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As summer vacation is behind us, students prepare to return to school, and parents and others make plans to return to the workday world, stress can mount. After the lazy days of summer, preparing to return to a normal routine can seem especially taxing. That’s when it’s important to recognize the stressors you’re likely to face, the effects that stress can have on your body and mind, and the best ways to find balance. Understanding each of these factors and making the smart choices that will help you cope will make the transition from vacation to vocation a much smoother one.
End-of-Summer Stressors:
Here are some stressors unique to the end of summer vacation that you might need to prepare for:
1. Back-to-School Shopping: Locating the books, clothing, digital devices, and other accessories you or your children will need for school or work can be a challenge.
2. Preparation for College: Packing and moving into a college dormitory can be a major undertaking that requires planning, coordination, efficiency, and stress management.
3. Back-to-Work Anticipation: Thinking about the changes you’ll face when school or work resumes can sometimes feel worse than actually facing those changes.
4. Return to a Normal Routine: Facing the demands of a return to normal life after summer vacation usually means elevated stress levels in the office or the classroom.
5. Poor Workplace Ergonomics: If your workplace is not ergonomically designed to place minimal physical and mechanical stress on workers’ bodies, returning to that unnatural environment will begin taking a toll on you almost immediately.
6. Time Pressure: Returning to work or school means watching the clock and following a regular daily schedule, which typically means feeling rushed.
7. Work Responsibilities: Your work itself will create another source of stress until you’ve successfully negotiated the transition back from recreation and relaxation to work.
8. Commuting: Sitting in traffic for long periods on the way to and from work or school can create both physical and psychological tension.
Effects of these Stressors on the Mind & Body:
1. Muscular tension: Jaw, neck and shoulder tension are common.
2. Muscle and joint pain: Prolonged periods spent working in unnatural positions can cause aches and pains.
3. Nervousness: You may feel uneasy or even jittery.
4. Headaches: Stress can trigger migraines or tension headaches.
5. Anxiety: Either free-floating anxiety or worry about specific issues can arise.
6.Depression: Contemplating your responsibilities may lead to depression.
7. Insomnia: You may find it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep.
8. Fatigue: Unusual tiredness can accompany elevated levels of stress.
These are important signs that your body and mind are out of balance and that you need to work on restoring your physical, mental, and/or emotional equilibrium.
10 ways to find balance:
1. Ease back into a normal routine gradually.
2. Take frequent breaks to relax and refresh.
3. Get out in nature to let the beauty of life restore you.
4. Take the time to do something you enjoy.
5. Engage in moderate exercise such as walking.
6. Do deep breathing to calm your mind when stressed.
7. Stop and center yourself when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
8. Allow enough time for preparation for any given task.
9. Talk to a friend to gain a new perspective.
10. Get an in-home massage to relax and relieve muscle tension.
HOW IN-HOME MASSAGE CAN HELP
Home massage provides a simple, convenient solution for the physical and mental tension that accompanies the hectic end-of-summer transition back to school or work. By bringing the service to you, your professional massage therapist offers you a more relaxing option, allowing you to receive the treatment you require right in the comfort and privacy of your own home.
At such a highly stressful time of year, this option frees you from the additional stress and effort of traveling to and from your appointment when you already have so many other responsibilities demanding your attention.Your massage therapist will bring all the necessary equipment to you, so you can simply relax and enjoy the soothing, rejuvenating massage treatment that will relieve muscle tension, calm nervousness, minimize headaches and prepare you for more restful sleep.
If you have specific needs that would be best addressed by a specialized type of massage, your therapist will be able to provide the massage modality that will be of greatest benefit to you.When Back-to-School Madness sets in, making sure you recognize it, understand its effects, and know which techniques will help you counteract them will make your transition from summer to fall an easier one. And making in-home massage a part of your stress-fighting arsenal can help you create the balance you need to draw optimal value from your efforts.
“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school..”― Albert Einstein.