Keeping Busy Helps Lower Stress Levels

　　By Janet Frank Atkinson

　　My first trip to the gym after the war started was an attempt to reduce the stress that was building and overwhelming me through the week.

　　So, being a big fan of spinning – indoor biking – I decided to take a seat in the class at my gym.

　　Five minutes into the warm-up, I felt the tension in my head slip away. Surrounded by fellow spin junkies, the talk was lively.

　　I realized physical activity and group exercise contribute to raising your spirits. But you don't have to head to a gym for an intense workout to release stress.

　　“Intense exercise may have a cardiovascular benefit but will not necessarily enhance your ability to cope with stress,” said Dr. Bruce Rabin, medical director of the University of Pittsburgh medical Center Healthy Lifestyle Program. “Physical activity, as opposed to exercise, will help a person better respond to stress. When you use the word exercise, people think that they have to spend an hour [working out], ” Rabin said. “That's not the way you need to use your brain to decrease stress. What one needs to do is utilize behaviors, which change the way the brain responds to stress.”

　　Physical activity actually activates the same areas of the brain as psychological stress.

　　“The more times we can activate those areas of the brain by physical activity, the harder it becomes for a stressor to activate those areas,” Rabin said.

　　If you drive to work or the store, you can build physical activity into your day by parking farther away and walking to your destination.

　　“Don't take a leisure walk – really move … a couple of times a day. This is what makes it effective to decrease the amount of stress you feel,” Rabin said.

　　Aside from physical activity, consider this advice:

　　· Mix meditation, deep breathing exercises and social interaction into your week.

　　· Keep a journal or do writing exercises to help you come to terms with your concerns. Write continuously about an issue for 15 minutes without stopping to read. When you finished, tear up what you wrote so no one will see it.

　　· Eat a nutritious diet.

　　· Turn to a belief system in religion or develop a spiritual nature that allows you to relax and calm yourself.

　　“By preventing the elevation of stress hormones, you can manage stress,” Rabin said. “It's all a package – being spiritual, writing and breathing exercises,” as well as physical activity.