Stress management: learn a language
Tuesday, 8th June 2010
Give your brain a work-out and feel the mental tension slip away...
Massage, early night, good book, long run, bar of chocolate, glass of wine…if you needed to de-stress, chances are you might try one of these solutions to help you unwind. With many of us living life in the fast lane, quick fixes like these provide a small window of much-needed sanity time in an ever-demanding world.
In fact stress at work and a subsequent fall in productivity, has, according to a recent report by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, become a concern for 79% of European managers – yet only a quarter of all EU organisations have taken measures to combat this.
Some of this may come as little surprise to those of us who regularly work late, skip lunch and see little of our loved ones. But what may open a few eyes is the news that learning a language can be as effective as reducing stress as opening a bottle of Rioja. Although the last thing you may feel like doing in times of pressure is use your head, it is the very working of the brain that exercises, and in turn relaxes, your muscles. Learning a foreign language forces your thought process to expand and contract as you visualise the objects attached to a new word; this new word is unfamiliar to you, so your brain wakes up and tries to work out what it means. It is this stretching of your imagination and your knowledge that stimulates your brain and, ultimately, helps it to relax. It’s a bit like going for a run to blow away the cobwebs. Except this time, of course, you’re giving your head the work-out, not your body.
All of this aside, we can’t overlook the fact that the simple act of doing something different – such as learning a language – can be enough to release a few endorphins and reduce stress levels. Any activity that involves meeting new people, doing something fun and feeling a sense of achievement gets the thumbs up. It may seem like an effort to get started, or even get up off your seat after a long day at work, but I’ve certainly felt mental tension slip away when I turn my efforts to hitting a tennis ball, escape to the cinema or try my hand at Japanese.
So, by all means book your spa day, but remember that stress relief can be found in many places. And if you really can’t justify swapping your ‘me’ time for a language course, we have the perfect solution: a Spanish & Yoga course in Jaco Beach, Russian & Spa course in Riga or French & Hydrotherapy course in Vichy. It might not be what your boss had in mind as a route to stress management, but rest assured that work will be the last thing on your mind…
Tags: stress, yoga, riga, russian, vichy, jaco beach, french, spanish
Posted by Sarah Watkins 2010-06 under Attitudes to Language Learning, Destinations for you,
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