March 2011
Modern life is full of hassles, deadlines, frustrations, and demands. Home, work, family, friends, traffic, shopping! Everywhere we turn, there is a stress factor. It can feel like a merry-go-round of stress factors and there is no way off. Relentless daily challenges can wear you down.
This can happen when we:
Stress is not all bad. Stress is what keeps you on your toes during a presentation at work, sharpens your concentration when you’re attempting the game-winning free throw, or drives you to study for an exam when you'd rather be watching TV. The “emergency stress response” is the trigger that alerts us to fight or run when faced with danger. It increases heart rate, shuts down certain systems and increases others, all to handle the emergency.
Your “emergency stress response” may be “switched on” most of the time. The more your body’s stress system is activated, the easier it is to trip on and the harder it is to shut off. This is referred to as long term or constant stress.
At a certain point, constant stress starts causing major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life. Whenever I see a client who is stressed to the max, and feels life is out of control, I gently ask where she is on her list of priorities… she is always WAY down the bottom of the list. She has lost perspective through stress.
Constant stress can lead to serious health problems, and is the underlying cause for many diseases such as - depression, obesity, autoimmune diseases, eczema and psoriasis. It can raise blood pressure increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke, contribute to infertility, and speed up the aging process. It increases pain of any kind, interferes with digestion and causes sleep problems. This is naming just a few.
Teenagers are under great stress to achieve and live up to expectations of others and their own. Stress increases cortisol levels which trigger the onset of acne. Once the acne sets in, the stress increases because of lowered self esteem and a vicious cycle sets in. I always see a sudden healing in acne as soon as the appearance is improved, because with increased self esteem, stress is less, the cortisol lowers and the acne begins to improve.
Constant stress can even rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety and depression. If you frequently find yourself feeling frazzled and overwhelmed, it’s time to take action to bring your nervous system back into balance. When stress is out-of-control, it can get in the way of your ability to:
Bottom line? Being able to manage and relieve stress is the key to staying balanced, focused, and in control, no matter what challenges you face.
My advice is to take a few minutes for yourself each day. Put yourself and your needs back up to the top of the list for those few minutes. It can be having your own brand of tea that no-one else gets to drink…putting a beautiful body cream on… it can be reading a magazine… just sitting and gazing at nothing… quiet time to think… just a few minutes.. you will feel so much better. Learn to gently say “NO” if you really feel the need to. Go for a walk, it will calm your soul.
Pop into the salon for a treat where we put your needs first, and make you feel valued and fabulous. Pick up some CALM herbs that regulate those cortisol level (I take them every day) and think about having some electromagnetic wave therapy… your body will thank you.
You deserve well being and happiness.
Just watch, when you are happy and relaxed everyone around you is!!
http://www.managingstress.com/articles/physiology.htm
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