Out of the Chaos and Into Serenity

With just enough time allotted to get to an appointment, your car slowly grinds to a halt in traffic on the interstate. Your fingers tap out a frustrated drumbeat on the steering wheel; soon feet too are twitching as anger stiffens your shoulders, then your limbs. The precious minutes tick by and before long, you're berating yourself.

"I should have left earlier." "I chose the wrong route." "I'm going to be late." "He's going to be mad at me." Stress. It's inescapable, whether we're in our cars, our workplaces, our homes or sunbathing on a sandy beach during an otherwise terrific vacation.

Sometimes, all it takes to induce dread and start tensing up is hearing a certain caller when we answer the telephone.

"I shouldn't have picked up the phone," says our own inwardly directed critical voice.

"Stress is a part of life, but we add layers that are painful and turn it into something that's ten times worse," said Betsy VanLeit, an assistant professor in physical therapy at the University of New Mexico. Through UNM's Integrative Medicine and Patient Education departments, VanLeit helps run an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program to help people recognize and deal with stress.

"People tend to be very hard on themselves," she added.

She wonders: Is there a way to put into perspective what, oftentimes, is a simple inconvenience?

"Can we let it be just traffic?" asks VanLeit. "Can it be a simple experience that doesn't have to be painful? Instead of beating ourselves up, can we say, 'I'm down to 10 miles per hour. I'll be late, but I can forgive myself'?"

For as long as medical researchers have studied the phenomenon of stress, they have also offered stress-reduction strategies. Today, there are multi-pronged approaches, everything from meditation, prayer and exercise techniques to music, yoga and herbal supplements. Who hasn't heard about some of the ways to cope with stress? Take a deep breath and count to 10 before reacting, go for a walk, eat nutritious foods, stop smoking and drinking, get more exercise, or spend more time with friends. Here, we take a look at a few scientifically validated solutions, as well as several ancient approaches.

Next: The way of the heart >