I was once catching a tiny, eight-seater light aircraft between two mining towns in the outback of Western Australia.

Having worked myself into a state of hysteria at the minute proportions of the plane, I was not comforted to find that my luggage was strapped behind my head in a mesh harness or that I could see over the pilot’s shoulder to the nose of the plane.

Before we had even belted in I had scanned Mechanic’s World from cover to cover and had left my fingerprints forever etched on the chair arm.

I happened to be seated next to a retired helicopter pilot.

Thinking this a good omen - especially if the pilot and the co-pilot both simultaneously suffered coronary failure - I tried to absorb some of his laid-back confidence.

But then a glaring omission caught my eye.

Where were the parachutes stored?

The ex-pilot laughed long and hard at my query. “Even if they stored parachutes on these flights,” he drawled, oblivious to my mounting panic, “we don’t climb high enough for them to open in time.”

As I absorbed this piece of wisdom, I turned my attention back to my magazine. Suffice to say that I could have re-assembled a semi-trailer from scrap by the time we actually touched down.

Bracing for Impact

I do not enjoy flying. Despite this fact, I regularly fly, having made countless international trips in recent years. But it is always a stress-inducing experience.

Like many people who fear flying, my largely irrational stress begins well in advance of actually boarding the plane.

Sleepless nights, a vague sense of distress at the back of my mind and an obsession with the most efficient way of packing my suitcase are all ways in which my stress is manifested.

As one witty writer once pointed out, stress is a type of disease, or to be more precise a DIS - EASE, where those afflicted suffer both mental and physical strain.

But even if you are one of those cool commuters who can carry on a conversation while the drinks trolley hits the roof, you will no doubt agree that there are some common stress triggers that ignite us all.

They fall loosely into the following three categories:

1. Events – these include exams, a new job, a new baby, quitting smoking, an injury, a divorce, retirement, a new house or even a vacation
2. Circumstances – these include illness, debt, bullying, family problems, pregnancy, poor performance at school, lengthy travel times or less personal issues like world terrorism or political unrest
3. Thought patterns – these include unflattering comparisons with others, a high expectation of self, fear of the future, fear of failure or fear of death

Attitude Sickness

It seems that while our preparation for events, our support structures to circumstances and the training we have put into our thought patterns can reduce the amount of stress we feel, it is difficult to escape stress altogether.

Despite this reality, I have often wished that there was a symbolic parachute that I could add to my hand luggage.

Having once assembled this life-saving device, all of my stress would melt away and I’d be free to embark on my journey with a positive, bold outlook.

Not one to spend too much time involved in unproductive activity - I’m sure I’ll reap the benefits of Mechanics World one day - I instead devised a simple program to tackle my stress.

I called it R.I.P.C.O.R.D.

And while the real test will come the next time I fly, in the meantime I’m practicing packing my chute whenever turbulence strikes.

A Crash Course in Stress Control

There are seven key steps to escaping your stress.

If, like me, you can imagine stress as a rapidly-descending, out of control airplane, then think of these steps as the magic chute that will help you leap free and guide you in for a perfect landing:

1. Recognise your stress pressure points

The first step is to identify the origin of your stress. Common stress pressure points are in the HOME, (money worries, privacy, chores, neighbours) at WORK (deadlines, boredom, customer complaints, loss of free time), in SOCIAL settings (meeting new people, isolation, personality clashes) or in the COMMUNITY (traffic, global warming, cultural differences).

2. Identify your stress impacts

We then need to recognise the impact upon our PHYSICAL health, such as exhaustion, irritability, poor communication and binge eating. Similarly, stress can cause EMOTIONAL issues like anger, depression, sensitivity and withdrawal. When you can identify these issues as side-effects from stress, you can begin working on the healing process.

3. Pinpoint the stress trigger

The stress trigger can be linked back to the three categories listed earlier : EVENTS, CIRCUMSTANCES and THOUGHT PATTERNS. A combination of these elements, such as undertaking exams when you are unwell and plagued by fear of failure, can be crippling. It is important to note that CHANGE, in any one of these areas, is one of the most common causes of stress.

4. Control your stress response

Having recognised the PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL impacts, apply the appropriate action to control it. Take a quick walk when you feeling under siege, put barriers in the way of reactive over-eating or channel your emotions through constructive writing. Use your family and friends to help you adopt more positive reactions to stress.

5. Own up to the need to change

If the stress is intrinsically tied to your lifestyle, you may have to commit to some major changes. If your job is making you ill with stress, it might be time to negotiate different working arrangements or to move on altogether. If your relationship seems to be the source of your stress, counselling may be required. Once again the key is to recognise and take action.

6. Respond with the appropriate technique

The best technique to deal with stress might be by focusing on the PROBLEM and taking practical action to counter it, such as carpooling to reduce the stressful drive to work. Alternatively, the technique might involve focusing on the EMOTION and assuming a positive attitude and mindset to reduce the stress.

7. De-stress your lifestyle

Once you have committed to change and begun to reap the rewards of controlling your stress, you may need to embed this into your lifestyle. This includes increasing your daily exercise, taking the time to meditate, managing your time and commitments more effectively, laughing and celebrating more and generally being kind to yourself.

Perhaps stress is simply a modern day malady that we have to live with.

But rather than taking up the brace position every time it gets a little turbulent, perhaps we should be looking at adopting a more effective de-stressing process.

Remember: Don’t spiral out of control… pull the ripcord and escape your stress… It beats reading statistics on how safe air travel really is!

One night, some years ago, I awoke to a disturbance in the dark. As I lay in silence, the sheets around my chin, I wondered what had woken me.

I reached down for my cats, but they had abandoned my feet for the stillness of the couch.

I touched my husband on the arm but he was deep in sleep.

I listened intently for the whir of a mosquito, but the room was empty beneath the darkness…

So what was darting about in my sleep, plucking at the fraying edges of my dreams?

The intruder nudged the back of my skull and I suddenly saw it in all of its glory : number 3656.

It was the number I had counted to in my sleep.

The Peace Process

One of the greatest achievements in life is to develop a peaceful mind.

It is an ability to process all of the messages and chatter and white noise that we experience every day.

Some things, like an angry remark from a friend or a sliver of negative self-talk, can initially weigh heavily on our mind, but through careful planning and selective processing we can move beyond it, back to a place of peace.

Troubled sleepers, of which I have been one, will laugh at such folly and tell you that the processing never ends.

Often in the past I would wake exhausted, having engaged in nocturnal dream-games like a long, looping conversation with me, myself and I or categorising all of the events of my life into detailed process diagrams. The night, rather than a haven, was merely an extension of my day’s activities: counting, sorting, structuring, editing and so on.

I had to develop a barrier between myself and the day’s clutter.

By teaching myself a series of steps to filter out the disturbance, I was able to quieten my mind and achieve a peaceful night’s sleep.

Six Steps to Put Pillow Talk to Sleep

These are my six strategies for quietening my cerebral cortex:

1. Tune in to the Noise

This station is playing only for your listening pleasure. You need to fix upon the issue that is disturbing you and listen to its message. While you are avoiding it, it is keeping you off balance and on edge. Face up to it. Give it a name. Recognise its effect upon you.

2. Absorb the Lesson

The splinter in your sleep is usually there for a reason. If a lesson is waiting to be learned, then acknowledge it. You may not like what it teaches you, but acceptance is one of the first steps towards peace.

3. Create a Physical List

Get the junk out of your head. Out of sight is not out of mind in the case of looming lists. You need to respect your issues and take the time to write them down. When they are on paper - or preferably in a book with a cover that you can close - they are taken care of. Or at least until the morning when you have the energy to deal with them.

4. Do a Health Check

Be specific about what is simply clutter and what are legitimate concerns. When you are clear on what needs to be tackled, put it into a mental box and review all of the positive things in your life. Plan to fix the things that worry you, but don’t lose sight of all of the things you have already achieved.

5. Pit-stop Tasks

Agree that you will “down tools” on any unresolved issues or incomplete activities before you get into bed. If the steps above don’t give you any peace, then come to an agreement with your subconscious that you will tackle the outstanding tasks as soon as you wake up in the morning.

6. Delegate Your Worries

Sometimes we have to fall back on old cliques, like a problem shared is a problem halved. Talk to someone you trust about your sleepless nights and enlist them to be a sort of neutral territory between you and your worries. With your night clutter holidaying in Switzerland, you might just find that your mind quietens down enough for a few hours of respectable shut-eye.

Okay, so they may not be easy steps or a quick fix! You might have to work hard at adapting these strategies for your own life. Some self-analysis, a few hours of practice…

But what else is an insomniac going to do - take a nap and worry about it in the morning?

George Bernard Shaw said that “a perpetual holiday is a good working definition of hell”, but having reached the one week mark since my return from paradise on earth, I am not so sure I agree…

I know that human beings are adaptable creatures, but at the moment it is a challenge to settle back into real life…

far from the kiss of surf on sand and the sight of plump vines stretched in sun-drenched splendour.

But before I lose myself - and my readers - amongst the flowery phrases, lets get real.

Only those with the budget of an heiress can actually spend every day beachcombing, drinking bubbles and bathing in warm waters.

Instead we need to capture the essence of what it means to “holiday”.

For me, a holiday is about living in the moment, released from routine and restriction.

Therefore, a holiday, by its definition, cannot occur every day…

but the holiday spirit is as free and attainable as the complimentary bath salts.

So if you are also keen to harness the holiday mood every day, pick and choose what you like from the buffet below:

1. Make Friends from Strangers

I have been on a mission of late to make more friends. This includes moving from a nodding acquaintance to bus-ride banter with my neighbours and rekindling friendships will people from my past.

Making friends is a challenge, but on holiday the process is helped along by the general feeling of goodwill and relaxation (and often a few cocktails by the pool!)

To recreate the holiday mood at home, begin by selecting one person from the “stranger” pile and actively move them into your friendship ring. A cup of coffee, a walk around the park or a trip to the movies are effective ways to share the holiday spirit with a new friend.

2. Get Back to Nature

Water is the most wonderful element.

Perhaps I am biased, given that Australia is the largest island in the world, but when I go in search of beauty and relaxation, I naturally gravitate towards the river or the ocean.

While I’m also a devotee of city-breaks in the shopping capitals of the world, nothing quite matches the clean, open spaces of the deep blue.

To bring a bit of nature back into the busy, modern world, surround yourself with water. Swim, bathe, shower or spa - my motto is to take it any way you can get it!

3. Frame the Moment

Dorothea Lange, the American documentary photographer, said that “Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.”

I think that the instant out of time can be revisited again and again, as a stimulus to remembered sensation and emotion.

To create a perpetual holiday feeling, get into the habit of taking your camera with you on ordinary outings.

Develop a happy-snapper’s eye for finding something to admire in your everyday world and capture it.

4. Teach Someone Something

One of the best ways to step out of your “everyday life” is to pass on your knowledge and skill to someone who shares your passion.

While strolling along the white sands of Bunker Bay, I happened to look back and see a young boy catch his first wave to the beach.

His arms were lifted in victory, but what caught my attention was the man swimming furiously towards the shore behind him, swallowing half of the southern oceans as he called out his praise to his son.

The mutual pleasure and love was palpable and in teaching his son to surf, this holiday would be imprinted upon their memories forever.

5. Create Some Rituals

Rituals and routines are very different things.

My husband and I are structured beings at heart, so even on holiday we like to develop some regular behaviours.

On the first morning of our holiday we discovered a cove of smooth rocks, blue pools and white strips of sand at the far end of the beach (see right). It became our private piece of paradise that we visited every day.

But the reality is that in returning to the real world, our time is often not our own. My advice is to wrestle some of it back and devote it to a ritual you enjoy.

Coffee on the verandah together or a moonlit walk can keep the holiday feeling alive.

6. Pamper Your Pointy Bits

I take my stress out on my fingers and feet. I tend to pick at my nails when nervous and pound my feet on the treadmill when frustrated.

But when holidaying in the sun the pointy bits come into their own. Running your fingers through sun-streaked water and digging your toes into talcum-fine sand is a pleasure I find hard to beat.

Try replicating this sensation at home. Even if you live far from the beach and cannot afford to splurge on a day spa, you can still create your own tactile paradise.

My sisters and I often indulge in “spa days” at home and we recently introduced a foot massaging spa to our ritual. Close your eyes and the whir of the machine sounds remarkable like the lap of the Indian Ocean…

7. Get Some Knuckles into Your Muscles

While I’m not too sure about some of the rocks and wraps used in spa treatments, I’m a true believer of the power of massage.

One of the great things about a massage is that it is not reliant upon the weather - it is a holiday in any hemisphere.

In terms of real benefits, a good quality massage oil and the expert hands of a massage therapist can increase circulation, strengthen your immune system and release muscle tension.

If you’re not keen on putting yourself into the hands of a stranger, take a massage course with your partner.

The investment will be worth it!

8. Take a Piece of Holiday Home

You obviously have to be sensible about what you can take home with you - some things are off-limits because they are protected, quarantined or simply too expensive.

Those barriers aside, I always try to find a symbol of my holiday on the beach - a shell, a piece of cuttlefish or a sea-smooth rock that can be absorbed into my home life,

Along with the tang of the ocean they carry with them the mystery of unchartered waters - the perfect embodiment of the holiday spirit.

Another wonderful reminder is to get creative with your happy snaps.

If this is too difficult, then load your favourite holiday picture onto your computer and make it your screen saver.

It will have you smiling every time your mind wanders at work.

My aim is obviously to bring the “holiday me” and the “work me” into closer alignment.

Simply writing this post has helped the morphing process, but please share your favourite tips or techniques to bring a bit of holiday into every day life!