Click on the image above for a great set of illustrations depicting our common visualizations of “feeling” stressed. The original article is by from Huffington Post by Lindsay Holmes & Alissa Scheller. A second article depicts a set of representations of panic.
It was remarkable how accurate the illustrations from these articles were able to represent how we interpret stress. In Aikido, as with many other things in life, it is important that we understand stress as well as how it affects us. When using many of the techniques that we use in Aikido, we must maintain a level mindset to prevent ourselves from hesitation or from just falling straight into aggression.
To me, stress can be like a blurry lens being put on your vision, causing everything to move slowly. Your body doesn’t keep up with you and every motion seems delayed, as though you were caught in a pool of thick gelatin. I can’t think straight and feel like I am in a constant state of panic. Other times it feels as though I were just hit with a huge block of ice straight on my entire front side. I feel chills run through my body and then slowly drain down to my feet and I feel empty and motionless.
Just describing how stress can make me feel already has helped me to understand what my faults are and I can apply this to my understanding of Aikido by being mentally prepared for what can happen if I begin to falter.
I think this was a great article on stress and anxiety. I have a little sister and a really close friend who both have panic attacks. I deal with a lot of stress as a full time student and a working two different jobs. However, I think I deal with stress pretty well. We all have flaws when dealing with stress. Some work out, some people panic, some people eat more than usual. With having two close people in my life deal with anxiety and panic attack I think it allows me cope with my stress a little easier.
The pictures in the article are truly relatable. The feeling you get of your stomach becoming a knot is the kind of the feeling I get when I am about to take a test in my classes. The pictures and article also make it easier for me to understand what my friend and sister go through. To learn that some people feel as though if they do not get out of the stressful predicament that causing the stress think they are going to die. They think irrationally because of the stress and panic. I took a lot away from this article, as well as the pictures.
The images depicted under each description of what exactly stress feels like to each individual were right on. It is true that everyone goes through stress and deals with stress, and it is also true that each individual person feel stress differently. I think that the pictures were illustrations that we all can attest to feeling at one point in our lives or another. My favorite quote was the one about the cinderblock. I can definitely agree to their metaphor and I loved it because they seemed to really get a grasp on how I feel. The picture wasn’t as detailed as the others, but it illustrated the quote right on. To me, stress feels like your mind is in constant battle with itself. Let’s just use the fight this weekend as a metaphor for how I think stress feels. It’s like your brain in a fight with Floyd Mayweather. There’s no chance of beating Floyd. And after rounds on end, you lose. Stress is a stressful thing to even think about. But the way an individual manages their stress is what is important. I try to manage my stress by cleaning. Cleaning seems to calm me down a bit.
People truly never seem to realize how much stress can put a toll on a persons body. It puts you into that place or state of mind that you may feel is the lowest of your lows. A place where you feel trapped and no one is there to be at your side. This article really shows with these descriptive images and words how stress can really look in a physical state. We have to get not just our body but our mind set straight to help even out our anxiety and stress that life may bring us. The picture with the cinder block spoke out the most to me it shows how as you go through life something is always holding you back, hating on you, tearing you up. But you have to fight through and get around those roadblocks leaving what ever behind that may hold you back even if it may be your closet friend. You have to find that peaceful state of mind to help guide your through your bad times.
This is so relevant to Aikido and the merging of our mental state and our physical state. In class we do very enlightening exercises where we practice forming a physical feeling from a certain thought, memory, idea, or emotion. I really believe stress can be a very real, very physical thing, as well as all forms of negative and positive thought and mindset. I once saw an interesting documentary about a body of water somewhere in Tibet that was blessed and showered in positive thoughts and love, and the water grew hundreds of beautiful water-crystals. In the same water, an experiment was done with negative thought and hatred, and the water became still and gross. Think about how powerful of an effect this is on something so real, tangible, and physical. If our body is 60% water, think about how much of an effect our own mindsets can have on our own bodies. By thinking more positively, and filling our thoughts and emotions with love and peace, we can drastically change our health!
This article has many depictions of stress as a concept, which is something we are all familiar with as students. While some of the images are good as they are, others (like the shark one), don’t really stand alone without the text, and because the text is so small, the image is the most important part to this series. A lot of these images fail to communicate the concept in their execution, going back to the shark one, it is hard to tell at first that the shark is biting a stomach due to the cropping. In the mummy image, the mummy seems to be in front of the pyramid, not under it, because the feet and stomach are above the plane of the pyramid. The message is lost.
I do enjoy the image “stress is like being hugged by a giant”. I think it has one of the more successful color schemes, and is one of the more unique concepts. Knots in the stomach, carrying a weight, and that all are overdone metaphors.
To me, stress physically feels the tsunami metaphor the most, where you are being tossed around and don’t know where to swim. Sometimes I feel like stress is violent colors, off greens, bright oranges, but sometimes it is very dark. I never really feel like stress is pink, so it was odd to me to see so many pink included. Stress also makes me feel disorganized, and these images all have a very consistant line quality and shading techniques. I think stress is more scribbly, something chaotic, and less controlled. Here is an image that came up when I was googling to try to find an example, it speaks more to me than these illustrations. https://avisparadisus18.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/land-of-light.png?w=611&h=337
In response to the article: THIS IS WHAT STRESS PHYSICALLY FEELS LIKE…
It was strikingly accurate how the illustrations from these articles were able to depict how we interpret
stress. In Aikido, as well as many other things in life, it is important to know how stress affects us. To me,
stress is like being in a space of non‐existence. I am not, therefore there is nothing. I am nothing. So I
cannot do anything. For me, feeling stressed is like being in a race, but being dead last while having to
carry 500 pound weights on your shoulders and you can’t drop them until you cross the finish line which
is 1600 meters away. It’s the opposite of putting Rose‐colored glasses on. It’s like being a whole dark sky
with one star… The small light of the star will be swallowed whole. Stress feels like a constant state if
panic with no remedy, no solution and no outlet. In the end you end up feeling drained and everything
moves slow. Your actions are delayed and your mind is cloudy. You’re in a constant state of urgency but
no guidance, no purpose, no vision. Even recognizing how stress affects me personally has already
helped me in understanding myself and where I falter and how I can apply this to my practices or Aikido
and mentally preparing myself for instances to come.