and you need to have the desire to get better, because once the door is open, the world looks a far more beautiful place to be in.