Stress is part of life. We all are stressed at one point or another, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because Stress is also a necessary part of life. What you have to understand is that stress can fall into one of two categories:

 

First, eustress or “good” stress, which occurs from positive events, such as moving into a new house or having a child. Second, distress, which is stress resulting from negative events, like getting sick or losing your job.

 

We experience stress because it can be life-saving. It’s stress that gets us to act when you see a car speeding towards you or a dog attacking you. So what’s really problematic is no the stress per se, but a chronic level of high stress

 

Here your stress hormones, heart rate, and blood pressure remain elevated and don’t level off. This takes a toll on your body and will negatively affect your health.

 

 

Before I show you how to counteract this problem let’s look at how chronic stress affects your body. This will help you understand and manage it better. We know that every time you experience stress for a prolonged time, the same biological reaction will take place in your body.

 

There are 3 stages to it and here is how this happens.

 

 

 

This is what many people know as the “fight or flight” response. Your nervous system will release adrenaline, which raises your heart rate and blood flow to your muscles and brain. This along with a spike in blood sugar and your pupils dilating will give you a quick burst of energy and the best possible conditions to take action.

 

If the cause of the stress is removed, your body would return to its normal state and everything would be fine. But if the cause for the stress isn’t removed, you will move on to the second stage, which is called adaption.

 

 

Here, your body reacts by adapting to the constant high-stress level. Less adrenaline will be released at a slower rate and the effects of stage 1 lessen.

 

However, your body will have to produce cortisol for this resistance reaction. Short increases in cortisol aren’t a problem and if the stressor resolves, stage two will be short and your nervous systems will go back to normal. But

 

Things become problematic when you experience stress constantly and on a high level. If your body stays in stage two for too long without periods of rest, you will get tired, irritable, and your concentration suffers.

 

 

Finally, you reach stage 3, the exhaustion stage. At this point, your body has run out of its reserve of energy. As your adrenal glands will no longer be able to produce adrenaline, blood sugar levels decrease which leads to even less stress tolerance.

 

As you are now under chronic stress you are more prone to sickness but mental and physical. Of course, aging will also take place at a faster rate and your overall health suffers tremendously.

 

Now that I took you through this horror scenario, let me tell you that there are many ways in which you can combat stress and effectively reduce it. Learning how to reduce your stress load will not only improve the quality of your life but also improve your chances of living a longer one.

 

While there are lots of techniques and strategies that we can use to reduce stress, first and foremost you have to recognize the sources of stress. Doing this will help you because you’re now concentrating on what can be improved rather than letting stress continue to grow until it’s out of control. This will save time, money and energy in the long run, as professional help is usually only needed when some has let unrecognized stress build for too long.

 

 

 

I now want to present you with a few very effective methods of self-relaxation that you can use to limit the stress in your life. The first is proper breathing: deep, slow breathing is one of the easiest and most effective instant stress relievers. What you want to do is breathe all the way into your gut, while moving your abdomen and not your chest.

 

I know this sounds very simple, but deep breathing will bring more oxygen into your blood, which has all types of benefits like relaxing your muscle and bringing more energy to your brain. You are also forced to focus on the moment and not some distant worry.

 

Meditation goes one step further and not only includes deep breathing but also confronts you with your thoughts. Practice meditation regularly and you will be able to enter a state that’s similar to sleep, with similar benefits like hormonal balancing and stress reduction.

 

During meditation, make sure you clear your mind of any distractions. Decluttering your mind will enable to detach from stressors while calming your body and muscles. Your heart rate should slow down along with your blood pressure and anxiety levels will decrease over time.

 

Another great way to relax your body is through progressive muscle relaxation: Here, you tense and relax all the muscles in your body. This will lead you to relieve tension and feel much more relaxed within minutes, without the need for any special equipment.

 

Here is one possible progressive muscle relaxation routine:

 

1. You start by tensing the muscles in your face. For this try to hold a tight grimace for 5 to ten seconds.

2. Next, you relax the muscles. Again for 5 to ten seconds.

3. Repeat this procedure with all the major muscles in your body from the top to the bottom, so your neck, should and so on.

 

One last possibility is music therapy. We still don’t completely understand how it works, but music therapy has been shown as an effective way of battling stress.

 

And music therapy doesn’t have to involve only listening to music. People who play an instrument also report lower stress levels while doing so along with people who write music. They all show signs of lower blood pressure and stress levels and are more productive afterwards. So if you are a music lover make sure to take advantage of its healing effects.