Take a Mini-Vacation and Return Refreshed
Arnold Shapiro, MD
March–April 2020 • Vol 3, No 109
Stress is a composite of the demands placed upon us, and the nature of our response to those demands. No two people are alike in their spectrum of demands (stressors) or in their response to those demands (their stress response). There is likely an optimum range of stress (stressors and stress responses) in which we optimally function (eustress). Above this range, there is a subjective sense of discomfort and dysfunction (distress). Below this range, insufficient stress might result in a different kind of distress: boredom.
Whether we have excessive stress, optimal stress, or deficient stress, we can benefit from relaxation skills. Relaxation is easy to learn but must be practiced regularly, even when we don’t “need” it, to maximize its benefits. Relaxation is best understood in terms of the Relaxation Response, which has been studied and is found to be psychologically the opposite of the Stress Response. If “stressors” (demands) elicit a Stress Response, then “relaxors” (soothers) elicit a Relaxation Response. We will explore “relaxors.”
Follow these steps as you go to your C.A.B.I.N. and take a mini-vacation at work or at home and come back refreshed.
