Coping With Stress

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. We can become overwhelmed by feelings of stress, anger, loneliness and other devastating emotions. Uncomfortable and painful symptoms in the body start to show up as a result. Symptoms of stress show up as all kinds of aches and pains. Emotional stress manifests in corresponding stress symptoms in the body. The physical challenges may develop into chronic conditions over time and manifest as cancer, heart disease, migraines and more.

It occurs when we feel like we cannot handle a certain situation, or that the situations we cannot handle are becoming too many. 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 know the difference between real and imagined threat. The body is ‘wired’ to respond automatically by supplying vital energy and nutrients to the systems which are most needed to face a situation of threat and this can mean diverting essential nutrients away from other ‘less vital’ areas. For this reason, it cannot be sustained for any great length of time. It is when the body is in overload, needing energy to be diverted to meet the stress response and away from regular functioning that we become afflicted by stress.

How can we save our bodies from the effects of 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 can explain why we might occasionally feel rather irritated or suddenly very tired when nothing has apparently happened in our day to cause it.

Keep aware of what is going on in your head, without getting sucked into it.

When going through a time of stress, don’t push it away, rather acknowledge what is happening and how you are feeling, but without getting bogged down or stuck. Just let it flow through easily. Acknowledging unhealthy thought processes empowers you to make more positive healthy choices for yourself.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. Faced with these stressors you might begin to experience the onset of cravings for sugar or stimulants in order to feel more energy. if you constantly give in to the cravings a dependency for these things might develop which will add further strain to the body.

Stress management techniques help with maintaining a sense of well being and protect your mental health too. Prolonged periods of emotional stress could lead to chronic depression, as well as inability to control anger. 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.Having time for yourself could be very beneficial at times, but it should be for the right reasons, the ones that do not have to do with any depressive tendencies. Look after yourself by gathering around you supportive and loving friends and family members. Give yourself permission to let off steam, to express the emotion in whatever way feels appropriate as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else. 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. And let calm confident energy take its place. 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