How I said Bye-Bye to my stress that was (slowly and methodically) killing me

About me so you know where I'm coming from:
Hi, I'm Tom, 31 years old and my IBS took the best time (and I mean this totally ironic) to develope: I was just during my second half of my (special education) teachers-degree. Here in germany, teachers get well-paid and are respected but have to study at a university for around 5+ years and then go to a 1 1/2 years program that is called "Referendariat" which is infamously hell-ish (no, seriously, they try to stress you out on purpose until your final examen until you either quit or you're ready to face a class full of monst... eh students ;-P).
So imagine me, a hypochondriac, 2 years in university and that "Referendariat" still to go, fit and healthy, sporty (boxing and swimming were my jam) and suddenly my digestion is just giving up on me. I won't bore you with the details - this is not my "My Story"-topic afterall - but just also imagine that bc. of my IBS I developed seboherric dermatitis and pains in my joints as well. Great - right? 😛
It's now an evening ~6 years later, my stomach is upset (like it usually is) and I'm relaxed as can be. Well, that's not entirely true: I've been at home with Corona for a week now and when I'm all alone, I get small moments of pitying myself.

Now comes the party you've been waiting for: Why has my mood changed if my illness hasn't?
Halfway through above mentioned Referendariat (worst time of my life socially and stomach-wise - 0 out of 10-experience) I was finding myself struggeling hard. I was giving up and shutting down. As mentioned above: They really try to stress you out on purpose with work, bizzare deadlines, visiting and critiquing your lessons and letting you review and take apart your own classes.
I really don't want to make this sound like a joke or an advertisement (believe me, it isn't) but the coincidence is just funny: Half of the students in one class were really stressed-out (same as me) because of Corona and having behavioral issues and nothing worked. So I went to the library and found this book that read "Achtsamkeit im Unterricht" (Mindfulness during class). I checked it out and basically was thinking: "Why not, I'll throw the towel soon anyways because of my stomach, YOLO, let's make this a project".

So this american prof. called Kabat-Zinn invented a method called "Mindfulness-Based-Stress-Reduction" a whileago. I don't want to go too much into details here because you can easily google it (and don't worry, you really don't need to buy anything at all if you just want the fundamentals) but the whole concept relies on the person practicing being mindfull of his/her body without judging himself/herself. So yeah ... sitting/standing/walking and just accepting if things are bad. This sounds totally stupid, right? It went against everything I had learned so far. Until now I was running through my life, trying to cope my way through problems (with coping-strategies). The book mentioned a basic, easy-to-follow step-by-step breathing and meditation regiment for class and I had already subscribed to my YOLO-attitude (as mentioned above). Long story short: When I implemented the project, my class wasn't too eager and joked about it - a month later my students were basically begging for meditation before stressful events (like tests) and my supervising seminar leader were showering me with compliments.

Now I'm a really sceptical person and so I lended 2 more books by Kabat-Zinn from my library because I need to know how stuff works to accept it. The simple answer to it all is that meditation (with a focus on gently accepting the inevitable and not judging yourself), if trained daily, can (medically proven) alter your brain. There is NOTHING spiritual about it, just simple steps and components I slowly but steadily integrated into my life (like the 4-7-8 breathing excercise/ slowly counting myself into meditation a.s.o.). When I had my final teacher examen half a year later, I walked through the halls of my school, clearing my head, doing walking-meditation (as described by Kabat-Zinn) and didn't care if I would pass ... I just wanted to give my best in that very moment - and yeah, I passed. Much better, than I expected.

Now this all is no magical trick and you don't need MBSR-meditation by Kabat-Zinn specifically but I really wanted to share my revalation/story with you because I have tought fellow stressed-out teachers as well and everyone is AT LEAST not worse for it.
It hasn't cured my stomach nor my eczema BUT it keeps my stress at a (very) manageable level every day and we all know how much stress can trigger IBS.

As promised, this ain't an ad so I won't recommend specific books or videos but the basics are really easy to find anyways and I found that researching and studying something "helpful" and "promising" for once is rewarding and helpful in its own way.

If you have specific questions, don't hesitate to write me personally or in this topic.

Best wishes to you all! 😀