April Is National Stress Awareness Month – A Healthier Mind And Body Starts Here
Posted on Friday, April 20th, 2012
“I’m So Stressed Out!”
How many times have you said those words? If you’re like most people, you’ve said them throughout your lifetime probably more times than you can count. But what exactly did you mean when you said you were “stressed out?”
Did you mean you had too much to do? Did you mean that what you were expected to do was too difficult? Did you feel there were too many demands on your time? Were you feeling tugged and pulled at from all angles? Were you forced to deal with something that just seemed too big to handle?
When these feelings are causing an internal churning, the upset is called stress. In fact, stress is an internal reaction to an event that is causing, at a very basic level, fear.
Fight Or Flight – Stress From The Start
Stress is a physical response to danger. Think back to the cave. When a predator approached the cave, the human body went into the “fight or flight” mode. Hormones were released into the bloodstream in order to get the heart pumping and raise glucose levels. This reaction would get the body ready to either jump in and fight or hit the ground running. You can see why all this was necessary.
This physical response to danger is still in us, hard-wired into the human nervous system. Even though we rarely have to fight off a man-eating predator, we still have the response built in. You will recognize this physical mechanism in today’s world if you’ve ever had to swerve to avoid a car accident. That feeling you experience is what’s left from our cave days – the fight or flight response.
The problem starts when this physical reaction doesn’t require you to wrestle a tiger or head for the hills. All that preparation your body goes through to produce more blood and glucose in your body, muscles, joints, and organs, is stalled. Your blood pressure is up, your digestive system suppressed, and all for naught.
You might think you can avoid this unneeded bodily response to danger simply because you are not often, if at all, in danger. But, danger comes in many forms. Remember, it’s all about perceived danger. In a nutshell, we have to think about all the conflicts in life boiling down to one emotion – fear.
Danger = Fear = Stress
What causes us to be afraid, to fear? Money worries, work conflicts, death of a loved one, loss of a job, family struggles, abuse, divorce, marriage, moving, children… If it seems like the list is endless, it is. We call it LIFE.
Yes, every event in life, good or bad, can cause fear, bringing on the physical reaction of the “fight or flight” response. The large events in your life, like the death of a spouse, will cause what is called “acute stress” while the smaller events we deal with on a regular basis, like job or family conflicts, cause what’s referred to as “chronic stress.” Both, when not dealt with properly, can, and does, cause illness.
If everything in life can cause stress, then how is it possible to avoid it? April is National Stress AWARENESS Month, not AVOIDANCE Month. Sure we would all like to avoid stress, but we can’t. All of life’s events will cause a degree of stress – good or bad. Become AWARE of the events that cause stress and learn new skills to cope effectively with the stress.
Unlearn Those Knee-Jerk Reactions
It’s all about choosing your response to the events in your life that cause stress. The stressors in your life will be different than the stressors in my life, but many of the options to deal with and reduce the stress caused by these events are the same. Let’s take a quick look at some of the options:
- Ask yourself “Do I have control of this situation?” If not, let it go.
- If you have control of a situation, take it! You may have to learn new methods of behavior, but it’s worth it.
- Learn control over your own reactions to situations. Find new ways to calm yourself.
- Develop a strategy for living healthier, both in mind and body.
- Set realistic goals to achieve a new mindset for a healthier, less stressful life. This may include some changes in your lifestyle – job change, for instance. Take it slow, but make a plan.
Take Time To Relax
Learning how to react to stressors in your life is only part of the solution. A big part of reducing the harmful effects of stress is giving your body and mind time to repair. Yes, relaxation and good old fashioned fun are two great ways to heal your mind and body.
As little as 15 minutes of what we like to call “me time” can work wonders on a body suffering from the effects of stressful situations. Take care of yourself by doing something you like to do. Avoid conflict for a few minutes each and every day and you’ll be better able to handle life’s stressors in the new ways you’ve developed. Here are a few suggestions for some of the simplest, and most effective, ways to rejuvenate your mind and body:
- Go outside and walk around. You don’t have to make it a long walk if you don’t want to. Just enjoy whatever time you have outdoors.
- Steep a cup of tea. Actually sit and watch it steep. Don’t fit it into some other task. Stop and enjoy the process.
- You know you have a basketball hoop that’s been neglected. Go ahead and try to make a few baskets.
- Read a couple chapters of the book you’ve set aside because you were too busy.
- Do some yoga positions. You may want to learn more about yoga as you grow to like it.
- Meditate. If you don’t think you know how, just focus on your breathing to begin with in a quiet room. You can learn more about meditation and get really great benefits.
- Write or draw something. Just let the process move you. Don’t use this time as a time to get something done, like writing a card you’ve been meaning to do. This is time just to empty your brain out.
Avoiding stress is not possible. Life is full of events and conflicts that cause fear, and fear produces stress. But, when you become aware of your response to these events, when you recognize the stress and learn how to react differently, you can minimize the impact that stress has on your body and your mind.
Learning new ways to recognize and respond to stress is the first step. Once you start taking control of the situations you can, and letting go of the situations beyond your control, the rest is simple. You need to carve out time to enjoy yourself.
To help with the relaxation part of your assignment, I’ve included a video here. Take 5 minutes out of your day today to relax by just clicking on and playing this wonderful video. Just 5 minutes… you deserve that much time to yourself today, don’t you? Enjoy!
p.s. Okay… if you kept looking at the timer to see how much time you had left to watch, go back and watch it again. It’s 5:37 minutes out of your life for Heaven’s sake! Those few minutes are meant to help you relax, so quit watching the timer. You know who you are. You spent that much time today already doing stressful things like sorting the bills or reading disagreeable things on Facebook. Go back and watch the video, maybe with that cup of tea you steeped earlier. And I challenge you NOT to watch that timer. Relax… and enjoy.
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