Are you stressed? I might have a cure.
I recently attended a seminar on recognizing and dealing with stress.
It was valuable because the insidious thing about stress is that you don’t realize you have it. It’s that twitch in the eye, the shallow breathing, the waking up at 2 in the morning - little tics that have become patterns that you cannot remember not having.
This group ended the session by going around the room and offering examples of ways we each deal with stress - sharing activities that reduce the level of anxiety.
We covered all the Reader’s Digest points - better nutrition, reduced sugar and caffeine, exercise, finding your happy place, and so on.
The session was nearly over when suddenly I had a flash of insight.
“Take a class!” I blurted.
Everyone turned to me to see what I was going to say next. I wondered, too.
Then it just came spilling out. I realized the times in my life I feel least stressed are when I am learning something new. Right now, that includes learning how to play violin and how to tap dance (no, not at the same time).
When I am in that lesson, for one hour, I don’t worry about work, kids, job, cars, or money. My mind goes to a state of focus and concentration, where the sole purpose is to hit that G# or nail that shuffle ball change. As a bonus, I’m getting a physical workout and learning a new skill or hobby - another stress reducer.
It occurred to me that every day I get to see people come through our doors who want to learn something new, and they are the happiest, most well-adjusted people I know, regardless of their age. This fall I interviewed a gentleman who is learning to weld. He is 87. And he didn’t appear to be too stressed. We have had a 70-year-old lady jump out of an airplane. I imagine she had a little adrenaline pumping through her veins, but she landed and survived to jump another day. Stress didn’t kill her.
We all know you should eat better, exercise more, sleep eight hours, and take time for yourself. The biggest reason people gave for not doing these things is “not enough time.”
Taking a class makes you take time. It forces you to attend a specific place at a specific time. It is in your organizer. When you show up, you are immersed in a whole new group of supportive people who become your friends and allies as you push back the frontiers of ignorance and uncertainty.
It is a fact that learning something new - at any age - forges new neuron paths in the brain. Old dogs can learn new tricks.
Oh. They say that change is another stressor. Well... take a tap class, and you can embrace change - shuffle ball change.
XXX
For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.
Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com, or follow us on Twitter @clubedtx.
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