Here is a subtle and often misunderstood fact about stress: For every period of stress in your life, you need a corresponding antidote, a period of relaxation, just to maintain your health. To manage stress effectively, you cannot go directly from a stressful situation back to normal life without spending some time in stress-free relaxation. If you neglect the relaxation stage, you will accumulate the effects of stress until they begin to do very serious damage — physical, emotional, and spiritual.
Someone dangerously swerves in front of you on the freeway? Spend some time in specifically restorative relaxation — maybe a long bath, or a half-hour of quiet, or a leisurely walk. Only then return to life as normal.
Your boss yells at you in front of the staff? Find an effective restorative antidote — perhaps a relaxing massage or an enjoyable visit with a friend or mentor. Only then return to life as normal.
Are your children driving you to the breaking point? Try calling a baby-sitter and have an evening out, or enjoy a quiet time with a good novel. Only then return to your normal life.
It is only when you take time for stress-free relaxation that you can truly recover from stress; merely returning to life as normal — skipping the relaxation stage — is only apparent recovery.
To change your behavior and begin giving yourself these restorative times of relaxation, try thinking of them as an antidote. That's in fact what they are, an antidote to the poison of stress, which restores you to life in balance.
Today for every little stress, take a little stress-free relaxation.
— David Kundtz in Quiet Mind