From the moment a jangling alarm clock startles us awake, our bodies and minds are subject to an incredible amount of stress.

For those out of work, there’s the constant worry of how to keep a roof over the family’s head. For those who hate their jobs, there’s the strain of coping with a daily grind they loathe. And for those who love their work, there’s the interminable fear of losing it.

In the home, our traditional refuge, things aren’t much better. Women are still expected to take on most of the responsibility for keeping up the house, even if they work too; while they may face resistance from men about taking on domestic tasts they’d never before been expected to do. More and more families break up, with single parents left to fend alone, financially and emotionally, for their children.

But as well as the day-to-day anxieties about paying the bills, making sure there’s always food in the fridge, fitting in the shopping, wondering whether the kids will make it home safely from school, there’s technology which has brought the world’s worries and fears of terrorism to our doorsteps.

It’s no wonder many of us end up worrying from the minute we get up to the moment we eventually fall asleep … and often end up suffering from stress meltdown.

But this book is all about how to recognise stress when it’s happening and how to keep it under control. For if that stress can be properly managed, then it can be transformed into a powerful, positive force to drive your life onwards – and upwards.

Powering Up: Simple Steps To Stress Control For Women by Sue Williams and Anthea Green was published in April 1994 by Pan Macmillan, price A$19.95

REVIEWS

“Powering Up is exactly what it sets out to be – a practical, easy-to-read book about how to better control stress and put some zip back into your life .. In short, Powering Up is an arsenal of advice for women on the run, combining the best health mehods, witten in an understanding manner.”
Daily Telegraph Mirror 06.06.94

“Stress is at last being recognised in the West as one of the most potent contributing factors to ill health, in its most minor forms causing insomnia and headaches, and at its most letha, ulcers and even heart attacks … Powering Up argues it is possible to turn stress into a postivie force for keeping healthy, staying relaxed and rising to any new challenges.”
The Weekend Australian 11.6.94

“Don’t live life under-par, letting stress gradually wear you down. Prepare for it, face up to it and turn each new problem into an exciting challenge.”
The New Weekly 20.6.94

“If left unchecked, stress can turn into a killer.”
Sunday Times, Perth 9.10.94