INTRODUCTION

Dictionary defines Stress as pressure, condition-causing hardship, and disquiet. “Stress is mentally or emotionally disruptive or disquientening influence”. It is an unpleasant state of affairs and irritating or annoying condition of mind. It includes anything that makes individual tense, angry, frustrated, or miserable. According to Selye “Stress is non-specific response of the body to any demands made upon it.” Further according to Fred Luthans defined Stress as “an adaptive response to an external situation that results in physical, psychological and / or behavioural deviations for organizational participants.

Life is really about change. Every day, each person faces some kind of challenge, big or small. Just deciding what to wear to work or school can be a challenge for some people, while others find the drive to the workplace or school the most challenging part of the day. There are decisions to be made and changes that will require adapting plans already made. Sometimes there are actual threats to well-being-an accident, a fight with the boss, a failed exam, or losing a job, to name a few. All of these challenges, threats and changes require people to respond in some way.

Stress is the mental, physical and emotional reactions you experience as results of demands of your life. ‘A physical or psychological stimulus that can produce mental tension or physiological reactions that may lead to illness.’ Stress is a feeling experienced when a person thinks that “the demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize.” Stress is the term used to describe the physical, emotional, cognitive and behavioral responses to events that are appraised as threatening or challenging.

SYMPTOMS OF STRESS
The major symptoms of the stress are classified into three categories, which are as follows:

1. Physical Symptoms: Increase in heart rate, increase in sweating, reduction in blood flow to your skin, feeling of butterflies in your stomach, rapid breathing, tense muscles, dry mouth and a desire to urinate.
2. Mental Symptoms: Worry, confusion, inability to concentrate, difficulty making decisions, feeling ill or odd and feeling out of control or over wheeled.
3. Behavioural Symptoms: Talking rapidly, newous mannerisms, nail biting, foot tapping, increased blinking, twitching, pacing, scowling and yawning.

STRESSORS
Events that can become stressors range from being stuck behind a person in the 10-items-or-less lane of the grocery store who has twice that amount to dealing. With the rubble left after a tornado or a hurricane destroys one's home. Stressors can range from the deadly serious (hurricanes, fires, crashes, combat) to the merely irritating and annoying (delays, rude people, losing one's car keys). Stressors can even be imaginary, as when a couple puts off doing their income tax return, imagining that they will have to pay a huge tax bill, or when a parent imagines the worst happening to a teenage child who isn't yet home from an evening out.)

TYPES OF STRESS
Four main types of stress.

1. EU-STRESS
2. DI-STRESS
3. HYPER-STRESS
4. HYPO-STRESS

1.EU-STRESS

• The feeling of excitement when you won a game or race.
• The happy feeling of being loved.
• The excitement of going for a holiday
• It gives one a feeling of fulfillment or contentment and also makes one excited about life. Unfortunately, it is a type of stress that only occurs for a short period of time.

2.DI-STRESS
Stress is a "negative stress". It is a stress disorder that is caused by adverse events and it often influences a person's ability to cope. Some events leading to distress are -

• Financial problems.
• Heavy work responsibility and workload.
• Chronic illnesses.

3.HYPER-STRESS:
Hyper-stress results from being overloaded or overworked. It's like being stressed out. When someone is hyper-stressed, even little things can trigger a strong emotional response.

4.HYPO-STRESS:
Hypo-stress stands in direct opposite to hyper-stress. The effects of hypo-stress are feelings of restlessness and a lack of inspiration.

SPORTS AS STRESS REDUCTION

• Recreational sports are another great example to help with stress reduction techniques.
• Walking, jogging or plain old exercise moves like jumping jacks. Get the heart pumping and maintain the exercise or sport for a minimum of 45 minutes to achieve a good overall cardio experience. Exercises involving bodily activity are highly helpful in overcoming stress and generating a feeling of well being. Rigorous exercises cause endorphins, pain relief chemicals, to be released in the body which creates a sense of relief and pleasure.

STRESS RELIEF EXERCISES

• Cycling - Cycling is an excellent aerobic exercise and it provides a good workout for your heart and lungs also.
• Swimming - A low impact stress reduction workout. This is a no impact exercise and is very beneficial for relaxing the wound up muscles in your body.
• Jogging - Best aerobic exercise for stress control. Aerobic exercise and stress control are inseparable; the rich oxygen flow to the various muscle groups, during aerobics, creates a generous sense of well being.
• Walking - If you are suffering from a high blood pressure problem or some other ailment that prevents you from running or cycling, then walking is your best bet.
• Weight training - If you are feeling restless, angry or agitated at the end of a work day, a half hour rigorous weight training will have your pumped and refreshed.
• Cardio workouts - A 5-10 minute bout of rigorous cardio workout followed by a period of relaxed running or walking is highly beneficial as it causes the body to release endorphins at a steady rate.
• Yoga - For stress relief a combination of yogic breathing exercises and various yoga stretching exercises, called "asanas", is found to be very helpful.
• Outdoor Sports - Any type of sport which involves physical activity is good for this purpose.
• Laughter - Laughter is known to be God's own medicine, true that you may not feel like laughing at the end of a stressful workday, but this exercise is about inducing artificial laughter to gain the benefits of natural laughter.

SOURCES OF STRESS

Although several specific sources of stress (e.g., marriage, car problems, etc.) have already been mentioned, the reasons why people find these events stressful fall into several categories

• PRESSURE
• UNCONTROLLABILITY
• FRUSTRATION

CONCLUSION
Stress comes from the pressures we feel in life, as we are pushed by work or any other task that puts undue pressure on our minds and body, adrenaline is released, extended stay of the hormone causes depression, a rise in the blood pressure and other negative changes and effects. Stress is caused by an existing stress-causing factor or stressor. Anxiety is stress that continues after that stressor is gone. Stress can come from any situation or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, nervous, or even anxious.

Sports is the best medicine for our health
Music is the best medicine for our Mind

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1. DR. GANDABHAI A. DESAI
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
ARTS COLLEGE VADALI.
DIST:-SABARKANTHA

2. MR. NARESHKUMAR R.DESAI
DIRECTOR OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION
ARTS COLLEGE, GADH
TA-PALNPUR, DIST-B.K.