Living a stress free life – Impossible (?)

I started thinking about stress  and how our lives are today. I can’t imagine anyone who lives in this busy world of our modern society that doesn’t have some sort of stress. Doing what I do, I deal with the consequences of stress every day. Of course some events or some people’s lives could be classified as more stressful than others, but in general, stress is all around us at any time to pick up on.

The most important side effect of stress is its impact on our hormonal systems. Chronic stress affects our bodies by putting us in the fight or flight mode of existence. Our adrenals are fired up to think that a tiger is chasing us whenever we experience stress. This leads to all sorts of consequences not the least of which is that we are always on the alert, ready to defend against some invader. 

Over time, this becomes wearing on our bodies. So how do we prevent this from happening? 

The best solution is to come to a peaceful place inside about whatever is going to happen. That’s easier said than done. Basically people who take life as it comes generally feel and do better  because they don’t experience life’s challenges in the same way. If you tend to be a person who needs things to be just so, worries about every last detail, and  gets provoked easily, you will experience more problems in your body.

We all know that emotions can cause physical problems, so what if physical solutions could help your emotions? Wouldn’t that be nice? In this case, better living through chemistry is a true statement. You can balance your body, brain, and hormones better so that your stress response won’t be as bad.

The simplest thing to do to support your stress free self is to eat regular meals with protein and good fats in them. If you sustain your blood sugar all day, your body will feel better and  you’ll have less stress. A good multivitamin and a supplement that provides you with omega fatty acids will help all your systems achieve their maximum function. Regular exercise will help you by making your body more relaxed, it helps you let go of the emotions you’re holding in your body. My personal favorite is yoga.

In my next blog, I’ll write about how to deal with more difficult situations…..when food and exercise aren’t enough to help heal your stress, what do you do?