If you’re suffering from stress then you cannot ignore the overwhelming facts and research findings that unless you learn how to take better control of your stress in your life then you run the risk of developing many illnesses and diseases with the worst-case scenario being premature and early death.
However, if you are prepared to do something about your stress levels then you will feel better, you will improve your immune system, you will have more energy and your concentration levels, your memory and attention span will become better.
Stress keeps you looked in a narrow band of awareness; the good news though is once you learn how to relax both your body and mind your whole awareness will become expanded therefore promoting brain development leading to increased intelligence, your creativity levels will dramatically improve thus promoting your ability to learn and enhancing your performance levels.
Overall the quality of your life will become significantly increased and you will strike an inner feeling of calm and balance and one more thing important aspect you will live a much happier and longer life.
Stress is responsible for nearly all emotional, mental plus many physical conditions, it causes premature aging and can even be the main contributor to an early death. It is the underlying contributor for depression, drug and alcohol addictions some hair loss problems, weight gain, comfort eating, many fears and phobias, insomnia, worry anxiety, and OCD. Stress. It causes many health issues such as heart problems, heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, ulcers, cancer, and much more. It is your number one enemy known as the silent killer, it can wreak havoc on the quality of our lives if left undetected. If people realized how damaging it can be to our bodies and our mental well-being then they would act immediately to reduce it.
Stress causes a disease; it knocks your self-esteem and upsets your well-being. It is the biggest energy drainer and it plays havoc with your body and immune system because it depletes your energy levels. Stress is the underlying source of many diseases, physical ailments, and pains, most of our negative emotional symptoms and many other physical bodily symptoms are the manifestation of stress.
Most people think that stress is all about responding badly to specific situations but the real cause of prolonged stress is our daily worries and anxiety which most people experience which all mount up and trigger the stress hormones which then tricks the mind and body into believing you are under threat all the time.
All those worries confuse the mind and body into believing that your whole environment is an unsafe place for you to be the constant release of adrenalin activates the fight or flight mechanism all the time. Many of us are living a pressure cooker lifestyle we are in an era of fast and rapid change there are a lot more daily demands which we are constantly having to adapt to, unfortunately, our bodies have not moved along with the times and they have not adapted to this new hectic way of living. Stress is not all about living life on the fast track, responding bad, doing too much, not having enough rest and relaxation and burning ourselves out.
Stress can also arise from boredom due to lack of stimulation in people's life's especially housewives. those who are unemployed and people who do mundane and repetitive jobs. Sometimes when we are not stimulating the mind then the brain will tend to focus its attention on current worries and problems.
Why the medical profession has trouble in dealing with people's stress is because what might be stressful to one person might not be a problem to someone else and everybody's circumstances are different, medication can help to treat the symptoms but you need to go further and tackle the root source of it.
We all suffer from stress at times throughout our lives, it is estimated that over 50 percent of the reason why most people see their doctor is down too stress-related issues the big problem is the majority have no idea of how to deal with it and this is why it is known as the silent killer.
Stress is part of the fight or flight process which is the body's response to a challenge or a threat. Stress involves a complex chain of physical and biochemical changes within the mind and body including the nervous system and a number of stress hormones.
When we have to face a perceived challenge our body goes on full alert, it does not matter whether the threat is real or just a threat to our ego the response is still the same. Everybody has the capacity to summon up the energy reserves which they have at their disposal to respond to any necessary challenge. If the brain perceives a threat or challenges whether it is real or imagined it signals a response that triggers a physical and chemical reaction within the body.
Adrenalin and the stress hormone cortisol is released into our bloodstream, our heart rate and blood pressure increases, blood and increased oxygen are pumped to our major muscles to give us extra fuel and more strength, our digestive system slows down and our muscles become tense.
The stress response is part of the automatic nervous system (ANS). The ANS is responsible for keeping our heart beating, controlling our breathing, and regulating the optimum blood and oxygen flow around our body to ensure everything functions efficiently.
There are two main branches of the ANS nervous system, the one which is involved with stress is the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) which activates the fight or flight response and the physical and chemical changes which are triggered when we face a challenge. People who are stressed for long periods are spending too much time in the SNS state.
The other which is the opposite response to stress and the state which we should aim to be in more often is the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) which is the rest and relaxed state.
Acclaimed Why Make Yourself Crazy? Stress Program More Than Relieves Stress, Anxiety & Clutter, It Eliminates The Causes!
Have you already tried stress relief programs that only deal with temporary relieving the symptoms only to find out that after an initial period the stress just keeps on returning? Why this happens and it is a common trait of so many self-improvement products is because they are only treating the symptoms instead of dealing with the root cause of the problem.
Although it is important to relax and listen to relaxation tapes and audio programs to successfully rid your self of the damaging affects of stress you need to first learn to understand what's behind your stress and then secondly you need to find a successful strategy to eliminate it permanently so you can still reap the rewards from other more conventional relaxation methods but you won't have to keep battling with your stress levels.
Stress is only helpful to us if we need to run faster hit harder, shout louder or motivate ourselves to a small degree, we can become stressed within seconds but it can take a lot longer to de-stress and the body retains stress and tension.
Stress becomes harmful when we cannot control our thoughts and how we respond to challenging situations and events. Nearly all things in life are potentially stressful for someone. In this modern hectic world where we work too many hours, we practice bad time management and we fall into the trap that everything has to be done in a hurry.
On top of all this, we have to cope with the demands of bringing up children and trying to cram too much into our daily lives. Many people are ignoring the body's basic needs of rest and relaxation.
This can lead to long term and chronic stress, the effects of stress can seriously disrupt how we function and it can have damaging effects on our body. The effects of long term chronic stress can be potentially damaging and even fatal to our health if left unchecked.
It is also now believed that mid-life stress can cause the onset of dementia. Stress is a killer, but the good news if you deal with your stress then you will live a longer life because most diseases cannot survive in a stress-free body..
"There are no stressful experiences only stressful responses" and our stressful responses become habitual and until we reverse the learned stressful responses then the pattern of behavior will just continue. According to a recent Health and Safety Executive report, 6.5 million sick days are being taken each year in the United Kingdom due to stress and stress-related illnesses, and if you listen to the news stress-related problems are on the increase.
If you are feeling constantly overwhelmed with stress or worrying thoughts then you might feel the need to talk to a professional counselor to give you some quick relief. Some people like the personal touch of being helped on a one to one basis rather than trying to deal with things on their own while others like to use relaxation CDs and natural methods,
Whatever your choice or personal preferences are the harsh truth is you need to reduce your stress levels or there could be a huge price for you to pay if you ignore the warning signs. The body cannot withstand long periods of chronic stress, in the end, stress will take its toll on your body and that could be in the form of ill health and your general well-being.
Much of stress is down to how we perceive things, where some people might thrive and look forward to an event the same scenario maybe be frightening and stressful to another person. So instead of fearing and worrying about certain events, it is important to try and view the situation from a more positive perspective or different angle. Stress becomes harmful to us when we can no longer control the way we respond to it and the situation you have to face in your environment.
You can't always change what happens in your environment but you can change how you respond to things, however, stress is not just a negative reaction (redundancy death of a loved one, financial problems) we can also become stressed in seemingly positive situations like a forthcoming party or social event, a holiday, weddings, starting a new job or going on a date.
Too much negative stress can have serious consequences on our health and well-being, to reduce stress there are certain key areas that we need to work on. You need to teach yourself to change the way you respond to all your stressful and challenging situations you come across in your day to day life.
Another important area to work on to reduce stress is how to learn how to manage your time better and more efficiently, convince yourself that life is not a race and everything does not have to be done at breath neck speed. learn how to relax and chill out a little.
What you don't have time to finish can be done the next day and the world isn't going to end if you don't complete your task. You need to spend a minimum of thirty minutes a day deeply relaxing.
This is not an option we have it is a fundamental requirement that our mind and body needs which is absolutely necessary to allow the body to rest properly and repair itself from the day's events and challenges. Deep relaxation will calm the mind and body, reduce harmful stress and tension, and restore balance.
If your stress is caused by worrying then you also need to know how to solve problems and stop the unwanted repetitive thoughts and worrying which triggers emotional arousal and chronic long-term and damaging stress.
Many people associate stress with how they respond such as traffic jams, however, a lot of long term stress is caused by worry and unwanted thoughts.
The more time you spend in your day happy, calm, relaxed, and positive the more you will strengthen the neural circuits associated with calm and feeling good while at the same time you will weaken the negative emotions of stress and anxious circuits. So the more time you spend in a calm happy state the more your body will become used to these feelings and the better and healthier you will feel.
Relaxation will aid you to release any stress or tension from your body, and help prevent you from becoming stressed in the first place and when you become calmer and more relaxed you do things better and you will have more control over your life and actions, you will get more done and perform better without having to rush.
A lot of stress and tension is either evoked by our negative thoughts which is based on our experiences and perceptions, what we are currently focusing our attention on or what we are telling ourselves. (self-talk) We spend a lot of our time talking to ourselves, convincing ourselves that we have to get things done right away and as fast as possible. It is important to put things into their proper perspective and categorize what's important and what is not so important.
You need to become aware that rushing does not mean you will do things any quicker, and more often than not hurrying causes thing's to go wrong. You need to develop your emotional intelligence and realize that getting yourself stressed and worked up because you are stuck in a traffic jam or you are late for work is not going to help the situation.
Stress and tension can also manifest if someone or something has annoyed or upset you. When you continually rehearsing it in your mind and play the whole scenario over and over again, such as what you think you should have said or done, or what you are planning on saying or do, you will just create feelings of more stress and tension.
Another trigger for stress is unresolved emotional issues and worries. You need to either find a solution to your problem instead of fighting it. Learn to relax and learn how to deal with those stress-inducing unwanted negative thoughts it really is that simple, end the emotional impact caused by the negative thoughts and you will end all that dangerous and life-disrupting negative emotional stress,
Because the brain categorizes the problem as significant it will continue to search for a solution and the emotion will make it stay at the forefront of your conscious awareness if no immediate solution is found the emotion will become stronger causing more worry and negative stress.
Worry is the single biggest contributor to long term and chronic stress yet with the right information you can quickly eliminate all worries, no worrying means the end of all negative stress, Once you can effectively deal with the negative unwanted thoughts then you can swiftly put an end to the destructive negative stress
Negative thoughts are probably the catalyst and root cause of all emotional issues and are responsible for most people's stress and worries. Unwanted thoughts can destroy people's lives; they can affect every area of our lives. They can cause people to resort to drinking and substance abuse just to try and block out these negative thoughts but this does not work and you can't block out thoughts because they will keep coming back..
Because people don't know how to stop these unwanted thoughts their lives become a struggle and the long-term effects can be health issues, social difficulties, and much more. Unwanted thoughts can torment us from the moment we wake up until we drop to sleep and they can even prevent us from falling and staying asleep.
Stressful thoughts and imaginings cause the release of adrenalin and the stress hormone cortisol plus it prompts the muscles to become tense, those negative thoughts and ideas are the source of what is known as negative and long term stress.
The more you focus on stressful thoughts and ideas the more intense this pushing motion becomes and the more momentum it gathers. All too often you become pushed along at a speed and rate you don't need and which is not necessary.
So it pays to beware of your thoughts, and more importantly the tone of your internal voice, because when you start to have stress-provoking thoughts, and two bad examples are, creating deadlines such as
"I have got to get - - - - - - - done." or you start the morning off by telling yourself things like “I am going to be late"
All you will do is activating an immediate stressful reaction. If you stop for a moment and observe your mind when you first say these things to yourself, you will probably notice that you are using a harsh and severe motivating inner voice, like the one your parents or teachers used to get you to do things.
This tone of voice can immediately start to make you feel stressed because by doing this you’re effectively strongly motivating yourself to take immediate action. So try and changes your inner voice to a more calm mellow and soft tone of voice, because the more stressed and rushed you become the more stressful thoughts you will have. You can soon become locked in a cycle of mental hurrying and tension, so the next time you start to feel stressed use a slower calmer, and more mellow inner voice.
Although it is important to set goals and to get motivated to do things try and avoid at all costs putting deadlines on your goals, this is a mistake many people make on two accounts, firstly deadlines cause more stress and frustration, and secondly when you are not achieving your set deadline it can lead to you giving up on your goal before they have had time to manifest.
Any time during your early morning rituals you start to notice yourself becoming stressful especially if you have got something you need or think you have got to do get done in a hurry, just stop and pause for a few minutes, sit or lay down, make sure you are breathing correctly and take some slow deep breaths making the out-breath longer than the in-breath.
Because when we have stressful thoughts or responses, we start to breathe shallow or even hold our breath temporarily, so stop yourself acknowledge your thoughts, and then let your thoughts go
Because you need to focus your attention on the stressful thoughts and ideas for a few minutes, so you can break the patterns of the old habitual stress responses. With a bit of practice, you can teach yourself how to avoid stress-inducing responses, you can also do this during your day if you begin to feel stressed or after straight after a stressful event.
One of the worst time for stress is usually first thing in the morning, especially if you are planning to do something like a bit of DIY or even a hobby and you have over motivated yourself or you getting ready for work, attending a business meeting or you are going somewhere and you have not allowed ample time.
There is no point or advantage in having an extra 15 minutes in bed if it means you're going to be running behind thus causing you to rush and hence making you stressed and spoiling the rest of your day. You can develop a habit and pattern of waking up and immediately start thinking and focussing on stressful thoughts and ideas, existing worries, or perceived potential problems that can soon start to dictate your thinking patterns throughout your day.
It is important to become aware of the fact that how we begin the day can determine how we feel during the rest of our day, so a few simple precautionary measures and good time management can prevent a lot of unnecessary stress.
But it's not just our thought patterns that evoke a stressful response; another problem is the tone or pitch of our inner voice. When you use a harsh and stern or critical inner voice it can immediately start to trigger a stressful response, this connection and association probably stems from our childhood when our parents would shout at us in a harsh and motivating tone of voice like you're going to be late for school, etc.
Stress and tension is a psychological and physical response to a perceived threat, although we can train to associate stress to none threatening situations and imagined situations or scenarios. Stress is like a pushing motion designed to get us moving very quickly, but it is not always appropriate and necessary.
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