Mauie Flores

Photo: “Day 42: Overwhelmed” by Bryan Gosline, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved

In March of 2009, I made the hard decision of quitting my tutoring post in our center. It was difficult for me to let go of a job that gave me fulfillment. Plus, working in my parents' place gave me the chance to see them more often. Overtime, I got tired of the daily travel to and from work. I also had one demanding parent-client who made me so stressed out. I realized that the stress was affecting my sugar levels. The night I almost fainted upon arriving home was the night I decided to stop teaching and just work from home.

Stress does have a big effect on blood glucose levels. When we feel extreme emotions like fear, anxiety or nervousness, the body releases adrenaline into the bloodstream. In grade school, we are taught that adrenaline rush makes the body stronger and that is made possible by increasing blood sugar into levels that are higher than usual.

Now that I know how stress affects my blood sugar levels, I make it a point to relax more and avoid strenuous activities. I started to attend yoga class in the gym and I also do yoga at home. Yoga helped improve my breathing technique. I am also doing a little laughter yoga and my favorite shows nowadays are comedy sitcoms. I used my extra time to enroll myself in photography class and baking class. I also got to have more quiet time to read my books. The best part of it all is that, I now have the freedom to travel with my boys.

No stress for this diabetic. And I hope other diabetics get to have more stress-free days like I do.


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