Stress saturates our lives: its omnipresent messy little tendrils so much a part of our life that we can hardly remember a time without it. It’s a bit of a bragging point these days, actually, we sigh but we believe it’s the price paid for a life lived to the fullest. And, we note with a dismissive hand wave, so much of it is “first world problems.”
But in yoga as well as sci fi we learn: stress takes its toll, whatever sort of world you are on.
In a way, of course, the phrase “first world problems” provides us all with some perspective. Doctor Who being dropped from Netflix was fairly traumatic for me, but only in a first world problems sort of way. Heaven knows that starvation, exposure to war, etc. are in a whole different league.
That said, though, you also can’t minimize the sh*t that you deal with–mostly because your body won’t let you. You might will yourself to endure that toxic relationship, this soul-crushing job, etc., telling yourself it’s nothing compared to what others deal with. But your gut, your heart, your mind, your hair, your skin, all really don’t give a crap about that attitude. They will rebel and let you know that this is NOT ok.
The sublimely excellent show “The Good Place” recently dealt with that with one of the characters, a sentient database/assistant Janet. Though she ostensibly has no emotions, she has a big reaction when faced with having to react to things in a way that is inconsistent with objective truth. She malfunctions dramatically, barfing up a frog, causing earthquakes, etc., without even knowing why.
No spoilers here as to exactly what ended up causing it, but basically she had to act happy about something she was really miserable about. And that just doesn’t work, for her or for us.
Or look at the android Lal, Data’s daughter on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Her episode “The Offspring” is such punch in the gut. When she is told she will have to leave her android father and the ship she has come to know as home, this supposedly-emotionless creature malfunctions to such an extent that she can never recover. Cue the crying Trekkies everywhere.
I may not be an android, but I malfunction under stress as well. I have a strange problem where my teeth start to chatter when I am stressed out–sometimes before I even start to “feel” stressed out. Like Pavlov’s dog, my teeth just react in a sudden, dramatic way. I’ve also had my hair start to fall out, my gut do weird things, and my skin break out. And of course, these are only the things I can see. Stress plays the long game too on our bodies, ultimately wreaking all kinds of havoc in body and mind.
In yoga you listen to your body in your poses, discovering how far to bend and when to stop. You can also listen to what your body is saying about your stress. When you do, you learn you can’t minimize your pain and your despair, your extreme tension between how things are vs. how they should be. Or how you are acting vs. how you should be.
It’s ok to pay attention to all that. It’s valid. It’s real. Deal with it as you can… maybe with solutions, maybe (for now) with mindfulness and a good yoga class.
That doesn’t mean you are diminishing those other problems all over the world, far from it. When you give yourself what you need, you are strengthened and ready to make things happen–for you and for others. Give yourself a much-deserved diagnostic and reboot and you’ll be ready to tackle the world of humans once more.
Thoughts...?!