Managing stress is very important in our modern society. As everyone is exposed to some form of stress nowadays. How can we be effective in managing stress, that can reduce many health problems? Today, I will be explaining these in this short article.
Managing Stress: What is Stress?
In accordance to WebMD, Stress is a type of psychological feeling. In our prehistoric past, when all of human civilization is still living in caves, it plays an essential part of survival.
Like physical response to a predator, when our ancestors felt stressed, their body will react accordingly to ensure maximum rate of survival.
But in our modern context, if we are living in a developed county, these “modern predators” that are attributing to our stress, no longer harm us a lot physically.
But as long as these psychological stress are present, your blood vessels will constrict. Blood pressure level and pulse will rise. Your breathing will increase and your blood will be flooded with clotting factors and hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.
Therefore you are exposed to stressed chronically, it will change your body over time, creating a lot of health issues.
Stress Causes Health Problems
Heart disease: Researchers have long concluded that people who are stressed out all the time, develop higher risk of high blood pressure and heart related issues. Stress will cause the body to increase pulse and blood flow, and flooding the body with high amounts of cholesterol and triglycerides. It is also concluded that stress is related to many different issues, like an increased chance of smoking or relieving stress by using food, that causes obesity. Researchers have understand better on various emotional stress, might increase the chance of developing serious health issues, like heart attacks. Therefore, these people that have existing heart conditions, must avoid high stress, and learn more by managing stress effectively.
Obesity: Accumulation of excess fat within the belly, appears to cause bigger health risks than fat on the legs or hips. That is also where individuals with high stress appear to have it more. Stress causes cortisol to secrete more in the body, and that appears to increase the quantity of fat that is deposited within the abdomen. I-Beauty Medispa have helped out many individuals with this type of obesity, by using their Award Winning Metabolite Wellness Therapy. Thus, witnessing many people able to manage their stress better, and their lives changed.
Diabetes: Stress will worsen diabetes in 2 ways. First, it increases the chance of developing unhealthy behaviors, like unhealthy eating, smoking and excessive drinking. Second, stress appears to boost the glucose levels of these individuals.
Accelerated aging: There is concrete proof that stress will have an effect on you age. One study compared the DNA of many mothers, who were exposed to high stress level, e.g Juggling a high flying career or caring for a chronically ill child, comparing to mothers who were not.
Researchers also discovered that specific region of the chromosomes, showed the results of accelerated aging. Stress looked as if it would accelerate aging from about nine to seventeen further years. Therefore, managing stress will make you look younger.
Premature death: A research concluded that the health effects of stress by studying elderly caregivers taking care of their spouses — people that are naturally under constant exposure deal of stress. It found that caregivers had a sixty three higher rate of death than individuals their age who are not caregivers.
Neck & Back Pain: Research had concluded that when a person is exposed to stress, the body increases cortisol levels. These cortisol, is a hormone that is secreted through our adrenal glands (a triangle-shaped organ near your kidney) in our body, that are responsible in many processes in the body, including regulation of body metabolism & controlling immune response.
Many studies found that increased cortisol levels for prolonged period of time, can contribute to many painful symptoms, headaches, pain radiating over the head, neck & shoulder region, back pain and migraines. Therefore if left untreated, people who experience these symptoms might compromise their health.
I had written a more detailed article, about how pain & stress are related & stress remedy through TCM perspective.
Simple Ways of Managing Stress
Breathing Techniques: Simply take a couple of minutes to do deep breathing, calms you and allows managing stress possible.
The good thing about taking deep breathe, is that you can do it everywhere, as long as there is fresh air.
One good stress relieving breathing method I do recommend, is that you can incorporate visualize, as you breathe.
One visualization that my clients usually like to do is that, as you breathe in, imagine a rainbow going into your nose. Try to feel that it floods your body with positive feeling, happiness and a sense calmness throughout your body. As you breathe out, stress in a form of “black air”, comes out from your nose, eliminating these stress from your body.
Reframe Techniques: If you are already running late for school, or you are caught up in a terrible traffic. you might feel agitated. However, you can make yourself feel good, by creating another meaning beyond the situation.
This can be done, by telling yourself, “I am in the car, at least I am not standing under the rain” or “I am glad that I had a good breakfast just now”.
Simply to say, look for a positive way, to look at a bad situation.
These are 2 ways that you can use in managing stress immediately, so that you can keep your stress and cortisol at bay.
