Stress isn’t something you have to accept as a part of modern life. We feel it in our bodies, we talk about it with our friends and we blame it for standing in the way of our happiness. But do we do anything about it? In fact, ignoring it can take real toll on your health.
Stress is one of the main factors that drags you down, and you will not fully refreshed until yo have source of it in your life. Stress is a term used to describe the symptoms produced when you are under excessive pressure. To some degree, its true that certain amount of stress is necessary to meet life’s challenge in the modern world, but too much is harmful and can leave you tired, irritable and tense. Once you understand the psychological effects stress on every part of our body, you will be motivated to stop accepting it as part of life.
During high-intensity stress, hormonal changes cause your body concentration to become highly focused. The symptoms of stress result from high levels of circulating stress hormones, such as adrenaline, which literally put your system in the state of ‘red alert’ . This results in blood sugar levels rising to provide energy, bowels emptying to make you lighter for running, pupils dilating to help you see better , respiratory rate going up so that more oxygen enters your circulation, pulse and blood pressure increasing so that more oxygen and nutrients flow to important organs and tissues and the circulation decreasing to some parts of the body so that more blood could be diverted to muscles. If you lived in the days of the caveman, the stress response might have saved your life. Changes occurring in the body help primitive man the strength to fight a predator, or flee and escape harmful situations. For the caveman, once the danger was over, the system returned to normal level but nowadays, you rarely need to fight, flee and the effects of stress build up inside you rather than getting burned off through sudden burst of physical activity.
Most of us have our personal way of reacting to stress. Some cry, others overeat, some become irritable and cranky. One of the best ways to identify the source of stress in your life is to keep a stress diary. This involves writing down everything that makes you feel stressed, noting how you respond and how you remedy the situation to help stop the stress returning. Think about your habits and consider if any are making it worse. At the end of the week go back to the diary and try to identify the main sources of stress, how much control you have over them, and steps you can take to reduce their effects.
Exercising is a great stress reliever. Exercise will burn off stress hormones, improve your fitness level, contribute to optimum health and help you feel energized. Stress can change your breathing pattern, use refreshing breathing exercises to refresh your breathing in a situation where you feel stressed. For mental focus try yoga practice – 60-90 minutes practice will really make you feel great. A quick and refreshing exercise is a Chinese technique called the inner smile. It takes only a few minute and brings rapid relaxation and rejuvenation help leave tension behind. Try aromatherapy massage as it is a pleasant way of relaxing tense muscles and easing stress and oil can be inhaled to freshen your mind and improve clarity. A number of complementary therapies can be used for their balancing actions.