“Please let me know if there is anything I can do.” Well intentioned words that are expressions of concern heard by anyone facing life’s major events. We all have these events, good and bad, and they all cause something we call ‘stress’.
One way to look at Stress is that it is simply our physiological response to change. We are ready for the fight or flight. Our body’s systems respond to chemicals released increasing heart rate and blood pressure, breathing, perspiration, pupils dilate and often we experience a burst of energy or strength. It is when these responses happen too frequently or when they last too long that our body becomes damaged and our ability to respond appropriately is impaired. The stressors in our lives may be obvious or not be so clearly defined. Sometimes we have maintained a high level of stress for such a long time that our body responds like a full rain barrel and just a tiny tempest causes a spill. Good News! We can learn to manage our response to stress and become healthier.
“Please let me know if there is anything I can do.” There are those words again. Like you, I heard them often during several particularly “stressful” times. I was also fortunate. Some of the people offering those words backed them up with action. They knew how to cherish and comfort someone confronted by the big stressors of life. A local veterinarian and his wife even did my laundry on several occasions! What I learned from these ‘doers’ was that letting others help and feeling gratitude was a blessing and a key to happiness. More importantly, I learned that taking action on my own or as part of a group to create a moment of relief for someone else produced even more happiness – for everyone. The seed that took root over a period of several years was that the continuous action of cherishing people was my passion, and that I was determined to find a way to make it happen every day. Over a period of seven years, I evaluated a many employment and business opportunities while climbing the corporate ladder. Through it all I kept coming back to what helped me the most. As a young widow and single mother, a few hours was all I could manage or afford so on business trips, over a lunch hour or on the weekend, it was the Spa that allowed me to temporarily provide some peace and quiet for my mind. Finally, I quit my corporate job, bought a building and created a Spa as close as possible to the world class Resort and Day Spas I visited in my travels.
Now success is creating the best work place and benefits for my employees that I can offer while achieving our mission to collaborate to create a moment of peace and serenity for our customers by providing personalized medical, traditional and wellness spa services in a warm and beautiful environment resulting in an improved sense of well being. Our services deliver real results that help the client with pain relief, cosmetic enhancements or body image. More importantly, I hope Bella Fontana Spa helps transform both those that give and those that receive into happier and healthier people.
What do you do to relieve stress for yourself and those you cherish? People matter and people want to help, even if they don’t know exactly what to do for themselves or for others. Here are some transformational things you may allow others to do for you, or you may do for others next time those words, “please let me know if there is anything I can do” come up, and remember, you can always come to the Spa!
• Make a schedule to help manage time more effectively! Allow for Sleep.
• Create Fun and Laughter, and it can come at the oddest times.
• Celebrate events and milestones. Be grateful and make the best of the good days
• Provide meals, whether you cook or source it;
• Child care, in our community both young parents and grandparents are primary caregivers for children;
• Clean the house or do the laundry, if it is too intrusive, hire someone;
• Run errands, pick up and drop off a few essentials like eggs, bread and milk;
• Touch and Communicate! Listen and let someone know how much you care.
• Relieve physical stress and manage pain by walking, massage, and/or prayer.
• Develop a network to help with medical appointments, group support and time to be alone.
• Start a Care Page (http://www.carepages.com) to keep everyone informed; and,
• Sometimes stress is too much to handle alone, see a qualified professional.