26th September of Preparatory Course

Ping or Pong

Ping Pong was the energizer for today. The participants stood around in a circle, with a volunteer in the centre. The volunteer would say ping-pong ping-pong a couple of times and then stop at a participant and say ping or pong. If he says ping then the participant whom he is facing will have to say the name of the participant to his left immediately without thinking and if pong is the word then he would have to do likewise for the person standing to his right. It was all great fun, with quite a few people getting stumped with their left and their right.

Kicking stress out of our lives

Prof. Kishore Kumar K. V, Senior Psychiatrist from NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences), India’s premier mental health institute, was the chief speaker today. His session today was brilliant to say the least and absolutely necessary at this point of time.

He divided the participants into five groups. Group 1 was given the task to go for a run for about 10 minutes. Group 2 was asked to have one person in their group drawing a picture like a landscape and while the picture was being drawn, the others would have to criticize and discourage the person verbally. Group 3 was asked to again choose another person who would draw something and this time time the group would be completely impassive and not respond to the artiste in any way at all. They could pass on sketch pens if he asked but that would be it, there would be no other response. Group 4 was asked to play a game called the ‘cat & mouse’ game, which was played with participants standing in two lines and two others – a cat & a mouse. The cat would have to catch the mouse keeping in mind the changing dynamics of the movement of the participants. This was again based on the trainer’s directions. In one instance the cat would have to run through short alleys and sometimes it would be longer alleys, created by the participants.

The long Run
After the groups had fulfilled their objectives, Prof. Kishore had a debrief on all the exercises. Group 1 who had to go for the long run shared that it was ‘exciting, relaxing and challenging’. ‘It was easy’, they shared, ‘ for the first three minutes after that it was difficult. Our hear beats increased and when we reached the top floor, some of us looked down at the traffic from the window and the sights around.’ Some of the other group members interrupted, ‘We didn’t look out, but we chose to concentrate on the task.’

Prof. Kishore pointed out a very interesting thing here. He said that all the participants were suffering from acute stress because of the physical activity. Both groups chose different strategies to counter stress. Looking out of the window is one strategy, which basically works as a diversion and allows the person to calm down and take his mind off the present stressful situation. While when the others focused on the stressful task, they were telling themselves that very soon this would be over and they need to complete within the time frame. This is also another useful strategy to counter stress.

He said that stress can be external or internal. We either fight or fly from it. He shared some chilling details. Stress converts enormous amounts of glucose into fat. This results in the storage of unwanted energy in the body. Problems like obesity diabetes, reduction in bone density, Suicide, burnout, substance abuse are all stress-related.

So how does one fight this silent killer? Relaxation helps reduce stress. By training one’s body one can reduce stress. He said that we must initiate strategies that bring in changes within. After the age of 40 we experience the effects of stress accumulation, he continued. We are witnessing a new disease profile today. And this is all related to lifestyle. He reminded participants that when you drink coffee or smoke a cigarette before a stressful activity like a meeting, the stress level trebles!

Creative Nikki
Group 2 then shared their experience. Poor Nikki who had to face the brunt of her group managed to complete her drawing. She said that it was very difficult for her initially – ‘I love to paint but I am not good at it. I had this image in my mind for a long time and I drew it. When I asked for a yellow pen, the group members would give me black. So then what I did was I wanted a black pen I would ask them for the yellow pen and they would give me black! I realized that there was no point in getting angry. I had to complete my task, come what may. Prof. Kishore seconded Nikki’s approach and said that her creative strategy vis-à-vis the colour pens was a great way to deal with stress. Her ability to adapt to the situation was commendable.

Prof. Kishore said that Nikki had used assertion and confrontation as powerful strategies. Most people experience stress because of lack of assertion. Assertion is a positive strategy. Prof. then went on to say that all stress is not bad; stress also has the ability to bring out our positive energies. He summed it up ‘Life cannot exist if there are no challenges’.

Alone
The participant from group 3 felt a lot of stress doing the drawing alone and without any support or encouragement from his group. He said, ‘I found my group members not responding to me. I became impatient because I was losing time and I had to draw something.’

Prof. Kishore intervened to share that this participant had used ‘staying focused’ as the strategy to counter stress. ‘We have all the abilities to counter stress within ourselves – tolerance, creativity, problem solving…the problem is that we don’t use these abilities all the time. He asked the participants a simple question – ‘do you all desire change? Change can only happen when there are the three C’s – Conviction, Consistency, Commitment. Lifestyle change is the biggest challenge that man has because he is not convinced that he needs to do it. People with conviction gain more control and initiate action. Prof. said that whatever change happens, happens by design and not by chance. Our inaction causes damage.

Cat & Mouse
Group 4 shared, ‘we were more focused on our roles and the circumstances kept shifting all the time. Initially it was disorienting but I adapted soon. It was stressful. Some people are better cats while others are better mice. There was anxiety and also empathy for the cat.’

The 6-point mantra to beat stress
1. Exercise regularly.
2. Diet – Eat a healthy breakfast, moderate lunch and a meagre dinner.
3. Relaxation – listen to music or meditate or try breathing techniques etc.
4. Recreation – indulge in something you enjoy doing every day
5. Pleasurable Activities – indulge in what gives you pleasure regularly.
6. Sleep – 6 to 8 hours is a must.

Substance Abuse
1. Alcoholism is a major killer and primarily responsible for perpetuating poverty.
2. User does not know that body metabolises alcohol differently so the user becomes addicted quickly.
3. Women become addicted more quickly than men.
4. If young people practice assertion they can postpone addiction.
5. Young people under 24 years should not drink alcohol as it has serious consequences for the body later.
6. Studies have proved that if a person uses tobacco before the age of 20 it is unlikely he will ever stop using it. Similarly if a person has not had tobacco before the age of 20 there is very little chance of him succumbing to it later.
7. Using substance is not a deviance. Remember that person lacks certain critical skills in his life.
8. Getting the person to talk about his addiction is the best way to start initiating action.
9. To kick a drug habit, the person needs professional help.
10. There are possibilities but they will only work if the person is convinced he has a problem and wants to get out of it.





Our journeys in a foreign land

Rabeya Sarkar Rima (Bangladesh) and Archan Gurung (Nepal) shared their experiences of working in a foreign country. Rabeya’s presentation was very touching – ‘It is depressing and it can get lonely but you still need to let your host know. You have to adjust. You have to make the best of what you have, however minimal the facilities are. Now I miss Karachi.’

Archana’s power point presentation was very exhaustive. She said, ‘my motivation is that I am doing this for my community. Don’t have high demands while working. Be happy with what you have’.

Spotlight
Sabina Singh is from Nepal. ‘This is my first international visit,’ she gushes in excitement. Did you know that this spunky woman got an airline to wait for her before she boarded it because of some immigration problems? ‘I feel I am still in Nepal. From yesterday’s team-building session my relationships with the group has only become better. I feel lucky to be here. The training is very practical & based on actual situations. I love it. People from Bangalore are great, the volunteers especially. They made us feel as if we are in our home country’.
Her dream is to open an old age home (‘for that I will need lots of money’.)
She loves sports, swimming, playing with colours, hanging out with designers, travelling, cycling and hiking.
She hates chess and all other indoor games. Also try not to smoke around her, she has a khukri with her just in case.