Useful Tips
Tips for Managing Stress
(from the book “You are the placebo, making your mind matter” by Dr. Joe Dispenza)
Stress is one of the principal causes of epigenetic change (alteration of the physical structure of DNA), because it knocks your body out of balance.
Stress comes in 3 forms:
- physical stress (trauma)
- chemical stress (toxins)
- emotional stress (fear, worry, being overwhelmed, …)
Ironically, feeling stressed was designed to be adaptive. All organisms in nature, including humans, are programmed to deal with short-term stress so that they’ll have the wherewithal they need for crisis situation. When you sense a menace in your external situation, the fight-or-flight response is activated, your heart rate and blood pressure increase, your muscles tense, and hormones like adrenaline and cortisol shoot through your body to prepare you to either escape or face your foe in a battle. Your body will return to its normal, balanced status soon after you reach safety. That’s the way our bodies were designed to operate when we’re living in survival mode. The body is out of balance – but only for a short period of time, until the threat passes. At least, that’s how it was meant to be.
But if you are like most people, a string of nerve-racking happenings keeps you in fight-or-flight response, and out of balance, a large part of the time. Between remembering stressful experiences from the past and anticipating stressful situations coming up in your future, all these repetitive short-term stresses blur together into long-term stress. It puts you in survival mode. Vital energy is lost in the system. You have less energy in your internal environment for cell growth and repair. The cells shut down, they no longer communicate with one another. It’s not time for normal maintenance (let alone making improvements), it’s time for defense. The immune and endocrine systems (among others) become weakened and compromised.
Not surprisingly, long-term stress has been linked to anxiety, depression, digestive problems, memory loss, insomnia, hypertension heart disease, strokes, cancer, colds, flu, allergies, body pain, skin rashes, muscle spasms, to name just a few conditions. No organism in nature is designed to withstand the effects of long-term stress.
Tips for reducing stress
You can without doubt, learn to deal with stress and lead a happier, healthier life.
You may want to start with the following tips:
- Keep a positive attitude
- Learn and practice relaxation techniques, meditation, yoga, tai-chi
- Acknowledge that there are events that you cannot control
- Eat healthy, well balanced meals
- Make time for hobbies and interests
- Get enough relaxation and sleep. Your body needs time to recuperate from stressful events
- Spend time with those you love.
- Became part of a social group
- Learn to manage your time more effectively
- Respond to stressful situations rather than react to it