Stress Management and Health
Many people now realize that our state of health is closely connected with how we respond to the situations we come across in our lives. Stress, anger, feeling abandoned or judged and other such crippling emotions can sometimes get the better of us. As a result, many unwanted responses from our bodies usually follow. Symptoms of stress show up as all kinds of aches and pains. Emotional stress manifests in corresponding stress symptoms in the body. And some of these physical challlenges can become chronic and lead to illness and even eventually, death.
It happens at times when things are coming at you thick and fast, too fast to cope or when we are faced with something we feel we can’t handle. We become overwhelmed by worry, fear and anxiety. This is when learning stress management techniques could be very useful. When we are living in a constant state of fear, worry or anxiety our body ses this as a threat. It reacts to it the way it does when we are subjected to an actual physical attack. The body doesn’t realize that an imagined threat is not real. They are both the same to it. The body basically focuses on supplying the systems which are the most “vital” in time of an attack, unfortunately at the expense of other systems. For that reason, this reaction could not sustain running for long periods of time. This is when we start to suffer the consequences of a body under stress.
How do we protect our health from the effects of mental stress?
When we spend a lot of time thinking or dwelling on the problem our consciousness can simply switch off. On the other hand our bodies don’t. This explains how we sometimes find ourselves feeling irritated and exhausted, while nothing really happened in our day that seemingly could cause it.
Keep aware of what is going on in your head, without getting sucked into it.
If you are currently being challenged by stressful circumstances, acknowledge where you are and allow the emotions, thoughts and feelings to flow through without resistance and without holding on to them. When you acknowledge an unhealthy thinking process, it makes it easier to know what to do.If you do something to distract yourself from the issue at hand it can help put things in perspective and allow the body to relax.
Another important aspect is to not give in to your stress-induced desires. When we are stressed our energy levels drop and we usually suffer from an inability to concentrate. You could find yourself wanting to eat, drink or smoke more in resonse to the stressful events facing you. if you constantly give in to the cravings a dependency for these things might develop which will add further strain to the body.
Being able to cope with stress has a positive impact on your mental well being and overall health. Prolonged periods of stress can develop into depression that may become chronic and feelings of anger that get out of control. On the physical level, these conditions can result in fatal illness and this can have corresponding dramatic consequences for your near and dear ones.
If you feel flooded by negative emotions and thoughts, be careful not to let it take hold in the body. Take some time out to relax or be with nature, or perhaps to do some calm deep breathing.Taking some time for yourself can be quite healing as long as it is for the right reasons and not to feed into depressive actions and patterns. Keep around you your loved ones, those who would not judge you and with whom you feel most comfortable. Allow yourself to express the emotion, even if it means running into a corner to scream out loud. Just allow the negative energy to flow out of the body without resistance, to release the stress in its own time, which is usually quite short when no resistance is in place. Then take a dep breath and relax, let a feeling of confidence, self assuredness, light heartedness and love take its place. Visualize light coursing through your body dissolving the dark feelings as it goes. Find a reason to laugh and leave stress behind.
To find out more about how stress affects health and what you can do to have a healthier, happier life, check out How Does Stress Affect Health
