Sahana is in the midst of a family crisis. At the same time, in her highly demanding profession, she needs to function at top efficiency. She feels that she may not be able to handle this stress without it extracting a physical and emotional toll. She wonders how she can continue to function as a human being, a mother, a wife and a professional. The greatest strength she can draw upon is the resilience of the human spirit. If she can tap into her own inner energy, she will be able to survive and surmount this crisis. 

Compartmentalization 

One of the great strategies that can help people function at different levels is the secret of compartmentalization. The mind is a stronghold of will and determination. In order to extract the maximum out of the mind, it is important to be able to separate the different and diverse needs within ourselves. The facility to disengage the different strata of our lives and to live them on different planes, is a survival strategy which will stand you in good stead throughout your life.

Compartmentalization is the ability to keep apart different aspects of our lives. If you have ever painted, you know that a strong pigment can seep into the other colours on your palette and tinge everything with its own shade. Similarly, sorrow, pain and stress have the ability to percolate into all aspects of your life and tarnish them. Dr. Hans Selye, a great scientist whose seminal work on stress is well known, said, "Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one." Therefore it is important not to buckle under stress but instead, use it to empower ourselves.

How do you compartmentalize?

Take the example of a person of immense religious faith who is also a scientist. She holds opposing beliefs in different cognitive compartments. She is capable of blind faith while in a place of worship, but in her laboratory she will question everything. In the same way, stressful thoughts need to be placed in a separate compartment in your mind so that they cannot have an impact on the rest of your life.

Visualize a box. Identify the specific trigger point of stress. Visualize putting that trigger point into the box and locking the box. Then turn your thoughts to pleasant images- a song that is evocative of a special moment in your life, the way your child laughs when you share a joke, the placid lake where you saw the most magnificent sunrise of your life.