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Knock Out the Negative Effects of Stress
You already know that for many people, possibly even yourself, stress is a fact of life. Whenever we experience problems on the job, with money, in our health or relationships, we tend to find ourselves under stress.
What you may not know is that stress is one of the most basic underlying causes of numerous other health problems.
It is amazing to think about the physical impact stress has on you. When you are under stress, your body reacts as if it were being physically threatened—your digestion shuts down, your heart rate increases, your muscles tense. In addition, your cholesterol levels rise and your blood thickens preparing to clot (in case you get injured).
It’s no wonder then, that stress contributes to so many of the chronic degenerative diseases that are some of the leading causes of death in the modern world.
On the U.S. Centers for Disease Control 2002 list of the 10 most frequent causes of death, 8 of them have a very clear relationship with stress, either directly or indirectly. At least 4 of these are directly related to lowered immune function.
Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control
Obviously, if someone says, "It's just stress," they don't realize that stress, especially long-term stress, is deadly. They might as well say, "It was only a truck that hit me."
In addition, if stress goes on a long time there are imbalances in brain chemistry that occur. These can range from depletion of both stimulating and calming neurotransmitters, as well as those related to pain relief.
Without addressing these underlying issues, any stress treatment is just a band-aid approach.
What You Can Do
Fortunately, the process of managing stress is well understood. The basics of it are simple.
- Breathe: What could be simpler? Unfortunately, most people don't know how to breathe well, or if they do, they don't remember to practice. Correct breathing triggers a relaxation response in the entire body, freeing you from many of the negative effects of stress. Examples - yoga, qigong, meditation.
- Eat: If you think that food has no effect on stress, think again. The quantity, quality and ratios of proteins, carbohydrates and fats in your diet have a huge impact on your body, either helping relieve or helping aggravate stress. Examples - eating whole, fresh, natural foods, following your Metabolic Typing® diet.
- Move: Exercise is an incredibly effective stress-reducer. The exact best type of exercise will vary from person to person. Examples - walking, sports, weight-lifting.
- Think: How you think about the events in your life does truly have a profound effect on how your body reacts to them. In this short description we don't have room to discuss all the various ways you might change this, so just become aware that if you think about things in a different way, your body will react differently. Examples - listening to positive self-programming audio tapes, turning off the news at night, meditation.
These are the core, basic areas for dealing with stress. For more, consider signing up for the "Balance Point" Newsletter (see the upper right side of this page). When you do, you'll get my 8-page report, "37 Proven Stress Busters" just for signing up.
Also, I offer a six-part Advanced Stress Management series that takes stress management to a whole new level. If you really want to make sure that you are managing your stress at every level, this will help you get there.
I also recommend testing and re-balancing any neurotransmitter depletion or imbalance that may be present.
For more information, or to start the process of managing your stress now, call us at (775) 827-6901 or email by clicking here.
You can also find more stress-fighting resources by going to the Effects of Stress site.
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