THE STRESS ENIGMA

Stress levels are difficult to balance: too much stress can make you ill; too little and you may become 'old' in the sense. Neuroscientists believe that if you overreact to external pressures you are not likely to live as long and may even increase the risk of diseases of the brain and nervous system, including Alzheimer's disease. In addition, if you overreact to stress in your life this can impact on your social life, often through fear of behaving in an appropriate way to stressful situations. A reduction in social contacts can provoke feelings of isolation,depression and failure, which may impair the immune system function and increse the risk of infection or the development of cancer.

On the other hand, many people think they are stressed when, in fact, they have depression or an anxiety or a sleep disorder. Furthermore, there can be physical causes of stress or anxiety, such as hypo or hyperthyrodism, anaemia or vitamin B12 deficiency. If you feel particularly stressed, you should see a doctor for evaluation and possible treatment.

Reaction To Stress
Reacting to stress in a way that you are comfortable with will usually include taking steps to learn about and practice relaxation. It can also mean taking charge of your life in ways that reduce the causes of your stress.


Creating Inner Calm

Because all stress cannot be eliminated, learning to calm the mind and body is an essential way of making stress harmless. A healthy person routinely relaxes by sleeping, by reading a book, by watching an interesting film or by taking exercise. Unfortunately, when you overreact to stress you may find that simply keeping still is almost impossible. In this case, you have to deliberately create an inner calm.

Learn to relax. This helps to balance the nervous system so that the sympathetic nervous system, which is designed to respond to danger, is in balance with the parasympathetic nervous system, which is designed to repair the body and maintain normal bodily functions. Relaxation needs regular practice, ideally 5-10 minutes or longer each day. Many techniques are available, including meditation, prayer and self-hypnosis, but if you are a beginner you could try breathing from your diaphragm.








Relax By Breathing From Your Diaphragm

• Sit or lie down somewhere quiet and comfortable, with your feet slightly apart. Place one hand on your chest and one on your abdomen.
• Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth without raising your shoulders. Notice how your hands are moving.
• After a few breaths empty your lungs without straining, and then breathe in slowly through your nose to a count of four. Keeping your shoulders and chest still, push out your abdomen so that your hand moves out by about 2.5cm (1inch). Imagine the air you are breathing in is warm and that this warmth is being carried to all parts of your body.
• Pause for a count of four, and then breathe out through your mouth to a count of four. At the same time, imagine that all your feelings of anxiety and stress are leaving your body with the air you exhale. Allow your abdomen to move back to its original position.
• Repeat the process several times, aiming to feel calmer with each breath. When you are very stressed try this exercise two or three times a day. Do not worry if you do not achieve complete relaxation each time, it will come with practice. The important thing is to keep trying.

Eating For Relaxation
Eating regular meals in a relaxed environment can contribute to a feeling of calm. Meals should be based on the Optimum Diet, with a limited intake of caffeine and alcohol. Reduce the amount of salt you eat and increase your potassium intake by eating plenty of fresh produce. Avoid sugars and refined carbohydrates as stress can be increased when the level of sugar in the blood is poorly controlled.

You may also be helped by taking steps to reduce food intolerance and irritable bowel symptoms.

Take Charge Of Your Life
Lifestyle changes can radically reduce the amount of stress that you face each day. This means making choices about your life, about what you want to achieve for yourself and how you can best do this.

• Take charge of time: make lists and decide on priorities. Let go things you cannot control and make positive decisions. Perhaps limit the amount of time you are available to others on the telephone, fax machine or by e-mail.
• Adjust your pace: a sense of hurry left over from a busy life may not need to be continued.
• Learn from children: they don't hurry unless it suits them.
• Consider moving to a smaller house or flat if your are not enjoying the time needed to maintain your house and garden.
• Take frequent breaks, and adjust the balance between work and recreation. Take time out for music, reading, meditation, sitting and thinking or communing with nature, and practise relaxation.
• Plan regular holidays and use these to explore new places, even if they are only local and near your home.
• Take regular exercise: this can greatly reduce muscular tension and often improves sleep.
• Be adaptable: it is easy to get into a rut. Try new ideas or different forms of exercise. Do things for other people.
• Make a place for laughter in your life: rent an amusing video or read a comic book. Laughing is one way to lessen pain, and it is known to reduce the production of adrenaline, which causes anxiety, and to boost the immune system.
• Reduce the chemical stimulants and depressants that you consume, such as coffee, alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.
• Share your problems, and listen to other people's problems, but avoid becoming a bore: if necessary, find a professional listener, such as counsellor.
• Tune into your body: if your head aches or you feel anxious, try discover why, and then deal with the cause.
  
  
  
  
  

Make a place for laughter in your life.