Take a break from stress!

I need a break! I can’t cope! I have no time for myself!! These are sentences we’ve all heard from others or have crossed our mind. Messages we should take more seriously because they are a distress signal we use when we feel we’ve reached our limits.

Accustomed to not listen to ourselves, to not stop and notice how we feel, what we need, what our body is telling us, we just move on, pushed by our inner tyrant telling us we must do better, cope with everything, making no mistakes, telling us we need to have everything under control...to the extent that we forget what we really want and how we want to do things.

Sooner or later, sustained stress leads to a state of exhaustion for anyone’s capacity to adapt, and this is an important health issue today, unleashing a whole set of emotional, physical, cognitive and behavioural consequences.

Stress could be defined as a direct correlation between the burdens we carry and our resilience. Not everyone tolerates the same stress levels, meaning it is important to know our limitations.

Anyone working in the field of social care, medicine, education, culture, the environment...we are committed and are responsible for social development; we must be equally committed to our physical and mental health to show our very best.

Working with people in vulnerable situations or at risk of social exclusion may mean it is difficult to set apart our personal and professional life; excessive personal involvement to do our best may end up becoming a source of stress and anxiety. It’s important to know how to build a healthy barrier between empathy and helping others and taking care of our emotional situations.

What can we do? We mustn’t forget to find space and time for activities (it could be sport or a hobby) that we are passionate about, spending time with friends and having a good laugh, taking a break every day to listen to our inner selves...and, a special tip: search for information on different meditation techniques and the wonderful benefits of practicing meditation on a daily basis.

Let’s not forget that if we free ourselves from stress, we will laugh more, connect more to others, enjoy what happens around us and we’ll be more able to show our very best.

So, what are we waiting for?