01 Sep 5 Signs That You Are Under Stress!

With meditation, we learn ways to handle stress. We try to scan our bodies, and become aware of certain physical sensations and identify parts of the body that tense up. But, since we don’t have the time to meditate every second, we can look towards carrying that sense of awareness as we go about the day.

For example, driving in India is one of THE most challenging things I do every single day. I face situations like 5 cars stopping at once because a cow decided to cross the road! Or someone suddenly decided to shift lanes in a split second! Or getting stuck behind a slow bus, and fellow drivers not giving me the chance to overtake despite the indicator. So the unpredictability can really stress me out, but not just that - if there is a 5 inch gap between two cars, an auto-rickshaw or 3 bikes will squeeze into that space, making it so hard to move forward, without worrying that they will hit me or vise-versa. Combine the long hours of traffic, pollution, constant honking and road rage, and you will be surprised if I don’t explode!

Obviously, I know that all of this will catch up. Just the other day, some guy asked me to take a really bad road that connects to the main road because traffic was building up. The last time I did it, the underbelly of my car was damaged by the potholes and a huge piece of brick sticking up from a rock that I decided to opt again taking that “short cut” ever again. Plus, I had to accelerate so hard to get out of that ditch, and because it connects to the main road, I almost had an accident with a bus to my right.

So, I politely declined and the guy started to straight up abuse me.

SO, to conclude my story of stress while driving, I have only thing to say: It’s super hard not to get stressed out, but what I can do is look out for following symptoms or signs of stress. Having the ability to recognize common stress systems has slowly but surely started to helped me to manage it. However, if I leave it unchecked, many health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity can appear.

Common effects of stress on your body are:

• Headache
• Muscle tension or pain
• Chest pain
• Fatigue
• Change in sex drive
• Stomach upset
• Sleep problems

Common effects of stress on your mood are:

• Anxiety
• Restlessness
• Lack of motivation or focus
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Irritability or anger
• Sadness or depression

Common effects of stress on your behavior are:

• Overeating or undereating
• Angry outbursts
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• Tobacco use
• Social withdrawal
• Exercising less often

So, look out for these signs and try to get them under control. The first step though would be to breathe and close your eyes, notice how your body is behaving and then move to the right action required. 

Nehita Abraham

Nehita is a mindfulness expert who writes extensively on lifestyle management, wellness and ways to lead a healthier and a happier life. She is a part of Aware’s expert team on meditation. She is also an avid artist who spends most her time dribbling amazing stories through art.