I don’t know if it was the late morning double-non-fat-latte-two-splendas I enjoyed on Tuesday or the allergy/sinus medication I had with my Greek yogurt for breakfast but by 3:00 in the afternoon I was starting to feel the whoosh whoosh sound of blood rushing through my veins, reverberating in my ears. Bringing two fingers to the pulse point in my neck to measure how fast my heart was racing (an approximation I know – who has a second hand at the office?) feeling slightly nauseous I mentally ticked through the symptoms – tightness in chest, a burning feeling like after a fit of coughing. Heart? Mind? Body? No overwhelming sense of doom. Good. No pain. Good. Deep cleansing breaths. Calming deep breaths. In through the nose. Exhale. Eyes closed.
Phew. Merely a momentary wash of panic born of a tight project schedule, tax preparation, and a quick visit from my mom.
On the heels of my post about managing the re-entry to a full time/over time occupation (Decisions, decisions) I thought it would be appropriate to talk about the dark side of stress. Stress has been a constant companion of mine and I am unusually good at layering it upon myself. Only recently have I begun to understand the physiological ramifications of that burden. Our hormone chemistry changes. Our blood profile changes. Our heart rate changes. When in deep adrenal fight-or-flight mode our reflexes are heightened – our senses are on high alert – we max out.
The thing is we aren’t supposed to live that way. Living in stress mode all the time will kill you. And because I have been trying to fit “being a mom” into my schedule of project management I have been neglecting to employ even the simplest stress reducers like taking the dog to the park for a long walk, a hike in the woods, a good work out session, gardening. I have, in a word, neglected to manage myself and my stress. Luckily I had a gentle reminder this week.
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