Part 1

So have you ever heard the word STRESS before?     

Of course you have – it has become one of our most common words in some form or another!  According to Wikipedia there are several categories and descriptions related to stress.  Today I am only referring to the stress we take upon ourselves which eventually will effect our health.  You can read more on this at:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress

Stress (biological)  Physiological or psychological stress; some types include:

• Chronic Stress:  Persistent stress which can lead to illness and mental disorder.
• Eustress and Distress: Distress is the most commonly-referred to type of stress, having negative implications, whereas eustress is a positive form of stress, usually related to desirable events in a person’s life.  Both can be equally taxing on the body…
• Workplace Stress:  Stress caused by employment.

I think we all know by now how important it is to keep stress out of our lives or at least making attempts to minimize its existence in our lives – correct?  Unless one has been very isolated, has never watched tv, read a newspaper or listened to the news, then I think it is safe to say we hear the word “stress” constantly.  I don’t think we are even aware how many times a day we hear that word!

It is my belief that stress is the ONE thing in our lives that we have TOTAL control over but most of us don’t pay attention to what it is doing to our health and well being.  I am not saying that things are not difficult or that a lot of our lives are not drastically changing.  As a whole we are going through some very hard times right now with possibly more to come.  What I am saying is that in spite of what the world throws at us, we are constantly making choices to how we allow it to effect us and that is where stress comes into our lives.  We breed it, hoard it, consume it, nurture it and refuse to let it go. 

We were created to productively live the majority of our lives in the parasympathetic “rest and repose” system but some how we were taught that if we were not going mach ten then we would fall behind, be a loser, non contributing, worthless, lazy and on and on and on!  You know what I’m talking about don’t you?  

We have now labeled that relaxed ahhhhhhhhh feeling (remember what that felt like?) as pampered or indulged, however, that is the furthest from the truth!  We are actually more productive; make better decisions, sleep better, less likely to get sick, etc when we are living in our parasympathetic “rest and repose” system.

Please don’t get me wrong, I am not saying our sympathetic system ”fight or flight” is a bad thing.  On the contrary it is there to save our lives when needed and gives our bodies the ability to do things we could not do under normal circumstances.  Unfortunately our bodies are effected when we choose to live most of our lives in the “fight or flight” due to the accelerated heart rate and the amount of adrenaline being pumped into our bodies. 

The most common thing I see as a reflexologist is the surprise on a clients’ face as their body relaxes to a place they have not been in a very long time.  Most of us are not even aware how tense we really are until we experience that incredible relaxation.  When was the last time you felt so relaxed that your eye lids were almost too heavy to keep open, your speech was slightly slurred, you wanted to say something but the effort it took just wasn’t worth it or when you walked you felt like you were floating?  It’s probably been awhile hasn’t it?  

Well don’t worry; Check in tomorrow and read Part II of todays article where you will learn ten great ways to relieve stress! 

Until then, start to pay attention to things that may be triggering your stress or tension and remember, YOU are the one who can stop this!

Please let me know how stress has been effecting your life and what you have found to help eliminate it.