Techniques for Dealing with Stress

Stress is the way that we respond to pressure. We respond by our physical or mental reactions. We all react to stress in various ways. Our bodies will release hormones to help cope with the stress and mentally we will change to meet the increased demands of our perceived negative circumstances. The common reaction may be fear or anxiety or a combination of both. The physiological response to stress is only meant to last for a short while. We are not designed to endure prolonged periods of stress. Unfortunately the age that we live in now may cause us to have to endure stress for prolonged periods of time. The stresses of looking for a job or finding money to pay the bills may accumulate over time and have a deteriorating effect on our physical and mental condition. Adrenalin is released in stressful times in order to give us the extra physical energy that we need to handle the situation. This hormone speeds up our heart rate to get extra nutrients and oxygen to our muscles in order to strengthen our muscles for the task at hand. Prolonged stress will cause us some serious harm. We need to learn to get rid of stress because of its potentially harmful effects on our bodies. There are several ways to do so. We must keep in mind that nutrition and exercise are essential to our lives and they serve to help us in time of stress. The well nourished person who is in good physical condition will withstand the stressful situations that life will often hit us with much better than the couch potato who won’t eat right or exercise. The first steps of avoiding stress related difficulties are to eat right and to exercise. I will call these the preventative steps. Once life hits you with a stressful situation as it will at one time or another, you must learn how to relieve its effects on your mind and body. The best thing that you can do here is to avoid the tendency to let the situations of life play with your mind. Learn how to relax and allow negative thoughts and emotions to fall away. We tend to want to hold onto bad feelings but holding onto a negative certainly won’t turn it into a positive. Holding onto negative thoughts and emotions will only serve to keep you in a rut. You won’t be able to pull away from a bad situation or the bad in the situation as long as you allow it to dominate your mind. This proved to be difficult for me and sometimes I will even catch myself holding onto things which won’t do me any good. The releasing those bad thoughts becomes easier with time and experience but it will always require some hard work on our part. Think about good things. Fill the recesses of your mind with positive thoughts and affirmations. The positive will drive out the negative and the difference will reflect in your overall health as well as in your appearance. Learn how to smile but when you do learn how to really mean it. A sincere smile will translate to your very soul and make you feel better. Find someone to love. I found that when times are rough I just love to shower more love on my grandchildren. When I look at those smiles and love them it makes my problems seem more manageable. Life takes on a whole different meaning when I put them first. It certainly motivates me to do better, maybe it will work for you too. Physical activity is an excellent stress reliever. Exercise seems to work wonders because it provides an outlet for unnecessary stress. I compare it to opening a pressure valve and relieving pressure. Use whatever technique works best for you but don’t allow stress to rob you of your health. The Good Life