Dealing with Anxiety and Stress

Hello everyone,

I've been having conversations about anxiety and stress.

It's very likely that many of you are having problems with anxiety and stress; even if the auditorium hadn't burned down, it's very natural during the sprint at the end of the year for people to feel stressed out.

With the center of campus closed off, we all have the additional stress of having to double the amount of time it takes for almost all our out-of-classroom needs; at the very least, we spend time doing the circuitous route from west to east and back, or we look for offices in unexpected locations.

I openly disclose that I have been treated for stress/anxiety, and it continues to be a problem. When I was working with a therapist about it, we talked about things that would work to help me deal with the continuing stresses in my life. (This implies that getting rid of the stress is not one of my options; you may feel the same.)

I discovered that the sorts of exercises I taught my acting students to help them deal with the nervousness of being in front of an audience were the same sorts of exercises that therapists help people deal with stress in daily life.

First, let me say that a therapist told me that stress/anxiety is a relatively easy disorder to treat. It really is "all in your head."

The purpose of the exercises is to get your mind's primary focus on other things, besides the ones that are causing you the stress. In my acting classes, I called the series of re-focusing exercises "The Relaxation Exercise." It is more complex than I am making it here (actors have multiple things they must accomplish while appearing relaxed in front of an audience), but the simplest expression of it may be helpful when you feel stress or anxiety attacks. Remember that ; the intention is not to put you to sleep, but to keep you active without tension (though it can help you sleep at night, too).

Focus on your muscular tension and consciously relax individual muscle groups. I suggest starting at the neck and shoulders and work your way slowly down your body, a section at a time. If you can't feel any muscular tension, then consciously tense the area and relax it, repeating as many times as you need until you can recognize the tension without having to artificially produce it.

For instance, think of your neck and shoulders. If you feel tension, consciously relax it. Drop your shoulders and relax your neck. If necessary, tense the muscles up first, then consciously relax them. (Feel free to combine this with a full stretch warm-up, but it's not necessary.) Work your way down. Trouble areas may be your jaw, your neck and shoulders, your hands, your butt, and your feet. Focus on those areas especially, but don't leave any parts out.

You can do this in public, even while teaching, if you're discreet about it. When you get good at it, you can release the tension in your entire body with one quick scan or cleansing breath and occasional checks.

A second part of the Relaxation Exercise is to actively monitor your breathing; make sure that you are not breathing too shallowly; make sure that you are breathing from your diaphragm, not your chest. Eventually, you combine deep breathing with muscular release.

When it works, it serves to divert your attention away from whatever is making you nervous, and the release of nervous tension helps you to relax mentally. It's not magic, but it works if you remember to do it. I do it whenever I'm performing, and whenever I feel stress or tension. I still have to manage my life, avoid procrastination, try to sleep regularly, eat a healthy diet, and just let some things go, but it works whenever I feel those notable signs of anxiety.

(If your anxiety attacks are severe, see a therapist and have him/her guide you through the process.)

Hope it's useful.

Jeff Combe