“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” – the Buddha
Each year millions of Americans go to their doctors for stress and anxiety relief. As a result doctors around the country regularly prescribe medications such as Prozac and Zoloft to these patients. In some states where medical marijuana is legal, doctors prescribe smoking pot as a method of counteracting everyday stress. Medical marijuana enthusiasts tout using pot because it is a “natural” drug and therefore “better” for you than pharmaceuticals. Although I don’t have any quarrel with medical marijuana, I’m not so sure about that. Although these medications can mask the symptoms you experience, they do little to relieve the causes of the stress and anxiety you experience regularly.
The simple facts are that stress and anxiety will always be part of your life. Using drugs to numb your mind from reality in order to live in society seems to me to be more of an escape than anything else. So what can you do? Recent studies have shown that yoga and meditation just might do the trick.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Stefan Hofmann, a psychology professor at Boston University, reviewed 39 studies on the practice of yoga and meditation. He concluded that this type of therapy both relieved stress and anxiety while improving mood. Although it doesn’t work for everyone – and what does – MRI scans of patients’ brains actually showed shifts in their mental activity.
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In today’s economy many people are worrying constantly about finances, job or career. There are also many other things in life that can contribute to chronic anxiety and stress. This is the type of anxiety and stress you just can’t shake, the kind that seems to be bugging you all the time. This is the kind of stress and anxiety that can sap your spirit and energy and even make you ill.
Some people find that their children are a major source of their anxiousness. This can be especially true for those with teenagers or children who are ill. Chronic anxiety and stress can be a result of personal problems or even drama in your family. Most people are able to cope with one or two of these stressors, but when you start piling them all up, it can result in burnout that leaves you feeling shocked and out of control, making you feel like you could lose your mind at any moment. Developing a plan that can reduce your anxiety and give you the stress relief your desire can help you start feeling normal again while giving you some other great health benefits as well.
You may think that a plan for overcoming the anxiety and stress in your life is mainly good for clearing your mind of the things that bother you. While it is true that when you take actions to relieve your anxiety as well as your stress it does take some of the steam out of your worries, it can and will do much more than that.
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When I’m stressed out I either shut down or overreact. If my daughter comes home late I may raise my voice or talk without even trying to listen. If someone I care about psychically injures me, I may avoid her or carefully word any interaction I have with her to steer clear of confronting the situation and working it out. I do both of these things because, at times, my reaction causes a definite and immediate stress response. This reaction has a definite impact on my communications.
Let me ask you, are you having problems with your relationships at home and at work? Do even the smallest annoyances cause you to respond with angry “knee jerk” reactions like yelling or swearing? The facts are that the stress caused by your response to these events can immobilize you emotionally. This stress response can wear down the communications in all of your relationships.
Chronic stress affects you both physically and emotionally. It also wears you down psychologically. Stress can cause your mind to race and your sleep to suffer. As it wears you down your nerves get set on edge. Things that you used to laugh about can infuriate you. You suddenly find yourself exploding at co-workers and loved ones and remaining angry long after the incident is over. This can lead to a vicious spiral of avoidance followed by louder and even more violent outbursts. Left unchecked, this type of chronic emotional stress can ruin you both personally and professionally.
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What happens when you are in a stressful situation? Does your head hurt or your back ache? Does your stomach start to get upset? One of the best ways to more easily relieve your stress is to know how to define the stress you are experiencing.
Psychologists tell us there are two types of stress. One is known as distress and the other is known of eustress. They are both a result of your fight or flight response and can have the same physiological affect on your body. Even though they have the same physiological affects, they are as different as two sides of the same coin. One is actually useful to your body while the other is harmful.
Eustress is an anxious feeling that feels more like anticipation than dread. You may experience eustress before giving a presentation at work, going out on a date, before a job interview or when preparing a gourmet meal from a recipe you’ve never tried to cook before.
Although all these types of activities can give you the feeling of uncertainty, the outcome isn’t fatal. A good way to look at eustress is when a man’s hands shake as he shows the engagement ring to the one he loves. It also manifests itself as the bride’s pre-wedding jitters while she prepares to walk down the aisle. While stressful, I am sure you would agree that both these would be “good” stress because they represent taking a step toward a positive outcome.
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I believe that Michael Jackson was one of the most talented entertainers of our era. In the 70’s I rode around blasting “I’ll be there”, “ABC” and “Got to be there” out of my AM radio from my Burgundy 1964 Chrysler New Yorker that my dad and I painted. I loved Michael’s stuff. Now I must admit it was probably largely due to the fact that the girls loved his stuff too, but Michael, to me, was living the life. He had it made. Little did I know, right?
As he and I grew older, although Michael continued to create and perform some fantastic hits, his personal life seemed to be in a tailspin. So did his health. He contracted lupus in the 1980’s. Lupus is an autoimmune disease where the immune system turns against parts of the body, destroying the very cells and tissues it is meant to protect.
Although there is no one cause for lupus, according to the Lupus Foundation of America some of the factors that contribute to it are exhaustion, injuries, emotional stress, illness, life complications as well as anything that causes stress to the body, such as surgery or physical harm. Scientist have also found that a person can also become more susceptible to the disease when they are taking a drug to treat an illness
Now let’s take a look at what happened to Michael. In 1984 he was burned while singing for a Pepsi-Cola commercial in Los Angeles. When this happened he was the number one recording artist in the world. I would imagine that this added a great deal of acute emotional stress to Michael’s life that eventually turned in to chronic stress.
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Are you one of the millions currently being affected by anxiety? The truth is that everyone suffers from anxiety at some time or another and our current economic condition is adding to those numbers. If you are suffering from anxiety you might be worrying about a number of things going on in your life. Financial worries, in particular, can become overwhelming, especially when piled on top of home and work schedules, health concerns and whatever other stresses life throws at you. Whether you experience anxiety frequently during the month or week, or even on daily, you can take comfort in knowing that there are several practical and effective natural remedies for anxiety.
Like I already said, there are many people affected by anxiety, especially now. In fact the physical symptoms of anxiety are among the most common complaints doctors receive. I want to give you a brief overview of the condition of chronic anxiety and then describe a few natural remedies for anxiety you can use so you can get back in charge of your life!
One of the biggest problems with anxiety is that it can spin you out of control. Let unchecked, anxiety can escalate to a point where your anxiousness actually becomes a greater problem than the situations which trigger it! When your anxiety becomes a habitual response even the slightest situation can trigger an anxiety attack.
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“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Hillary
Of all the things that regularly affect me negatively it’s the stress response or, more commonly known, the fight of flight response. The fight or flight response is your body’s natural reaction to a stressful event.
The stress response is really a high quality protection device. As you might have already known, we haven’t always been the cool, calm collected species we are today. In fact, even today we’re not too cool and calm and it all has to do with the fight or flight response or syndrome. It’s your brain and body’s reaction to a real or perceived threat or danger.
The theory goes like this. Eons ago when your ancestors were being chased as dinner by saber toothed tigers, the fight or flight response gave them enough energy to run away fast, scamper up a tree and then throw rocks or other weapons they had at hand to defend themselves. It also gave them the reflexes and physical power to fight off unfriendly humans that wanted to take away things from their camp like their food or wives and children. The great thing a bout the stress response is that when you are in real physical danger it is the absolute perfect way for your body to respond.
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