Stress is a regular part of life and can't be entirely prevented. It requires us to adjust to new circumstances in order to survive. Stress acts on  psychological, physiological, and social levels simultaneously. These three levels work together to shape the state of the body and mind and the many options we have for managing stressful situations.

As an example, Alexander is a sales manager for a popular retailer who has not been meeting his sales goals. He has been given the deadline of 90 days to improve or he will probably be fired. As the days count down, he finds himself worrying deeply about work at night after dinner. His preoccupations follow him to bed and interfere with his sleep. Lying awake at night, he ruminates over his predicament. Initially, he loses only a few hours’ sleep nightly but that slows him down during the day, so he adds another large cup of coffee into his routine in the late afternoon. Soon, the caffeine substantially inhibits his ability to sleep well.

When the weekend arrives, he sleeps in later and later trying to catch up. The anxiety, caffeine, fatigue, and lack of mental sharpness start to take its toll.

At a family gathering he is tense and reserved, not eager to talk about his predicament. He wonders if it would have been better to not attend. He has a hard time relating to his siblings who have stable jobs and retirements and he is clearly not himself. Maybe he is even a little jealous. He sits off to the side, hardly saying a word, feeling ashamed to open up to anyone about his situation. This stress feeds into a cycle of loneliness and isolation that makes the problem worse. 

That night he drinks more than usual. His wife tries to get him to talk about what’s bothering him, but he resolves to keep it a secret because the fear that she might not love him if he loses his job is too stressful for him to deal with.

The next morning, he sleeps in even longer then adds another cup of coffee to his daily intake. Soon, he goes to the doctor to get a prescription for sleeping pills. These make him feel sluggish in the morning and more dependant on caffeine. The cycle intensifies as his responses to stress have magnified and made the situation worse. He is in a state of innervation, an energy deficit which lowers his immune response. Vulnerable to many ills, he develops lower back pain and spasms.

Staying home from work for a few days to try to get better only gives him more opportunity to worry. The time and expense of physical therapy cause him to take more time off work to try to heal on his own because he is overly concerned about the expense.

It is not uncommon for people in Steve’s predicament to have their fight or flight response get stuck in the “on” position, leading to prolonged, chronic pain.  Steve was wise to not ask the Doctor for pain meds.

If it is not already bad enough, the viscous cycle of work induced stress could snowball even further.  It could lead to hypertension, weight gain, type 2 diabetes, anxiety, depression, and many other stress related health problems including addictions.

Work stress can be thought of as the “the mind and body response to the pressures and demands of the workplace”. Stressors can be internal as well as an external. For example, a thought or feeling can cause stress, such as worrying whether you will be overwhelmed with too much to do in too little time. Or it can be in response to an outside stimulus such as the pressure and tension we feel when an unforeseen setback occurs at work which spills over into our home life.

Nearly all of us must earn a living and most occupations are potentially stressful. If we can find meaning in our work and a sense of deeper contribution to the greater good, we can create a buffer zone for stress. By putting our knowledge and skills to use toward a worthy goal serving others, we benefit at a level over and above that of a paycheck. If we feel we are part of something bigger than us, doing something worthwhile, then we have a great advantage in tolerating and reducing work related stress.

Stress and the Body

Back pain and muscle tension are common problems associated with financial difficulties. One could see how quickly the mind could equate worries in the workplace with financial ruin. “Awfulizing” can take hold and the worst possible outcome can hijack our mental focus. Anger related to “why me “ thinking  gets repressed in the unconscious mind and lurks in the shadows until it has an opportunity to pounce. The result is often psychosomatic back pain and related syndromes.

Deb Shapiro, an expert on the mind- body connection, writes in her book “Your Body Speaks Your Mind” that “muscle tension is caused by emotional stress, and the deeper that emotional tension is explored, the more the story behind the pain is revealed. It may be a story of anger, fear, exhaustion, of trying to prove something to someone, of denial, of the lack of forgiveness – whatever it is, it is in the back because it is well hidden there. But it also hurts.” Repressed emotional tension that cannot be released or is not acknowledged often finds its voice through the body.

Mona Lisa Schultz M.D. is a Neuropsychiatrist, physician, and one of the top medical intuitives (psychics) in the world. In her book “The Intuitive Advisor” she writes that whenever the delicate balance between love and money becomes upset, second chakra illnesses tend to follow. These include chronic acne; lower back pain and sciatica; hip pain; bladder, urinary, or vaginal infections; menstrual cycle irregularities; PMS; infertility; prostate problems; and other pelvic organ disorders.

Among the many psychosomatic reasons for back pain caused by financial/relationship difficulties, Dr. Schultz writes that it is in how we pursue our desires that can cause problems in the 2nd Chakra region, the emotional center of creativity. If you want something but are passive, afraid of rejection, have doubts about your abilities or allow strong feelings of shame or guilt to stop you from pursuing your goals, it’s possible, but not certain, that you could end up with these maladies.

Mona Lisa Schultz explains that go-getters, those who consistently place financial power ahead of relationships, often spend much of their life focusing on their financial goals to the exclusion of their family.  “If you really want something and you have only one last chance of getting it, then it behooves you to increase your intensity, to assert your power absolutely, and to go after it actively, directly, shamelessly and in and uninhibited fashion without fear or doubt”. The trick is balancing your relationships with money and love simultaneously, and this is not an easy task.

It is understandable that Steve, like most of us, would need to be cautious in how he expresses himself at work. The anger and frustration became trapped inside because he decided not to communicate the magnitude of his problems to his wife and family out of fear that they would judge him. With no other outlet, the emotions percolated inside, rose to the surface, and boiled over into the lower back.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

MBSR is a proven program for healing and resolving chronic stress and stress related health problems including chronic back and muscle pain, migraine headaches, panic attacks, sleep deprivation, anger management, high blood pressure- virtually any health problem can be influenced in a positive way by this approach. The core of the program is mindfulness meditation.

Developed in 1970s by John Kabat Zinn, MBSR is an 8-week course based on the ancient wisdom of breath meditation that has been studied, analyzed, tested and proven effective more than any other holistic medicinal technique. There is evidence that it fosters healing with all health problems, big and small, while facilitating the healing and well-being of the whole person. The only way to get the most out of this wonderful, scientifically developed, non-theistic program is to TAKE THE COURSE.

Let us start by taking a closer look at mindfulness.

It is actively turning our attention to each moment in an effort to remain awake and aware. The practice of present moment awareness, of being instead of doing. Consciously disconnecting from the activities of life and relaxing into the present without trying to fill it up with anything. Willfully allowing the body and mind to come to rest in the moment despite what is on our minds or how our body feels. Tuning into what is happening in the now. Allowing ourselves to be in the moment with things as they are without trying to change anything. Making time for ourselves to slow down, to cultivate calmness and self- acceptance.

Developing the skill of observing our mind from moment to moment. Learning how to watch our thoughts, then letting go of them without getting caught up and driven by them. Making room for fresh ways of seeing old problems and for perceiving the interconnectedness of all things. This kind of learning involves settling into moments of being and refining your awareness through meditation. The more methodically and consistently you practice, the more potent the skill of mindfulness will become for you.

Mindfulness Meditation is about paying attention. When we start paying attention a little more closely to the way our mind actually works through meditation, we recognize that often our mind is more in the past or the future than it is in the present.

As a result, in any moment we may be only partially aware of what is truly taking place. We can miss many of the moments in our life because we are not fully there for them. This is obvious when we are not meditating. Partial consciousness can dominate the mind at any moment and affect everything we do. We may find that oftentimes we are on automatic pilot, operating mechanically, without being wholly aware of what we are doing or experiencing. It is as if we are only half awake, half aware.

 It is natural to be going somewhere and have little or no awareness of what we saw along the way. Recently I went on 30-minute exercise walk and it was fascinating how much my mind drifted. I used the technique of labeling experience. As I walked, I repeated silently, softly, and non-judgmentally to myself “walking” and directed my attention to my legs. The first time my thoughts strayed they brought up what I had just done, which was prepare and eat lunch. I redirected my attention to my legs and repeated “walking” silently to myself. Very soon my senses were noticing the surroundings. There was the sound of traffic. As I walked a little further there was the sound of birds singing. Then cicadas. The sounds changed as I walked into them and through them. Then two teenagers passed closely by and I listened as they spoke to each other. All the while I redirected my attention to my legs. About midway, my mind settled in for a while. Further I walked away from the birds and the people the more I was able to redirect my attention. But a little while later, I found myself thinking and planning what I was going to do after I arrived home.

My mind was on cruise control for much of the walk, lost in discursive thought, not fully there, but there enough to not get hit by a car. Ordinarily our attention is easily distracted. The mind tends to wander. It falls into thinking and planning quite easily. Our thoughts are so overpowering, especially in times of crisis and upheaval, that they easily eclipse our awareness of the present. Even in seemingly relaxed moments they can carry our senses away with them whenever they wander. The thinking mind is occupied by sense impressions that attracted its attention then literally pulled it away.

For however long our attention strays away, we are literally lost in our thoughts and unaware of other sense impressions. Try to observe how easily your awareness is pulled away from the present moment by your thoughts, no matter where you find yourself, no matter what the circumstances. Many times, throughout the day, amid other activities or simply hanging out doing nothing, you will find yourself thinking about the past or the future. You may be surprised at how often this occurs.

You might be walking through the floral section of the supermarket, carried away by thoughts of picking up your children from school or getting to your Doctor’s appointment on time, and not fully experience the delectably fragrant scent of the flowers just a few feet away from you. The present moment was a miniscule awareness of what was right in front of your eyes while your major focus was on where you would be and what you would be doing an hour from then.

 Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction at Work