Yes, Master Yoga

As the school semester drags on and as the homework assignments get either harder or just more numerous (it's hard to tell) I continue to battle with the monster commonly called stress; and as most experts agree stress is BAD! Anyway as the stress piles on I have begun to investigate a number of ways to manage my stress and hopefully keep my head on straight.

• Prayer and Meditation; Overall the best one so far. Although, the trick with prayer and meditation is consistency, quiet and discipline. Had I had an abundance of discipline I certainly wouldn't be looking for outward forms of stress relief. With kids, getting a moment of quiet is almost impossible until after they've gone to bed (that doesn't work so well for me since I'm already asleep by the time they go to bed and I get up and go to work long before they awake.) Consistency has always been a big problem as far as prayer and I have been concerned, I'm working on it but with the stresses weighing heavy on my shoulders it's hard to concentrate on forming these good habits. If you're a better person than I, than I would certainly find prayer and meditation they way to go, but since I'm me I went on to try other options for when I fail at prayer.
• Exercise; I've heard time and time again from several people that exercise is the best form of stress relief. I think they are full of crap. I ride my bike to and from work, school and home. I spend anywhere between 5-20 minutes on my bike per ride and am on my bike about an hour a day. In addition, I regularly go to the gym with my wife and I push myself on all the machines and the only thing its ever done for me is made my muscles hurt and make me feel a little more inclined to not do my homework and go to bed. If you're than kind of person and it works for you then great, otherwise, forget it.
• Movies, TV, Video Games, Books; Oh, sure, once upon a time this kind of thing worked for me. Once I had kids my available viewing material was reduced to 'Y' so I don't get the same kick out of movies and TV like I used to. Video games are still great but need more of a time commitment then any father really has. Books are good, but there I am with the time commitment thing again. The big problem about these options, for me, has always been that I escape but my worries don't seem to be any more manageable by the time I get back to them.
• Food; Not much gets me feeling better like a double six-dollar-burger from Carl's Jr. and a side of ice cream. This really works. Until you realize how many calories you're taking in! For the love of all things holy, if you know what's good for you never look at the nutritional facts at fast food restaurants. That is bound to increase stress and all those calories will be going straight to fat. Frankly since heart disease runs in my family I'm going to be avoiding this option. Well, maybe once every six months.
• Yoga; Okay, I saved this one for last for a good reason. My wife started yoga some time ago. She really liked it and wanted me to go along with her. I valiantly declined and continued to do so at her every request. In my eyes yoga is were you go to prepare yourself to join the circus as a contortionist, and there are always too many women there. As a man I just couldn't be going in there representing the male sex, I'm just not that good of a specimen and I sure don't want the other fit guys and girls looking at me and saying something like "I've never been disgusted by the human form until now". Well, as my stress levels increased and my ability to control them wasn't enough, I had to try it out. Although I've only been to two classes thus far I have to say it works, I come out of there sore but mentally strengthened. I feel like I can face my challenges head on and maybe win, okay probably win. So here is one for yoga despite making me look silly. The best part is that they do it in the dark so if you see others in the class later you won't recognize them. That is a big plus for me.