UPbeat Living: Desert Summer De-Stressing |
When some of us were kids in northern latitudes, the word "summer" evoked welcome, gentle images of easy weather, no school, green grass, butterflies, the hum of hedge trimmers, and the freedom of lighter clothes, sandals, and sometimes bare feet. Some of us thought of ice cream cones, swimsuits and pools, and the sweet smell of warm lawns at midday. We relaxed just thinking of the word "summer". We sighed, dropped our shoulders, and happily pictured the comfortable pace we planned to enjoy. We were eager for "summer".
We didn't know it then, but we were using all the tools of effective living, in planning to enjoy "summer".
Today, all across the desert Southwest, some of us groan as the ambient temperatures climb toward 100°, often as early as mid-April each year. "Summer" is marked on the calendar for latter June, but it practices in the desert climates for 6 or 8 weeks before performing further north on schedule. The desert's summer heat sometimes stays near or over 100° for 4 months or more. These temperatures can cause fatigue and temper, melt hair and clothes, buckle plastics in cars, cause faintness and illness, and even kill unprotected pets and children. Direct sun exposure can seriously damage your skin: Phoenix, Arizona has the second highest skin cancer rate in the world. It's no wonder the word "summer" draws stress reactions in this region!
The good news is that there is much you can do to make your summer experience pleasant. Especially if you are new to the area, try these basic steps to a low-stress, happy, energized summer:
1. Protect yourself from direct sun and from heat. Use sunglasses, sunscreen, and wide-brimmed hats. Use sunshades in the windshields (front and back) of your parked car; leave one or more car windows open an inch. Walk in building shadows and park in the shade. During daylight, shop and lunch only at businesses where there is shaded parking. Drink pints of filtered water, carrying some in your car. Not only does this prevent dehydration, but it keeps your attitude flexible. A hydrated cell is a happy, stress-resilient cell, and the brain is made of cells, too. Minimize very sweet or fatty food or drink, to help stay energetic. Eat lots of fresh produce.
2. Plan your day's efforts. Summer-ize your sports schedule and move day activities inside, or finish by 9 am. Concentrate errands before 9 am and after 5 pm, or even after dark. While seated comfortably indoors in air conditioning, make a list of the week's errands and divide them up by location and day, to avoid overdoing in the heat. Make all your decisions before you go out to your car. If you are walking outside, never stop to think or consult your list except in the shade. In full sunlight, the heat will melt your mind and you won't be able to make decisions anyway.
3. Change your conversation. Many people like to comment on the heat. Through neurolinguistic programming, doing so will make you feel hot! Some like to go on and on, letting you know how miserable they are. Meanwhile, if you join in or even listen, you become more aware of the heat yourself, and you become focused on your discomfort. This is not a "thanks for sharing" moment! Change the subject or stop them completely with a line like, "Yes! It's almost like Phoenix in the summer!" Walk away if you have to. When you are having internal conversations about the heat, do two things: cool yourself off as best you can, and then distract yourself from the heat by deliberately thinking of pleasant or pressing matters.
4. Visualize what you want. Thinking cool will cause you to feel cooler. Picturing your day going easily and effortlessly will help make it so. If you lived outside the desert in past years, think back to how you programmed a wonderful "summer" with your expectations and mental images, when "summer" meant easy, happy, comfort and sweet social memories to be made. Now relax, sigh, drop your shoulders, and vividly picture all the good things you want to be true this summer.
Keeping these special seasonal points in mind will help you keep your cool, have high health, uplift your energy, and keep spirits soaring for you, your loved ones and colleagues all summer. Yes, upbeat living can be yours all year long!
Next month: "Having a Super, Soaring Summer"
(c) Kebba Buckley 1998. World Rights Reserved.
Kebba Buckley is a stress management coach. A Masters' degree scientist, she has a pain and stress management clinic, and has been helping people with stress-caused discomforts for over 20 years.