Just Choose Healthier Weblog

I’ve been thinking a lot about stress lately and how over-stressed so many of us are with so much going on in our lives and the world. First, I’d like to defend stress from the bad rap it gets. A certain amount of stress is necessary just to hold the molecules that make up our body and our world together. Stress also warns us of impending danger so we can take action—like run for our lives. Unfortunately, some of us are continually running in our lives without giving our body a chance to recover. So, it’s really distress–too much stress, too long that throws us out of balance.

In her book Who Switched Off My Brain? Dr. Caroline Leaf talks about this unnatural ‘prolonged’ stress that wreaks havoc on our bodies. Acute short term stress which is natural in short bursts can turn into chronic long term stress (can be diagnosed as chronic fatigue). She discusses ongoing physical tiredness—not being ill enough to stay in bed but no longer feeling energized and motivated. Her term for this condition is “Vertically Ill”—people who walk around feeling as if something (or many things) are not quite right but they can’t quite put their finger on what it is.

Prolonged stress causes too much cortisol to be secreted in our bodies which causes blood sugar levels to rise and triglycerides and cholesterol to increase in the blood stream causing weight gain. Cortisol also depletes our bones of vital minerals.

HeartMath (creator of the video I shared on my last post) offers ways to reduce cortisol and increase DHEA (a happy hormone). You can read more about cortisol at http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm and DHEA at http://www.raysahelian.com/dhea.html

Solution: Look at yourself and your life and notice if you feel stressed more than distressed. If stress is playing a big role in how you do life, ask yourself “what can I do to reduce my stress level?”

Healthier Choice: If you know something or someone is going to cause you stress, avoid if possible. If you can’t avoid, remember hydration (drinking water) and deep belly breathing are two quick ways to decrease stress levels.

Tried & True Tip: What works best for me in addition to drinking water and deep breathing is getting curious about why I ‘think’ something is stressful. I believe it all starts with our perception of an event or circumstance.

Here’s an exercise you can do right now in a couple of minutes or less: I invite you to think of something stressful in your life–close your eyes and check in with your body to see what’s happening. (ie. you may have stopped breathing, have tension, butterflies etc.) When you’ve noticed what you’re feeling open your eyes and take a couple of deep breaths, breathing out any residue from your previous experience. Now, close your eyes and think of the same situation but simply observe it with curiosity and ask yourself something like “I wonder what this is all about? Why does it upset me so much?” You’ll probably notice less distress in your body as simply being curious allows you ‘wiggle room’ to respond by choosing how you let the event affect you rather than reacting from habit. Open your eyes and remember how being curious is a simple, quick way to decrease stress.