Reduce Stress, Improve Health, manage stress

Reduce Stress to Improve your Health

"Stress is an important dragon to slay- or at least tame - in your life."

-Marilu Henner

Is your stress level making you sick?

Learning how to reduce and manage stress has become one of the most important steps to improving health in the 21st century. Like most things in nature, if we maintain balance by dealing with and reducing stresses that are inevitable in our lives, we can be healthy in body and mind.

We are all familiar with the difficulties involved in meeting work deadlines or in getting kids out the door on time. And we know the irritants of having a flat tire or a car that won't start. We feel the effects of the strain of meeting goals that are important to us. But unless these events are excessive, they do not age the brain in that they are problems that we can solve.

Illness comes from reactions to events that persist or problems that persist or problems that you are not addressing, or situations that have no easy, quick solution. Nagging, unfinished tasks are a stress plague. When something needs to be resolved such as the leaking faucet or an unpaid tax bill, and you are avoiding it or procrastinating, the strain you feel is truly harmful. Nagging stress wears you out!

Do you frequently feel frustrated, irritable and angry?
Do you frequently lash out at other people and later feel remorseful or guilty?
Do you drive aggressively or shout and gesture to other drivers as you drive down the highway?
Do you procrastinate in beginning or finishing projects and feel increasingly anxious?
Do you avoid conflict at any cost and then feel secretly resentful or fearful?
Do you often play unresolved conflicts with others over and over again in your mind?

If your answer to any of these questions is yes, you are subject to the harmful effects of stress and eventually your health will suffer. We know for instance that persistent anger is one of the markers for heart disease. It is also one of the characteristics that are frequently associated with alcohol abuse. Excessive anger increases blood pressure and disrupts the body's normal repair mechanisms. The blood vessels become restricted, making it harder for the blood to get through.

Do you focus on what is wrong or missing in your life? Remember that in large part your thoughts create your emotions which in turn effect your hormones through biochemical changes in the brain. Focusing on thoughts that arouse fear will make you alert and ready to flee while optimistic thoughts have the opposite effect of releasing chemicals that soothe and calm. When the "fight or flight" reaction is triggered, your immune system functioning is lowered. If you are a habitual negative thinker, remember that this is a habit or pattern that you have learned. The more you practice it, the more ingrained it becomes! Your health will benefit and your life will improve when you learn to develop a more optimistic pattern of thinking and feeling.

Do you have a strong social network of friends and family or community involvement? Social isolation is another cause of stress that often results in premature aging as well as illness. We were created to be social creatures, and in order to be healthy we need frequent contact with others. It is through relationships that we learn who we are, get help and emotional support, and experience the satisfaction of relating to others. Being helpful to other people, whether they are in close relationship to you or not, feels good and provides great benefits to your health. Isolation increases the likelihood of depression, and depression in turn can lead to poor physical health such as heart disease and cancer.

Are you abusing food, alcohol, or working or spending money excessively to cope with stress? Often in a misguided attempt to deal with the unpleasant results of stress, we may resort to a misuse of food, drugs or doing something to excess such as working or spending money. Smoking is a well recognized response to a high level of stress. The temporary effect of numbing ourselves or discharging tension may seem a welcome relief at the time. But the short and long-term effects on our health, our relationships and eventually our finances is a bad one. Possible weight gain and poor nutrition certainly makes the problem worse, and the results of addiction are often fatal. Workaholism is an addiction that is often rewarded in our culture and even expected in some professions. But the effects of living out of balance over a period of time will certainly be costly to your relationships and eventually to your health.

Making changes - How to safeguard your health

Improve your nutrition, the building blocks of a healthy life. Vitamins for stress would include meeting the daily minimums required, and to be certain taking a good quality multivitamin and mineral supplement will cover the bases. In particular, Vitamins B and E are essential for those who are stressed by overworking, using alcohol or smoking. These habits are stressful to the body and mind and need to be eliminated.
Include more whole foods in your diet and minimize processed and fast foods to reduce harmful fats, excess sugar and salt from your diet. Eating whole food is simple and preferable in that it will provide better beneficial fiber and nutrients that are essential for cellular growth and repair. An easy-to-remember rule of thumb is to shop around the perimeter of your grocery store to obtain fresh produce, dairy and fish and meats.
Make sure you are eating a minimum of 5 fruits and vegetables per day, and that you have a rainbow of color on your plate. Some nutritionists recommend 9 fruits and vegetables. Green, yellow and red vegetables and fruits are all important. As much as possible switch from sugars and white flour to complex carbohydrates such as whole grain products that still contain their essential fibers and nutrients. This change will help you avoid the highs and lows of blood sugar that cause low energy as well as weight gain.

Exercise more frequently. Aerobic exercise, that is to say movement that increases the heart and respiration rate, is no doubt the best antidote to stress, anxiety and depression. It is said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. Begin by keeping it simple. Walking requires no equipment, other than a good pair of shoes. Wearing a pedometer is a way of tracking how many steps you are taking in a day's time and is a fun way to increase your steps. Set a routine time you can commit to and go for a minimum of 30 minutes, and increase it as you can. You will also benefit by adding other activities such as biking, swimming and dancing.
We tend to make exercise a part of a lifestyle if it is interesting. In time you may want to join a gym in order to work out in any weather and to increase the variety of activities and benefits. Gyms also provide an opportunity to socialize while you exercise: a double benefit.
Guard your mental health. Stand up to depression. If you are experiencing the following symptoms, seek help by contacting a mental health counselor or psychologist: disrupted sleep, either insomnia or too much sleep; diminished appetite or excessive carbohydrate craving; fatigue; loss of interest in activities that usually appeal to you; feelings of helplessness or hopelessness; difficulties in concentrating; and a sustained "blue" mood. Depression is a very common modern ailment that is painful and seriously compromises the immune system and diminishes your quality of life. There are effective treatments for depression, and it is important that you find them and use them rather than suffering. It will be the best time and money you can spend!

Listen to your self talk. It has been said that we do not suffer stress so much from events that occur as we suffer from our interpretations, understanding, and our self talk. In other words, we suffer from what we tell ourselves about what happened more than what actually happened. Our thoughts evoke our emotions which in turn bring on the biochemical reactions we experience as stress in the body. There are many good resources available to help you change the thinking that is causing your stress. Books, CDs or tapes can point the way to improving your thought processes which in turn affect emotion. Find supportive groups or people who have a positive outlook and are engaged in creating solutions to problems rather than playing "Ain't It Awful?" If you need further help, there are professionals who can help make all the difference.

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." - William James