What is stress?
In the world we live in today it is normal to feel stressed at times. The secret to dealing with your stress is to first recognise the stress signs, then identify what might be causing your stress. Most importantly learn how you can take some action to try and reduce these stress levels to alleviate them.
When stress begins to affect our everyday lives, our sleeping habits, our eating habits and our overall health, it is time to take notice and take a fresh look at our lifestyle.
Our bodies and our minds can become wound up like a spring that is about to snap. Begin by asking yourself some questions, as we explore this story about life; When the body becomes stressed, glands in the brain such as the hypothalamus, activates hormone secretion and releases cortisol into the bloodstream.
Cortisol is a stress hormone that is released by the adrenal glands and controls the actions of organs in the body. Cortisol forms part of the stress response system when faced with a fight-or-flight or a life-threatening situation. Cortisol assists the brain and activates the sympathetic nervous system, energising muscles and triggering an increase in our heart rate, blood circulation and our breathing to increase oxygen intake.
When stress begins to affect our everyday lives, our sleeping habits, our eating habits and our overall health, it is time to take notice and take a fresh look at our lifestyle.
Our bodies and our minds can become wound up like a spring that is about to snap. Begin by asking yourself some questions, as we explore this story about life; When the body becomes stressed, glands in the brain such as the hypothalamus, activates hormone secretion and releases cortisol into the bloodstream.
Cortisol is a stress hormone that is released by the adrenal glands and controls the actions of organs in the body. Cortisol forms part of the stress response system when faced with a fight-or-flight or a life-threatening situation. Cortisol assists the brain and activates the sympathetic nervous system, energising muscles and triggering an increase in our heart rate, blood circulation and our breathing to increase oxygen intake.
Symptoms of stress
- Is your spring so tight it could snap at any time? (Are you so uptight you could snap at any time)?
- How many family members, friends or work colleagues are you allowing, “to wind up” your spring?
- Or, are you winding up your own spring, either from habit or conditioning, not knowing any other way of being?
- Are your fists constantly clenched, afraid of letting go?
- Is there a knot in your stomach like a coil?
- When you try to sleep does your mind continue to race around in circles?
- Are you ready to take flight at a moment’s notice?
- Are you walking on a path where you cannot see clearly where you are heading?
- Is there a frown on your forehead, from trying to figure out your life, and the lives of those around you?
- Are you breathing without awareness of how you are breathing, or the air you are breathing in?
- Are you looking, but not really seeing?
- Are you listening, but not really hearing?
- Are your ears blocked with words and noise you do not wish to hear anymore?
You may be feeling you can no longer slow down your thoughts or switch them off. Is your mind so full of thoughts and emotions, you cannot think straight anymore?
Do you find when you are about to relax or unwind, something happens to wind you up again?
Do you feel that you never really get to the point of total relaxation, where you feel totally unwound?
Do you have a belief system that if you relax something may go wrong?
Do you find when you are about to relax or unwind, something happens to wind you up again?
Do you feel that you never really get to the point of total relaxation, where you feel totally unwound?
Do you have a belief system that if you relax something may go wrong?
Cause of stress
The cause of your stress could have been as a result of a fall or trauma your mother experienced prior to your birth. As your mother’s body contracted to protect itself, the baby’s body could have absorbed the shock and also contracted to protect itself. In doing so, this could have started a lifetime of tension and a fear of letting go.
It could also have started for you in early childhood, where you were involved in an accident or trauma where you experienced fear.
Or, you may have developed a belief system from childhood, carried forward into adult life and reinforced by life’s experiences, where you learned;
It could also have started for you in early childhood, where you were involved in an accident or trauma where you experienced fear.
Or, you may have developed a belief system from childhood, carried forward into adult life and reinforced by life’s experiences, where you learned;
- It is not safe to let go.
- It is not safe to relax.
- Don’t stop.
- Keep going at all costs or something will go wrong.
- If you are resting you are lazy.
- You are not good enough if you cannot keep going indefinitely, regardless of how you fee.l
Did you have a lifetime of constant tension, at school, in your home, from work and so on?
Did you choose situations, jobs, or relationships, which triggered and reinforced your tension – this being the only reality you knew?
Do you now have high expectations of yourself?
Do others have high expectations of you also?
Did you choose situations, jobs, or relationships, which triggered and reinforced your tension – this being the only reality you knew?
Do you now have high expectations of yourself?
Do others have high expectations of you also?
What can you do now?
Today, look at this spring. Is this you? You may feel so tightly wound up, that you can hardly breathe. You may be afraid to let go in case you fall apart.
Can you see any resemblance to your life in this story?
If the answer is “yes,” look at what you can do now. First look at how life is for you at this moment in time.
A course of action could be to first of all:
Can you see any resemblance to your life in this story?
If the answer is “yes,” look at what you can do now. First look at how life is for you at this moment in time.
A course of action could be to first of all:
- Stop winding up your spring.
- Stop allowing others to wind up your spring.
- Try and find out what triggers your stress or compounds it.
- When you find the cause, you are halfway to the cure.
- You may need professional help to learn new life-coping skills.
- Learn to become aware of the holding patterns in your body.
- Learn where, when, and how you hold tension in your body.
- Learn how to respond to situations and events around you, rather than react. This in itself will help you avoid tightening up your internal spring leading to stress.
- Learn to deal with stressful situations at the time they happen, rather than internalising them, taking them on board, and carrying them around with you.
- Learn, that you are not responsible for anyone but yourself.
- Learn to offload that which does not belong to you. That is, learn how to offload other people’s rubbish and other people’s issues).
Your self-healing journey towards de-stressing
- Learn how to take each moment as it comes and live in the moment, dealing only with what is relevant to deal with right now. The past is history and the future hasn’t happened yet, it is only a possibility.
Exercising is a very valuable resource towards combating stress. Research has shown how regular exercises such as walking, running, yoga, swimming or any exercise that involves movement of the body’s muscles, can improve your mood, help with sleep, de-stress the overall body, and help maintain better health and well-being.
- Allocating ‘me time’ to relax or meditate or practicing mindfulness can also be very beneficial when dealing with the stresses of life.
- Look at learning new life-coping skills and long-term look at how you can make the necessary changes to continue to decrease your levels of stress and improve your over-all health physically, emotionally and mentally.
- Search the audio store on our website healing courses online where you will find the progressive relaxation audio album or a meditation audio album to purchase and download.
These are some suggestions available to you, which you can commence straight away, in the comfort of your own home, in your own time, at your own pace for your health and well-being. Your journey towards a stress-free, healthy and joyful life can start today.
Register today and start your self-healing journey straight away!
