Stress by itself is not necessarily bad – depending on how much stress and how we react to it. Too much stress contributes to a lot of our physical ailments, including cancer, heart disease, and many other diseases. Our psychological well-being is also threatened by stress, which can cause anxiety and depression, among other mental problems.
Stress comes from many sources – financial problems, relationship problems, stress at work, fighting traffic, noise, even getting ready for a vacation. People react to stress in different ways, and some handle it better than others. Too much stress can cause you to be tired all the time, depressed, and withdrawn. You might develop skin problems or other annoying physical symptoms, get headaches and digestive problems, and lose your appetite and your sex drive.
Another common source of stress is major life events, such as divorce, the death of a spouse or other loved one, losing your job, or even just a major change of your daily routine. Too many of these major events in too short of a time may give you significant physical or psychological symptoms.
The body reacts to stress by releasing hormones that have a complex effect involving many of the body’s subsystems. This process is more commonly known as the “fight or flight” response. Even though the overwhelming majority of us seldom if ever find ourselves in a truly life-threatening situation, our bodies become accustomed to being in a constant state of low- grade emergency response - this takes its toll over time.
There are a number of proven methods for relieving excess stress, all of which help with the anti-aging process. One is exercise, which we’ve already talked about extensively.
Here are some other methods:
Deep breathing: it may sound ridiculous to say that we need to learn how to breathe, but many of us have unconsciously learned poor and inefficient breathing habits, from years of being constantly stressed out. When you are feeling especially anxious, just find a comfortable place to sit, and take slow, deep breaths. Count slowly from 1 to 4 while you inhale, and then exhale just as slowly, again counting to four. Do this for a few minutes, and the extra oxygen in your body will make you feel relaxed and instantly refreshed.
Visualization: to rephrase an old cliché, you are what you think. Try to catch yourself next time you start thinking anxious, angry, or otherwise negative thoughts. Your emotions follow your thoughts, and you will begin to feel anxious, angry, and negative. To counteract this, find a comfortable, quiet place to sit; close your eyes, and see in your mind’s eye a place (either real or imagined) that makes you feel relaxed, safe, and happy. It doesn’t really matter what you imagine, as long as it makes you feel good. As your mind calms down, your body will, too.
In addition, you can put on a CD, tape, or MP3 of calming and relaxing music for extra effect, while you’re visualizing.
Meditation: meditation is a huge subject that we’ll cover fairly briefly here – you can find plenty of additional information and techniques online or at your local library. Various forms of meditation have been used around the world for thousands of years. Frequently, it has been part of religious and spiritual practices, but you can also use it for simple relaxation and stress reduction.
Meditation really isn’t all that complicated. The main idea is that you consciously relax your entire body while concentrating all of your mental focus, like a laser beam, on one thing. This focus can be on an object (such as a burning candle, for instance) or a sound, or even your own breath. The main goal is to concentrate on the chosen thing for a sustained period of time. This keeps your mind occupied and helps quiet down the incessant monkey-like chatter that normally occupies our minds from the moment we awake in the morning until we fall asleep at night. You become calmer and your body gets a chance to recuperate from everyday stresses.
Some useful tips for meditation:
Find a meditation technique or style that fits your personality and doesn’t conflict with your beliefs. You can incorporate a meditation session into a yoga or tai chi routine, or use it as part of your morning and evening prayers.
Make meditation a set part of your day and your life. Take it slow and easy at the beginning. You’re doing well if you can do it for five minutes once or twice a day. As you get comfortable
with the procedure, work your way gradually up to 20 minutes at a time. You can set a clock nearby within your peripheral vision, or set an alarm that’s not too loud and jarring.
Be persistent, the results may not happen instantly. Take it easy on yourself, too. It doesn’t make too much sense to get stressed out at yourself because you’re not relaxing quickly enough! While you’re trying to concentrate on your chosen object, your mind will inevitably wander. That’s fine; just gently return your focus to the object each time this happens.
Meditation is one of the simplest and cheapest therapeutic stress-reduction techniques known. You can do it anytime. It just requires a little bit of time and practice.