Stress affects your health and is one of the causes of long term illness. For example, have you ever wondered why you may catch a cold after the exam period or some stressful deadline at work. This is because stress can affect your immune system. However, the consequence of lowered immune functioning is not just a greater chance of catching a cold. Lower immune functioning can also reduce you ability to allow your body to heal and increase your chances of heart disease. Stress can also make your body more susceptible to tumor growth.

This raises the stakes of managing your stress, so that it does not damage your health or reduce your wellbeing. There are a number of ways that you can reduce stress. One great way is through exercise. By exercising you can reduce your stress hormones and also distract yourself from the stress that you may be feeling. Another way to combat stress is through relaxation and breathing exercises. The beauty of relaxation and breathing exercises is that they can be done just about anywhere and anytime. When you are sitting at work and can feel the stress, and relaxing breath can activate the relaxation response and counter the stress response. Often when stressed we may not get enough sleep.

Stress can wake us up during the night and make it difficult to get back to sleep. This can create a vicious cycle as less sleep leads to more stress, which makes a good night sleep seem more impossible. A lack of sleep can leave you feeling agitated and restless, not a great combination for work productivity or enhanced wellbeing. The

Kell works in the stress management field. Click here for more information on what is stress and the impact of stress on health in his article on stress health.

No related posts.

Are you constantly feeling sick with flu and cold symptoms that never seem to go away? Is extreme fatigue and low energy levels becoming a normal part of your everyday life? If you answered yes to these questions then you may be suffering from immune system stress syndrome.

Speaking from personal experience, I can relate to these physical manifestations of sickness that are caused by stress. You see, for years my father suffered the same daily symptoms as described above. He was probably sick three weeks out of the month with a cough, migraines, and with never enough energy to spend time with his family. His doctor usually prescribe him antibiotics because he believed that he had a virus. But in the end it was not the viruses that were the problem, it was stress.

How Can Stress Cause Physical Sickness?

This is one area of health that researchers have been studying very meticulously over the past decade. When experiencing physical viruses, sickness, and fatigue, most people are told by their doctor to treat the symptom and not the cause. Well the symptoms are easy to pay attention to because they are right in front of your face! If you have a cold then the doctor may prescribe cold medication. If you are developing skin rashes then your doctor may prescribe an antibiotic of sorts. However, 9 times out of 10 these symptoms are the result of stress and stress is very hard to detect on the surface. This is where immune system distress syndrome comes into the picture.

If you don’t already know it, stress kills ̵

How Stress Caused My Father’s Cancer To Grow

In early summer of 2001, I got a dreaded call from my father. He told me that he had colon cancer and the doctors only gave him 1 year to live. Regardless to say, I was shocked, and I asked him how this could have happened. After a long conversation he opened up information to me about how he had actually discovered his cancer six months prior, but didn’t want to tell us because the doctor said that with proper positive stimulation, and the STRESS-FREE environment, he could survive.

Needless to say, he explained that the last six months of his life was the most stressful times he had ever experienced. Because of the discovery of his colon cancer, his business fell apart, his marriage dissolved, and all of this stress, both emotional stress and psychological stress, caused his cancer to grow. He believed that it was the result of immune system stress syndrome. Because his immune system is already weakened by chemotherapy, the added stress such as cancer into overdrive.

Please, do not let stress take you this far down that path. Get help before it’s too late!

No related posts.

Learning how to stop worrying is a stress management technique. The stress response is activated when we perceive a situation as a threat, whether it’s really happening now or we’re just thinking about it happening. When we worry, we’re thinking about something we don’t want to happen and imagining a future when it is happening. This often activates the fight or flight response. For example, some people who worry wake up in the middle of the night thinking about how they are not going to be able to pay the bills or are going to die because they are experiencing back pain or a deep cough. Being able to stop this habit of worrying decreases the stress hormone levels in our bodies.

Other types of thinking about the future like daydreaming or intentional imagining focus on a pleasant or desired future experience. People who daydream let their minds wander to an upcoming pleasant experience like a date with a new friend or a relaxing vacation. Athletes, successful sales people, and people applying the Law of Attraction use imagination to intentionally manifest a desired outcome. The difference between these types of thinking and worrying is that worrying expects something undesirable to happen while daydreaming or intentionally imagining both focus on something positive.

Usually worrying is not useful and activates the stress response. However, for some people, the experience of worrying helps them realize that they want to change the thing they’re worrying about and gives them the motivation to do so. When a pers

To learn how to stop worrying, you can practice being in this moment. Bring your awareness to your breath and the sensory experience of the present. Your breath cycle, the inhale and the exhale, is happening now. Focusing on what you see and hear in this moment also shifts your awareness out of the future and into the present. Once you have shifted your focus, you can ask yourself if the unpleasant outcome that you’re concerned about is happening now. If not, remind yourself that since what you had been worrying about isn’t happening, there is nothing you can do about it right now and actually everything is okay in this moment.

If the focus of your worry seems to be happening now, for example, your rent or mortgage is due and you really don’t have money in the bank to pay it and no income source, then brainstorm a list of things you can do to change the situation and take the action. If you can’t think of anything, then ask someone to help you. Sometimes, if we get stuck in fear, our brains don’t work well, and another person’s perspective is useful.

If the action isn’t something you can do right now, worrying isn’t going to help. Other things you can do to stop worrying are change your thinking, write a gratitude list, or exercise. Basically get your mind off of what you’ve been worrying about.

Most of us don’t even realize that we have a choice about what we think. This link takes you to an explanation of what happens when our thoughts become habitual and how to change them. Writing a gratitude list is as simple as getting out a clean sheet of paper and pen, asking yourself what you feel grateful for, and writing each thing down. This might include specific people in your life, the weather, getting out of bed in the morning, or a great opportunity that just came your way. Doing something physical like exercise, gardening, or cleaning helps a lot of people shift their attention away from what has been bothering them to the present experience.

For many people, worrying has become a habit or something that happens automatically. However, whether it is a first time occurrence or a habit, worrying is usually a non-productive way of thinking about the future. Changing this habit takes some intentional practice, but can be achieved with understanding, awareness, and shifting attention into the present moment.

Kathryn Yarborough writes about her twenty favorite stress management techniques on her website http://www.relaxed-and-at-ease.com/ and teaches workshops and trainings. She is a registered dance/movement therapist, manifestation coach, integrative breathworker, and the founder of the Center for Embodied Consciousness in Columbia, Maryland. She began her personal growth journey in her twenties and in her writing and teaching shares what she’s learned through it and her professional training.

No related posts.

Stress in one of many explanations why your body doesn?t digest food properly. It is not a coincidence that your insides feel like they are turning inside out when you are faced with a stressful situation. This is because stress limits the blood supply to the stomach, which hampers the normal digestive functions. Also the whole intestine is partially controlled by the nervous system. These conditions can also offset gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome or an ulcer.

While we may not be able to get rid of these stress factors from our lives, we can do much to minimize their effect on us with good diet, exercise and relaxation techniques. But the first and foremost step is learning to understand how the body works.

For many people healthy weight loss is a chronic endeavor. weight loss is extremely difficult when you feel like you are depriving yourself. Healthy weight loss is not about suffering or deprivation. The key to successful weight loss is making changes in your eating and physical activity habits that you can keep up for the rest of your life.

Digestion and absorption are unconscious processes controlled by the nervous system. The purpose of digestion is to change complex and insoluble food bits into simpler matter that can dissolve and disperse through the lining of the intestine to enter the blood or lymph. With the increase of stress levels, our body will divert energy, enzymes, oxygen and blood away from the digestive organs. This makes the digestive process to come to as halt as the body deals wit

Three types of stress can affect the body: -

? Physical. This is tangible; it could be an injury, drug and alcohol use and infection.

? Mental and emotional ? These are intangible and could result from such things as public speaking, being threatened, domestic problems, surviving the death of a loved one, financial worries or unfulfilled career aspirations.

? Unconscious stress. This is environmental, the noise or traffic or aeroplanes, pollution in the air in cities or from all the toxins we are usually unaware of -food additives and preservatives, mercury, lead, pesticide and acrylamide.

All these stresses can be weakening and can place a huge strain on your general health. To avoid impairing the blood circulation and disabling the function of the digestive organs when eating, it is vital that you cultivate a relaxed state of mind. A few lifestyle changes can promote a healthy digestion by reducing stress.

Diet unquestionably plays a role in the control of stress. Eating too many processed grains and too much sugar adds to the body?s physical stress and may contribute to nutritional shortages that compromise your health. Excess?s of red meat and saturated hydrogenated fats may create inflammation in the body and add further to your physical stress. Drinking large amounts of coffee or cola drinks high in caffeine not only cause more anxiety but your body will miss out on vital nutrients found in wholesome drinks and foods. It is therefore always wise to eat a well balanced diet containing organic whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes.

Put your alarm clock ten to fifteen minutes earlier than usual. This will allow you more time to eat a healthy breakfast. This is always a good start to the day. Better still rise even earlier and allow time to exercise first. Research has shown that at least thirty minutes moderate exercise daily has an intense anti-stress effect on the body and will help clear your mind and boost energy.

Deep breathing is one of the most effective, though simple way to reduce stress. When feeling stressed stop what ever you are doing, close your eyes and put your hands on your stomach. Breathe deeply in through your nose, hold for a few seconds and exhale slowly through your mouth. This should be repeated at least ten times whilst mentally focusing on letting go of the tension.

Brandon H. Masters -

Author Bio

Brandon H. Masters is a Health Enthusiast, Researcher and Veteran of the Natural Products Industry. He is passionate about educating others on the benefits of wellness solutions through better nutrition and detoxification. High Fiber Foods

No related posts.

? Relaxation is The first step needed to control those anxiety attacks

When you worry and fret needlessly this creates the setting for anxiety, which can lead to anxiety attacks. There are some things in life that worry will not change and you need to learn how to let go of the ?small stuff?. Relaxing is not easy for many people but it is necessary if you are serious about learning methods of controlling anxiety attacks. You will have to practice basic relaxation on a daily basis for best results. Yoga, exercise, meditation, and deep breathing are all positive settings in which you can learn how to relax. As you become more relaxed, you will find that the anxious, panicky feelings will begin to vanish.

? Replace Worry and Anxiety with Meditation

Many people become slaves to worrisome thoughts and anxieties. If you do not learn techniques for controlling anxiety, you will find them taking charge of your everyday life. No one can banish all worry from their lives but you can learn to limit these non-productive thought processes. Choose a 15-30 minute period of the day and find a quiet spot to meditate about whatever is on your mind. Do not dwell on the worries and problems, but concentrate on the good things that are happening and the good things that can happen in the future. Proper meditation will open your mind to what is really occurring. When this happens, you are able to view the problems or concerns rationally without stress and anxiety. Meditation will refresh you and it will show you how you can channel your thoughts into

? Use Positive thoughts instead of Negative thoughts

Most anxiety and worry is created by imagined thoughts and consequences. People construct entire scenarios in their heads and it is these negative thoughts that create even more anxious feelings. Do not drift off into ?what ifs? and other imaginative flights of fancy. Controlling anxiety can only occur if you stay grounded and identify exactly what is troubling you. Then you can create positive thoughts and images to erase the negative ones. Identify any positive action that can be taken to make a situation better and act upon it. If your husband is late coming home from work, do not imagine that he has been in an accident. There are many other reasons someone could be late besides an accident. Your spouse may have left a text message about working late that you overlooked in your anxious state. If there has been an accident, you are doing nothing constructive by letting worry terrify and panic you. Take a moment to clear your mind, and then plan your actions. This gives you positive, concrete actions that will distract you from the anxiety and worry that do no one any good.

? Practice your preferred relaxation technique daily

Anxiety is more than just a feeling it is a physical reaction to a threat, real or imagined. This is why you begin to breathe rapidly, become dizzy, have tremors, and feel your heart pounding. For most people these physical reactions make them even more anxious and panicky. This is why controlling anxiety is so important. You should practice relaxation techniques every day. Meditation, yoga, and stretching are all good ways to help you relax your muscles and your breathing. As you do this you will find your breathing and heart rate also relax and slow down. Once you become skilled at the relaxation technique of your choice, you will find it easy control anxiety attacks.

mr christopher latter

Author Bio

Learn more about controlling anxiety or follow the links to an archive of closely related articles to controlling anxiety.

No related posts.