The Stress of Airline Travel

It's all too obvious: Airline travel has become increasingly stressful in the last few years. Consider the following: Once you arrive at the airport grounds, there's the issue of parking the car, making your way to the shuttle, and so forth. The delays you can experience once you're actually at the airport can exceed the time it took you to get to the airport.

Inside the airport, you have to either check your bags, or, if you're wiser, use rolling luggage or all carry-ons and make your way directly through TSA "the system." You have to clear the line that already forming and ensure that you have the right ticket, and the right identification. Finally, it's time to get on the plane.

Once you board the plane, you have to sit in a chair that was designed to seat the greatest number of people possible in the plane's cabin, not for your comfort. The shoulder width of most seat backs is two to three inches fewer than the typical adult male's shoulder span. The leg room is nonexistent. Unless you choose the bulkhead row or emergency exit row, or happen to be in first-class, forget about having an enjoyable flight.

Then there's the forced air within the plane. The air is actually drier than most of the world's deserts. You get a tiny beverage served every 30 to 60 minutes.

If you're on a single aisle plane, making your way to the bathroom can be a hassle. The thought of stretching or getting any kind of exercise is nearly out of the question unless you're very adept at seated exercises. When you're about to begin eating, the pilot will announce, "We're heading into turbulence."

Breathing Space Each Day

A riveting article in Wall Street Journal, discussed how some people think they can fly off to a spa, have two weeks of idyllic living, come back, and be ready to go. A growing body of research, however, suggests that this approach is wrong and that multi-millions of people manage stress incorrectly. They stress out all day and defer relaxation to isolated blocks of time, such as evening yoga classes and weekend trips.

The problem with this approach to stress management is that the relentless exposure to daily, chronic anxiety is the most toxic form of stress. The body releases chemicals under high stress that can damage the immune system and increase the risk of all types of illness. Stress can harm neurons in the brain, hamper sexual performance, and even lead to heart attacks and premature death.

The conclusion from these findings: people need breathing space throughout the day, every day.

Harvey MacKay on Handling Stress

"Swim with the Sharks" guru Harvey MacKay writing in the Rochester Post-Bulletin offers a long list of tips on handling stress, streamlined here:

• Be completely present for whatever you are doing

• Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue

• When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane

• Keep your pace relaxed, and go outside once a day

• Take notice of the tension in your body

• Find a safe place where you can express and embrace your feeling

End of the Work Day

Do you sometimes get anxious in the late afternoon or as you make your way home at the end of the work day? "With emails, faxes, voice mail, "snail" mail, memos and reports, your boss, and your peers, in too many offices 4:45 p.m. can be as hectic as 9:15 a.m. Here are some tips for heading home with more energy and peace of mind:

* Each day, before you are about to leave, pause for a minute to acknowledge yourself for what you accomplished or did not accomplish. This simple mental exercise frees you to experience the rest of your day.

* Once inside your car or on the bus, consider that you are already "home." You don't have to wait until you are actually in the door and kicking off your shoes.

* If traffic is slow, stop off at a drug store or hardware store and get the household items you usually buy on Saturday.

* If you perpetually bring work home from the office, give yourself a break -- several times a week come home empty-handed.

Streamlining Work and Life

Mike Zimmerman, writing in Men's Health magazine, offers some advice on streamlining your work and your life:

* Switch to online bill paying instead of writing checks.

* Use one email address for friends and family, another for shopping and spam.

* Use DVR recorders to make your own TV schedule.

* Check the news at CNN.com or some other general source. Skip watching TV news.

* Stop overworking.

* Stop over-packing, stop over-promising, stop overdoing everything.

* Discard junk mail immediately.

* Stop micromanaging.