CITYLIFE / Hip & New
Slow down!Learn to manage the stress
(shanghai daily)
Updated: 2007-01-23 09:08
Everyone is stressed out and expats are particularly vulnerable to
prolonged stress, and it's not just the crazy city traffic. The Expat
Learning Center offers a stress-management course to help you slow down,
cope and better enjoy life, writes Jenny Hammond.
It's no mean feat, surviving in any major city, and Shanghai is no
exception. The smallest thing can cause stress and anxiety - from rainy
days when available taxis become a rare and precious commodity, to the
noise pollution and the general hectic pace of the city.
Even crossing roads can be traumatic - from reckless, devil-may-care
drivers to cyclists, invisible until they almost hit you.
This makes stress a common problem of living in such a busy and chaotic
environment.
Of course, stress is part of life, but now there is a new way to help you
cope with it.
The Expat Learning Center has started a course so those under pressure
can acquire some essential stress-management skills. This will help them
deal with prolonged tension and highly demanding situations in a more
relaxed and healthy way. It includes both information about stress, its
physiology, chemistry and effects, as well as coping advice and
relaxation exercises.
We're all under stress, for reasons of money, work, family, personal
health problems, raising children or the state of the world.
Stress is the demand put on one's ability to react and change, explains
Marieke van der Wekken-van Buytene who runs the course.
The course is 10 sessions of two and a half hours and runs through March
21. It costs 3,200 yuan (US$412). Newcomers can still join.
"We experience stress when the demands exceed our ability, when we do not
have enough time, energy and skills to deal with them," she says.
Living in Shanghai, we are constantly bombarded with signals, all
screaming for our attention: honking cars, television screens in taxis,
on elevators and on the street and in advertisements.
"What most people don't realize is that even though most signals are
dismissed as not important by our brain, we do register and evaluate them
all, draining our energy," says the Netherlands-born stress counselor.
"To be aware of this is very important so you can consciously seek out
not only rest and relaxation, but also peace and quiet, which is quite
hard in Shanghai, where even the parks are overcrowded," she observes.
"It is even harder for an expat, because they are in a foreign culture,"
says Nick Dido, a volunteer at the Expat Learning Center.
"There are many frustrations and difficulties, such as the language and
cultural barriers, the feelings of always being an outsider, and not
being able to read people or know what they are thinking and feeling," he
continues.
"When a person is in their own culture, there is familiarity and
understanding of those around them. We learn how to read the subtle signs
and symbols of peoples' speech, actions, and behaviors. But in a foreign
culture, you never really know what to expect, so naturally you do not
feel as safe and secure."
Like any major city, Shanghai can be lonely and cruel, says Dido. "People
here are usually very ambitious. It is not likely that you will find a
great deal of sympathy or support from others in this type of
environment."
Most people have no problems with being under stress for a period of
time, as long as they have opportunities to recover, van der Wekken-van
Buytene says. "But people can also get caught up in it so much that they
start to panic and that causes even more stress."
Prolonged stress leads to depression, breakdowns, most often in women,
and to heart attacks, more often in men. Today these are all recognized
as signs of burn-out, but burn-out was not so clearly linked to these
manifestations in previous decades.
Expats experience further stress as they have a tendency to work long,
crazy hours and fill their spare time with living the Shanghai life to
the max.
"I love Shanghai for all the opportunities it offers, but I am sometimes
afraid that people get too caught up in consumerism, modernization and
the breakneck speed of everything," says van der Wekken-van Buytene.
"Try to realize the stress you are under and set priorities. Then tackle
one thing at a time and delegate or drop some tasks," she advises. "I get
stressed when many requests come my way simultaneously and I want to do
everything because it's all great fun, but I simply don't have the time
or energy for it all."
Like many people, it took a major life crisis, rendering van der
Wekken-van Buytene virtually helpless, before she took a step back.
Then she began her own therapy and studies into burn-out and stress
counselling.
"Nearly every person I now meet - businesspeople, doctors, teachers, and
housewives - say they are stressed and could benefit from a
stress-management course," she says.
Giving tips to combat anxiety, volunteer Dido says, it's important to
build rest and relaxation periods into your schedule, "because ultimately
they are just as important as, or even more important, than the other
things in your schedule."
"Countless studies have shown that having a support group built into your
life is imperative for emotional well-being," he says.
In modern society, there is less emphasis on family and community, so
most people have to create this support system themselves.
"It is helpful to find people with common interests, people who you can
relate to easily."
"Don't let yourself become too isolated," he advises. "There is nothing
more stressful than the feeling that no one cares or that your life is
meaningless."
The course at the Expat Learning Center teaches that it's important to
take timely measures and proper precautions against prolonged stress -
not just for crisis management but for an overall more relaxed life.
"Participants in stress management courses are more often professionals
from varied fields, who love their job so much that they sometimes forget
to take care of themselves and find that their leisure time, health,
relationships and work suffer," says van der Wekken-van Buytene.
"Nothing can eliminate stress completely and you wouldn't want to live
without challenges and excitement, but everyone can learn to recognize
when the demands on their time and energy start to eat away at their
reserves and take away their joy," she adds.
Date: through March 21
Cost: 3,200 yuan for 10 sessions (2.5 hours per session)
Address: Yongjia Road Community Center
Tel: 021-6467-6875
Website: www.shanghai-classes.com
Tips to fight stress
Take deep breaths. This brings oxygen into the body and relaxes the
muscles. It slows the heart rate and helps calm the mind. Concentrating
on the rhythm of deep breathing takes your mind off your problems.
Eat soothing snacks. Carbohydrates set off an intricate metabolic chain
of events that increases the supply of serotonin, a brain chemical known
for its calming effect. Avoid proteins, which can inhibit production of
serotonin. Snacks should be low in fat, which slows absorption of food
and thus delays calming benefits.
Relax your muscles. Anxiety causes muscles to tighten, leading to
headaches and backaches. When you feel tense, sit back and let your
muscles loosen.
Exercise. Even a brisk, five-minute walk can help. It will boost your
energy and the more energy you have, the more you can resist the physical
effects of stress.
Smell. Some studies show that sniffing pleasant aromas improves mood.
Smells you associate with pleasant memories are a comfort. For example,
the smell of freshly baked bread may remind you of being back in your
family kitchen.
Cry. Many women say they feel better after crying. It is one way humans
alleviate stress. This is because tears rid the body of chemicals that
build up during stress periods, allowing us to relax.
Talk about it. A quick call to a friend or family member can instantly
make you feel better. Getting it off your chest helps put it in
perspective. Just be sure to pick the right person to confide in, a good
listener.
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