Body Talk... What is your body telling you?

Here in our western culture we are advanced in many ways- yet in regards to our awareness about our body we are more than lacking! We pop pills for every ailment we have without even trying to figure out what the cause is. One of the many problems with this is that there are so many side affects to these medications- and the greatest problem of all with this course of treatment is that we are not healing the cause.

What would your body say if it could speak? Is it speaking to you now and you just aren't listening? STRESS is a killer as well an instigator of disease and pain. There are illnesses such as Crohn's Disease, Diabetes, Cancer, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure (only to name a few) that are directly linked and related to stress. If you don't believe me, ask someone who has one of these illnesses and ask them how stress affects their illness. Many of them can be helped greatly by the use of healthy stress management techniques and a healthy lifestyle (diet and exercise).

But what about pain? Have you ever heard the saying "He's a pain in the neck" or "My heart is broken"? We literally carry stress in our bodies! I am also a certified massage therapist and while I don't practice anymore, I learned a great deal from my many years in practice. I was able to clearly see the link between stress/ emotional pain and physical pain. Inevitably when I would work on a client who had pain in their shoulder's and neck, most often they would open up to me and discuss the stress they had that day or week. I could literally feel their stress!

Each of us has an area in our body that tends to hold stress. It may be your neck and shoulders or perhaps your stomach. Pay attention to your body's reaction when something stressful has occurred or is occurring. Do you get a headache? Does your chest start to feel like your having a heart attack (this is referred to as a panic attack and can mimic a heart attack)? Do you find yourself needing to run to the bathroom because your stomach is "in knots"?

I can go on and on here but the message is to listen to what your body is telling you- even if you don't want to hear it. Don't just pop a pill to mask the symptom because the body is smart and will start to yell and scream at you if it needs to.

Learn how to de-clutter and de-stress your life. Talk to a therapist or someone you trust about the stressors in your life and discover ways to cope with them in a healthier way. Perhaps you need to simplify your life!

Here are some things you can do today that will help:

• Go for a walk

• Take a hot shower

• Get a Massage

-Talk to a friend about what is really going on

-journal

• Exercise (run, lift weights, etc)

-Take a yoga class

• Meditate

• Go visit the ocean or forest (somewhere peaceful and relaxing)

• Watch a funny movie

• Cry

• Talk to a therapist

-Paint

-Acupuncture

• Examine your life- are you doing what you want to do? Are you happy?

• Make some life changes you've been holding back on

I hope this list of stress management techniques can help you find some relief from your stressful day. You have more control over your stress than you realize. Listen to your body before it screams so loud at you that there is no turning back!