Employee Stress Tax

Taking on a new career outside of co-owning a business came with a little more stress of its own. I have enjoyed meeting new people and learning new business practices and seeing what I can do to improve upon the business part of Tula.

On the flip side it has come with a certain price, I am going to call it Employee Stress Tax. I found myself being torn between building my passion to help heal and adding a career of working for someone else. The fear of disappointing someone else is stressful, often leaving me energetically drained from enjoying life. Making sure my meetings are scheduled and attended, checking the bank accounts and making sure they are balanced,

helping agents get what the need as soon as possible, answering emails, taking time to learn the actual job it all adds up to an unseen tax from work for someone else.

Recently while at work I noticed this overwhelming sense of anxiety flood my body. I spent a few moments trying to recall what could be the cause of my anxiety, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

Immediately, I went to my yogi toolbox and thought what can I do right now, simple…breath. A minute of focus breathing helped to bring me to feeling okay, but still feeling like something wasn’t right. After leaving work for the day, I ordered pizza (not the best choice) but wanted to have an evening with my son. We sat and watched a movie, the anxious feeling started to dissipate but felt exhausted. I hadn’t done anything more than walk my dog and a small yoga practice in the morning, it was weird for me to feel so exhausted. I figured I just needed extra sleep. The fatigue continued for the rest of the week; I had moments of confusion. And times I noticed I needed to take my eyes off my screen at work because things started to run together.

I truly thought this was normal and it was just one of those female weeks. By the weekend I had nothing to give of myself. My cup was empty, I was depleted and exhausted. I spent the weekend doing nothing, pretty much sleeping and lounging. By Sunday night I knew should reach out for professional guidance.

The next day I was able to be seen by a doctor, and there it was. My blood pressure was up.

I had no idea what high blood pressure felt like or what it does to the body. Yes, I’ve read about it, but experiencing it has been eye opening.

Now I get it, I see why it’s so hard for some to enjoy life after the 9-5. And it becomes a cycle if we allow it.

I took a day off work, low and behold my blood pressure was normal. I filled my day with things that brought me joy, cleaning my house, working on Tula, contacting some of our students, having dinner with an old friend. Also explored ways to manage my blood pressure without medication.

This is what I will be trying for the next couple of months, I’d love to hear what has worked for you.

-increase meditation to 2x’s/day

-eliminating coffee & heavily caffeinated products

-increase water intake to a reasonable amount

-30 minutes of increased heart rate cardio/daily

-doing one thing that fills my soul daily