Stress is so toxic to our bodies that it poisons your body and mind to the point where you can be totally incapacitated. Worst of all, the effects of stress seem to creep up on you and leave you feeling worn out, depressed, anxious and overweight.
These health effects can take some time to recover from depending on how long you have been stressed and the type of stress you have been experiencing.
Not all Stress is Bad
Some stress is actually good for you and helps to keep life interesting. Good stress is also called eu-stress. We need just the right amount of stress to keep us motivated and challenged. Too little stress and we become apathetic and bored. But too much stress and that is where our health starts to suffer the consequences. The worse two types of stress are repeated stress and chronic stress. So what exactly are these and how do you avoid them from becoming toxic in your life?
Repeated Stress
Repeated stress affects you on a frequent and recurrent basis and can include things like, traffic, paying bills, noise, crowds, lack of sleep, loneliness, hunger etc
This type of stress can be overcome by practising stress-reduction techniques such as taking ten deep breaths, meditation, mindfulness, and regular, relaxing exercise such as yoga and/or Pilates. These types of activities activate our parasympathetic nervous system – which is literally our ‘de-stress’ nervous system. Practice makes perfect when it comes to winding down the stress response so try incorporating these stress-reducing activities daily. But by far the worse type of stress is chronic stress.
Reducing Stress
So how do you stop chronic stress from ruining your health? The first thing to recognise is the major stress producers in your life. Make a list of these from ‘most stressful’ to ‘least stressful’. Work on the top two most stressful first. Aim to see if there is anything about those situations that you can change, even if it involves counselling to change your perspective about the situation. Realise too that you can actually be addicted to stress. Learn to recognise when your life has gone from one drama to the next. Is there something in your life and personality that is attracting this type of chronic stress? This may be part of a deeper psychological condition that has roots in our upbringing or past and may need to be further addressed in the form of counselling.
Other techniques for reducing chronic stress include getting a good night’s sleep, having regular ‘time-outs’ from your busy schedule, doing regular exercise, laughing daily, reducing caffeine and alcohol, forgiving others, developing positive relationships and meditating regularly.
#healthyhabits #healthyliver
Dr Cris
Holistic Medical Doctor, Author ‘Healthy Habits, 52 Ways to Better Health‘ and Healthy Liver
