What Is Stress
What is stress In simple terms, it is how you relate to the situations around you. Whether it is work, family, school or any other situation, you react, change or adapt according to the the situation.
Everyone acts differently to stress and it goes without saying that we don’t always act in a productive or positive way. Case in point, traffic jams. How often to you see people looking angry, honking their horns and behaving in otherwise unproductive manners when stuck in traffic? While others seem happy to just relax and listen to music.
Life has its ups and downs. It happens to everyone. But, depending on how you handle it will directly effect your stress level, overall happiness and eventually your health.
Good Stress vs Bad Stress
There are two types of stress: good stress and bad stress. Good stress can refer to situations that spur you on to take needed action. For example, knowing that your sports rival has a better race time than you can cause you to train harder to win. A little healthy competition is good for the soul.
Bad stress is the kind that comes from situations that we don’t want to confront or where we feel we have no control. An example would be finding out that you are being laid off by your company or the death of a loved one. These situations are ones that cause significant physical and mental stress.
There are other examples of bad stress, but you get the picture. You’ve probably dealt with bad stress in your life already or are dealing with it right now.
Stress and Your Response
So, what happens when you experience stress? The body goes through a “fight or flight” response. The adrenaline gets pumping; your heart starts racing and every fiber of your body is ready for something. For our ancestors this response probably saved them from being eaten by hungry animals.
Nowadays, that response happens when we are in danger. But, it also happens in people who are experiencing very stressful situations. When there is too much stress, the body is actually affected in a negative way.
The best way to handle stress is to manage it. That sounds simplistic but it can be easier than you think. Stress management can save you a lot of headaches – literally.
Stress Reduction Techniques
Check out the stress reduction techniques page. If you have a way that you use to reduce your stress please go to that page and share it with us.
What Is Stress Recap
What is stress comes down to anything that causes you to feel overwhelmed, angry or worried. Most of the time what we worry about never happens. If you find yourself constantly feeling overwhelmed, worried or angry write down what you are thinking about. Keep a journal. Weekly go back over your thoughts for the week and whether or not they appeared in your life. Here’s some wise words from Mark Twain to think about:
“I’ve seen many troubles in my time,only half of which ever came true.”
Interesting Sites:
http://www.effective-self-hypnosis.com/stress.html – On this site David examines the causes and effects of stress, as well as outlining stress management techniques, while focussing on self hypnosis for stress reduction.
http://www.amazing-chinese-food.com/stress-symptoms.html – Sophia shares what are the common signs of being stressed out and what has helped her.
Healthy Living Tips:
Research is showing 75-85% of disease is related to stress. The dis-ease part of our lives. Eliminating as much stress as possible from your life is crucial to your health. If you can’t avoid the stressful situation – remember exercise will also release that energy.
