Feeling Super-Stressed? Relax!

You hit your alarm in the morning, feeling groggy and out of sorts because you didn’t sleep well. After three cups of coffee, you think you can face the day…but you need another cup or two when you get to work, plus a hit of caffeine in the afternoon. Your weight is on the rise, but you can’t seem to slow the pounds that creep on. You experience constant cravings, and exercise only seems to make you feel worse. You go home at the end of the day, your body aching, and finally crawl into bed for another sleepless night.

Sound familiar?

If it does, you may be experiencing symptoms of one of today’s most pervasive and debilitating diseases…super-stress.

“But,” you’re thinking. “I’m not under stress. I don’t feel stressed.”

That’s because super-stress isn’t something most people recognize, or even consciously feel. Yet doctors have pegged it as one of the most widespread problems in modern society. It’s a new kind of stress, never seen before in human history, and it’s directly linked to the high-tech, fast-paced world in which we live. It’s both silent and deadly, and it’s putting your health at risk.

Super-stress is a dangerous but understandable part of modern life. Our bodies have a built-in reaction to stress, known as the fight-or-flight response. This physical effect is triggered when we encounter danger. In our modern world, though, fight-or-flight is triggered by worry, anxiety and overload. When super-stress forces the body into fight-or-flight multiple times a day, the body has no chance to recoup. That causes a dangerous downward spiral.

Many people affected by super-stress aren’t aware of feeling “stressed.” The symptoms are there, though. Super-stress compromises the immune system and raises a person’s risk of infectious disease. It can cause obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, anxiety and depression, chronic insomnia, memory loss and more. The longer it’s left unchecked, the worse its effects.

Many people who suffer from super-stress turn to supposed quick fixes like junk food, medications or hours in front of the television. Dr. Patrick Porter, who has spent more than two decades researching the effects of super-stress, says none of those offer the solution.

“To combat super-stress, you need to create the opposite response. It’s called the relaxation response,” Porter says. “When you achieve this state, your body and brain go to work undoing the damage caused by your stress-filled day.”

One of the most effective--if not the most effective--ways of battling super-stress is through a combination of creative visualization and relaxation (CVR) techniques and light and sound technology geared to achieve the relaxation response. Light and sound technology, or biofeedin, uses finely-tuned light and sound frequencies to synchronize the left and right sides of the brain and produce deeply relaxed brainwave activity.

That may sound like highly technical jargon, but the bottom line is quick relief where you need it. Light and sound technology itself is simple to use, since you can plug most current models into any MP3 player. And, 20 minutes on such brain entrainment technology is equal to four hours of sleep, which helps combat those stress-induced sleepless nights. Most importantly, when used in combination with CVR audio sessions, biofeedin gets you back in balance and reverses the damaging effects of stress.

It’s time we stop accepting our culture’s belief that it’s normal to feel lousy. The truth is, our bodies are miraculous wonders designed for a long life filled with vibrant good health, energy and vitality to spare.