By Michele Nevard

The alarm goes off. It’s 6am and all go. Wash, dress, children to feed, the school run, shop, work, meetings, supper, elderly parents to check on, deadlines to meet, husbands and partners to be catered for, bedtime stories to read and more. It’s a usual day in the life of a busy woman. And we take it for granted. It’s what we’re accustomed to. If any minute isn’t accounted for we start looking around for something to do. And it’s this lifestyle that’s slowly killing us, because stress takes its toll.

Tight neck and shoulders, back pain, digestive disorders, depression, flu and other illnesses can be traced to stress. How many of us go on that long awaited holiday after a busy period, only to come down with a cold or some other illness at the beginning of the break? We’ve put ourselves under such pressure, when we stop our body tries to catch-up.

Prone to irritations? Stress is the culprit. Constantly on edge, grabbing for another glass of wine? It’s that ‘fight or flight’ adrenaline kicking in, keeping us hyped up. Unless we dissipate it, lower our stress levels, we’re exposing ourselves to a range of disabling symptoms which at one end of the scale can mean sleepless nights, and at the other end result in more serious conditions such as heart attacks and cancer. So, there’s no reason not to take every opportunity to chill out. But often it’s down to changing habits, which can take time. However, building some small relaxation into our busy schedules can produce positive effects. So, how to start?

Here are a few practical tips to help you chill out, from yoga to meditation, health spas to food festivals and good books to read.

1) Get moving

A good way of downloading adrenaline is to get out there and exercise. For some that may be sweating it out in the gym. But great benefits can be derived from leaving the desk at lunchtime and going for a brisk walk. Building a 20-minute walk into the day’s schedule will reap positive benefits. It gets the blood flowing, clears the mind and can help with long-term weight lose. More time to spare? Then a gentle jog in the park will clear the cobwebs.

Yoga is perhaps one of the best ways to de-stress, combining physical activity with mental stillness. Hatha yoga is a gentle and meditative yoga. It builds up flexibility at the same time as promoting a sense of calm. It’s not uncommon at the end of a yoga session to hear people snoring on the floor as they drift off into relaxation.

Yoga promotes deep breathing encouraging people to be more aware and in control of their bodies. Studies conducted by The Harvard Medical School in the US document that practising yoga reduces blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol and blood sugar. Add to that the boost it gives to the immune system, and there’s no good reason not to give it a go.

2) A change of scenery

Making time and changing routine all help deal with stress. It’s the ‘me’ time that’s talked about which is essential to a balanced lifestyle. That might mean packing the husband and kids off, and creating a day at home on your own where you completely indulge yourself. Or maybe you just book yourself into a day spa, with nothing to do but relax. If you’re London based then The Sanctuary in Covent Garden is a much-loved women’s-only spa with day packages. Out of town, Ragdale Hall Health Hydro in Leicestershire is the epitome of five star pampering in a comfortable luxurious setting. It’s grand surroundings with no pretensions.

3) Days out

Changing familiar surroundings is also good for the brain. If art is of interest then try a gallery you haven’t visited before. The Wallace Collection in Manchester Square is a small, almost ‘boutique’ art gallery. Hidden behind London’s Oxford Street it’s a gem of a museum with a recently revamped café under glass.

And if you happen to be visiting Cambridge then check out a treasure in the form of Kettles Yard House where the writer, and former Tate Gallery curator, Jim Ede lived. A great art collector, he left his house and collection to the University, and it remains the same today. If you ring the door bell any day of the week but Monday you will be able to gain entry and can walk around his home, sit and admire the interior and on occasions listen to music recitals.

For foodies, needing a break, September is a month of interesting food festivals. The Ludlow Marches Food and Drink Festival is on every gourmet’s yearly calendar and features the best of meat and real ales. The picturesque fishing village of Emsworth near Chichester plays host to its own food festival. And Britain’s biggest cheese festival is held in Millets Farm in Oxfordshire.

4) Quiet time

The cry of busy women is they don’t have time to fit in these small, possibly life saving activities. But maybe the question should be, why not? Surely just 20 minutes or half an hour in the day is worth the investment? For instance, how many of us know the benefits attributed to meditation, yet have never tried it? Maybe now’s the time to start.

Read the books, check the websites, talk to those practising it, and you only get positive feedback. The beauty of meditation is that once learnt, it’s something that can be practised anywhere at anytime on your own. All it takes is the motivation and practice. And when you hear testimonials of regular practitioners it makes sense to give it a go. Because people who meditate say they feel calmer, are more productive, happier and healthier. Twenty minutes a day is a small price to pay for all of those benefits.

To get started you can try any of a number of books on the subject that illustrate the techniques. But you could also take a short course at somewhere like Inner Space, which is run by the Brahma Kumari’s World Spiritual University. An international organisation, they have worldwide centres. Their aim is to ‘work with all levels of society for positive change’ and they have been the recipient of seven United Nations Peace Messenger Awards. They run sessions twice weekly on a variety of subjects, including meditation, and they are all free. And when you join others on the search for peace, don’t think 70’s hippies, because nowadays your neighbour is more likely to be a stressed city executive.

5) Escapism

De-stressing is all about creating a better lifestyle. Being a happier, healthier person. And if time is so pressing you can’t imagine having any extra space in the day for yourself, there’s always escapism into books. Two books that should be on everyone’s reading list are, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne, and Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith. Both are an easy read, but completely different. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a children’s book that equally engrosses an adult reader. In it we enter the nine year old world of Bruno, living in Germany during the Second World War. It’s a book that captures the time in a remarkable way, where the reader totally inhabits the mindset of the child. It’s completely absorbing, with a surprising and uncomfortable end. Blue Shoes and Happiness is the latest of McCall’s stories about the life of Mma Ramotswe, the No.1 lady detective in Botswana. He creates a wonderful world where crime is simple and the understanding of human nature paramount. This book allows you to escape the pressures of modern life and sit for a while under a Botswanan sky watching life go by.

However, you choose to chill out, it’s clear that de-stressing is not just an option it’s essential to having a balanced, healthy life. There are endless ways of stilling the mind and relaxing the body. With so many choices there’s no case for opting out, but of choosing which one suits.

To find out more about some of the suggestions here, visit the following links:

www.thesanctuary.co.uk

www.ragdalehall.co.uk

www.wallacecollection.org

www.kettlesyard.co.uk

www.innerspace.org.uk

www.bkwsu.org

Ludlow Marches Food and Drink Festival  - September 7-9

The Emsworth Food Festival  -September 14-16

Great British Cheese Festival  -September 29-30