BENGALURU: It is homemakers and company bosses who suffer from high levels of stress, but not many acknowledge this. And the reason behind it? Homemakers have to deal with many people, meet their demands and keep everyone happy. Ditto with company bosses.
Ishwar V Basavaraddi, director, Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, Ministry of Ayush, said that Karnataka, especially Bengaluru, has a lot of potential for wellness, because it houses a large number of IT firms and yoga institutions. He was speaking on the sidelines of the three-day international conference on elevating consciousness through meditation for global harmony, which was inaugurated on Thursday. It is organised by Heartfulness, a system of Raja Yoga meditation.
“Stress among people in cities is very high. Ayush is helping by issuing guidelines, financial assistance, certification and schemes for people to set up centres. MoUs are being signed to create master trainers, and modules made for different sections,” he said. Dr Bindu Kutty, professor of neurophysiology, Nimhans, said that stress has become an epidemic today.
It is also an ignored disease, especially among homemakers, entrepreneurs and youth, and shows up in many forms. She said that some of the reasons are sleep deprivation and working round the clock. “It is about coping and reading psychosomatic signs early, like body pain and migraine. It is not just the urge to make money that stresses people, but also their outlook and disintegrated functioning. Stress symptoms could be skin-related issues, depression and anxiety,” she said.
Citing the example of VG Siddhartha, founder of Cafe Coffee Day, an entrepreneur who did not wish to be named, said entrepreneurial stress is all about coping. “Stress diminishes performance and when that was visible to Siddhartha, he should have reached out for help. A lot of people suffer this while setting up companies, and think it is wise to run away,” he said. Entrepreneurial stress is not new. It is like a vaccination, which if prevented, makes dealing with it better, said Kamlesh D Patel, spiritual guide of Heartfulness.