What is stress? So many seem to suffer with it.
It is your body’s way of responding to any perceived demand or threat, whether internal, external, directly or indirectly affecting you.
When you feel threatened, your body is flooded with stress hormones which rouse the body for emergency action. Your heart beats faster, your muscles tighten, your blood pressure rises, you breathe quicker and your senses become heightened. These physical changes increase your strength and stamina, speed up your reaction time and enhance your focus.
In our caveman days, stress helped us to stay alive as it gave us the stamina to outrun the wild animals. However, our lives today are much different from then.
Modern life today brings about stress in many forms yet the reactions within our bodies are exactly the same as they were in our caveman days. Stress hormones are released as if you are facing a life-or-death situation. This is very damaging to our bodies over time.
Chronic stress (over long periods of time) affects nearly every system in your body. It can shut down your immune system, upset your digestive and reproductive systems, raise blood pressure, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, speed up the aging process and leave you vulnerable to many mental and physical health problems.
We all handle stress differently. Some are able to shrug it off quickly whilst others dwell on situations. Your resilience and tolerance to stress can be improved. Here are a few ways:
Eat well - Nourish your body with a healthy diet. This boosts your immune system.
Sleep well - Sleep will help balance your moods.
Exercise - Exercise will release “happy hormones” and make you feel good.
Socialise - Interacting with others will help calm and soothe your nervous system.
Relax - Take time out for yourself, have some down time from stress.
Be mindful - “Zone IN” to what you are doing. Be aware of yourself and surroundings, in any situation.
How do you deal with stress? Everyone is different, some eat more/or less, grab a bottle of alcohol, run hard and fast, exercise, meditate, talk it out with others, take a bath etc.
What do you do?
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