About eight months ago I felt very stressed-out and at the same time very sad.  The reason that I felt it was because my parents were here; they came for a month to visit me.  I was working every morning and in the afternoon I came home to visit with them.  After my job, we went out every single day.  We returned home much later.

I was very happy because my parents were close to me.  We enjoyed everything. We had a good time.  A week before they were going to return to my country, I started to feel depressed and I had a bad headache almost every day.

I didn't pay a lot of attention to how I felt.  I thought it was normal.  However, days after they left I continued to feel the same thing.  I was very sad and I felt very alone.  I tried to continue my regular life but I couldn't.  My home was very lonely and I missed the days that they were here.

One day, I was walking down the street and I stopped to read a flyer hanging in the window of the Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center.  It said "Stress Therapy."  I took the phone number and I called.  I participated in this program. It was great.  I learned many things such as how to do breathing exercises, how you can control your mind and body, and relaxation exercises.  The most important thing I learned was to see the positive side of problems.

The program helped me a lot because I began to feel better.  My life changed in many different ways.  Now I feel more confidence in myself.  This kind of program can help anybody who has a lot of stress or problems.

Nowadays, when I have a lot of tension, I practice my exercises whenever I need to.  I taught my husband these exercises, too, and we do them together.

I think life is not very difficult; we just make it difficult.

Go to  Fast Facts About Stress
or go to How to feel Good Homepage