This is the first article in a series on stress and its’ effect on our health. The women in transition that I coach are all under a lot of stress as they re-define their lives. However, it’s my observation that life in Silicon Valley creates stress on both women and men, especially during these challenging economic times. I hope these posts help all of us de-stress and create a healthier life!
I have always intellectually understood an overabundance of stress is “bad” for us. Notice I said “intellectually”. Up until recently I had no idea how much stress was affecting my health. Now I understand I have been under chronic stress almost since I was born. Hard to believe? Well, that’s probably why I didn’t get it until now; I couldn’t believe it applied to me.
I won’t go into a lot of details, but I had a very difficult childhood, married at 18, divorced at 29 and divorced again another couple of times. In between was a tremendous amount of work, both as a wife and mother, and as a working woman and student. Sometimes I did all four at once. Foolish me, I had no idea what I was doing to my body, or my life to come. Self care was merely a concept designed for other “lazy” people. Or so I thought. Sixty-eight years later I finally get it, and now self care is my number one priority.
According to the American Institute of Stress, the alarming truth about stress is as follows:
- Stress is the #1 cause of disease in America
- 75 – 90% of all doctor visits are stress related
- Chronic stress is a primary cause of the breakdown of the body’s hormone, immune, digestive and detoxification metabolic systems
- According to the Mayo Clinic, long term, direct effects of chronic stress include: Heart disease; hypertension; stroke; depression; immune suppression and immune diseases; head, chest and back pain; digestive problems; sleep problems.
I can count at least five of those that have been a problem for me, up until now. How many of the above health problems do you have?
So, what can we do about it?
First, become aware of your stressors. Notice when you stop breathing openly and regularly; when are you holding your breath? This is a signal that stress is in your body. When you notice this, stop what you’re doing, close your eyes, and ask your unconscious mind to find the part of your body that is holding the stressor. Breathe into that part of the body and ask it; what’s causing the feeling? It may be fear, worry, anger, deadlines you feel you can’t meet…you get the idea.
Now, write it down. Begin to create some strategies that will remove the cause of the stress. If you need help with this, get an accountability partner or a coach (of course, I’m biased toward coaching ;-D).
Next, take some of the following steps to alleviate the stress:
- Take time daily to relax and even meditate. Regular meditation has been shown to actually change the neurology of the brain for the better. More to come on that in another post.
- Practice deep breathing: take a deep breath in through your nose for a count of 6, hold for a count of 2, and exhale slowly through your mouth with your tongue against the back of your teeth to a count of 6. Do this until you feel a sense of calm and centeredness.
- Be focused on the Present; be here and now. The past is a dream and the future is yet to be created from our present moments.
- Get good quality sleep; at least 7 hours a night. I’ll share how in a subsequent blog post just on sleep.
I recently attend an NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) Health Practitioner class reunion where one of the subjects we explored was the effect of stress on our long term health. Because of my own experience, I wanted to share this information with you in the hope you will find some value in it and begin to apply it in your own life. Start earlier in life so you can have a longer, healthier, happier life. Actually start any time; it’s never too late for self care, for loving your body and caring for it.
Are you loving and caring for your body as it deserves? If not, what has stopped you up until now?
So, what do you do to de-stress?
