India is dying... and it’s a slow, silent death! The monsoons have all but drowned the country and we find ourselves swimming to work. Do you find yourself preparing for war every time you get into your car to go to work?
Do you find yourself feeling anxious at the thought of dealing with the ordeal of taking public transport? Do you find yourself looking for excuses to bunk work the moment it rains? Do you find yourself worrying about basic survival when you think about getting around in the monsoons? If you have an affirmative answer to even one of these questions, then you’re allowing the horror of stress to dictate your life and affect your health.
Stress is one of the worst habits you can inculcate. Something as essential and basic as the drive to work during the monsoon can stress you out completely. Stress by itself is unessential and the worst part is that it leads to a host of health complications such as heart disease, anxiety, headaches, obesity and many more ailments.
MensXP thinks that it’s time to give the big S the boot and try and enjoy the good ol’ monsoons by incorporating these seven steps.
1) Accept the Season
Banish Monsoon Stress - Accept the Season
You can moan and groan all you want, but the monsoons have a date with India for four months every year. Time to stop greeting those raindrops with a grumpy face, man-up and accept that no matter what you say or do, it IS going to rain. Now that you’ve acknowledged this, prepare for your travel to work accordingly. If you take the road, give yourself a 30 minute buffer because with rains, come traffic jams and chaos. Additionally, look for alternate routes to work. If the main roads get jammed, try and find inner roads that’ll be less congested. If you take public transport, prepare yourself with several transport options besides a 60 minute time buffer. When you have your transportation and timings sorted, you’ll see that stress won’t bother touching you.
2) Meditate
Banish Monsoon Stress - Meditate
If you don’t meditate already, it’s about time you get start. There are different meditation techniques such as Vipassana, Om meditation, The Art of Living, etc. Find out what works best for you and which form of meditation appeals to you the most. Once you get that sorted, enrol yourself for formal training and inculcate meditation in your daily life. You’ll find yourself at peace and the chaotic trip to work won’t be as bad as it is. If you’re strapped for time and you can’t enrol for a meditation course just yet, spend a few minutes of silence every morning and do some Om chanting... peace will be a given.
3) Listen to Calming Music
Banish Monsoon Stress - Listen to Calming Music
There’s something about music, isn’t it? It can uplift your mood, transport you to a different realm and put you at peace. In fact, if music were to beat stress, it would serenade it out of your life. It’s time to plug into your favourite music and make that trip to work melodious and calming. Choosing a genre depends completely on your taste; but, research has gone proved that listening to classical calming melodies, puts you at ease.
4) Do Breathing Exercises on Your Way
Banish Monsoon Stress - Do Breathing Exercises on Your Way
Sometimes, in spite of your morning meditation and calming music, traffic and the sheer effort to get to work can be de-motivating. Stress not because breathing exercises are here to your rescue. If you feel yourself losing your cool or you find that wily old foe you know as stress, threaten your circle of peace, just inhale and exhale. Do this when you’re stuck in traffic and when you stop at a signal. Concentrate on your breathing and you’ll find a sense of calm settling in.
And when you’re at work...
5) Use Noise Cancelling Headphones At Work
Banish Monsoon Stress - Use Noise Cancelling Headphones At Work
As much as you may like a lively office, sometimes decibel levels can be exasperating, especially when you’ve managed to maintain your calm on your way to work. Fret not because it’s time to put your ears together for noise cancelling headphones. These babies will block out that unsavoury mayhem and allow you to optimise your productivity. Of course, productive you = stress-free, happy you.
6) Dress Up Your Desk
Banish Monsoon Stress - Dress Up Your Desk
Let’s admit it, we’re a visual race and all things fine, appeals to us, which is absolutely great. Take a quick look at your desk at work. Pictures of your family, an unforgettable trip, your pet, indoor plants – all of this makes work a lot more fun. Why, you wonder? It’s simple – one look at everyone and everything that means something put everything else in perspective. Just looking at a familiar face, even though it’s smiling at you through a photo-frame, is therapeutic. If you don’t have happy things already, it’s time you adorn your desk and have it mean something. One glance is all it takes to set things straight.
7) Go Green With Green Tea
Banish Monsoon Stress - Go Green With Green Tea
Don’t turn your nose, please; green tea isn’t as distasteful as people say it is. It’s an acquired taste. Besides, green tea is loaded with tannins, Vitamin C and E, B1, B2, plant pigments, saponins and a host of other health boosters, which enhance your overall health. However, green tea also calms and mellows you down. So, if you’re feeling stressed during the day or stressed thinking about making your way back home in the rains, green tea is a perfect stress alleviator!
Considering that you’ve successfully shown stress the door, notice how calm you are on your drive back home. The monsoons wash away a lot of things; it’s time to put stress on a paper boat that sails away into oblivion!
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