Stress Management Is An Important Part Of A Healthy Lifestyle
by Paul Rodgers
Stress is your response to any physical, emotional or intellectual demands. Stress is a major contributing factor
either directly or indirectly, to coronary artery disease, cancer, respiratory disorders, accidental injuries, cirrhosis
of the liver and suicide; the six leading causes of death in the United States. Although we can't eliminate stress, we can
all do a better job in managing it. Stress management includes following a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and
making time for uninterrupted relaxation.
Symptoms Of Stress
Symptoms of stress can be either behavioral or physical. They are different for everyone, but some common signs that
you've had too much excitement and need to slow down include:
Impatience or Edginess - Lack of Enjoyment - Sleep Problems - Exhaustion.
Common physical symptoms of stress include:
muscle tension, headaches, low back pain,
insomnia and high blood pressure.
These symptoms may manifest themselves psychologically as irritability, anxiety, impaired concentration, mental
confusion, poor judgment, frustration and anger. And some people who have a chronic illness may find that the symptoms of
their illness flare up under an overload of stress.
Healthy Lifestyle
Stress management should be a major concern for a healthy lifestyle. Effective stress management is a lifestyle and we
must learn to incorporate into our daily lives. A commitment to live a healthier lifestyle should never take a back seat,
especially not to stress. Stress management is not only an urgent need in today's fast-paced lifestyle, but an important
factor in both physical and mental health. In the alternative, if stress is more the result of one's lifestyle,
eliminating the stress causing factors and/or gaining healthful insight on how to alleviate stress the right way might
just be the best thing for an individual to do for themselves.
Stress Nutrition
Nutrition is one area where stress can be reduced most effectively, because we eat every day at least 3 times a day, so
even the smallest of changes could bring about significant benefits. Stress can and does also result from unbalanced and
inappropriate nutrition; excessive use of socially acceptable intoxicants; suppressive drugs and vaccinations;
environmental toxins; negative emotions; lack of physical exercise; genetic factors; and improper body alignment. Stress
nutrition is a program specifically designed to combat stress dysfunction and attempts to meet individual biochemical
requirements by providing the right amount of each nutrient in proportion to every other nutrient. Stress nutrition not
only deals with diet in its program, but might include exercise, behavior modification or biofeedback.
Good nutrition may vary from person to person, but, sound nutrition principles are the same for all of us. If you are
being treated for an ongoing condition such as depression, chronic inflammation, hormonal imbalance, allergies, high
cholesterol, low thyroid function, adrenal exhaustion, acne, IBS or stress, nutrition is often the missing link. If the
body is under stress nutrition is important as a first line of defense against infection. Another important aspect
concerning dieting and nutrition has to do with the ways that nutrition affects mood. Nutritional health supplements can
replace the nutrients depleted by stress and help to boost your stress nutrition level. Nutrition is a key factor in
maintaining physical and mental health.
Fitness
For decades, fitness professionals have had various degrees of success motivating clients and making them accountable
for a healthy lifestyle. There is evidence that you can reduce stress, prevent chronic diseases including depression and
improve happiness through ongoing mental fitness training. A complete nutritional approach, combined with proper fitness
maintenance and stress management is most important. Exercise and physical fitness act as a buffer against stress, so that
stressful events have a less negative impact on psychological and physical health.
Exercises And Sports
You can help trigger the relaxation response by learning simple breathing exercises and then using them when you're
caught up in stressful situations. Other people rely on exercise and participating in their favorite sports and games to
spend pent up energy. Not all stress is bad and an example would be in sports. Joining a sports team, even with your
co-workers can increase the work fun level, and reduce the tension. Exercises such as golf, tennis, handball, biking, and
other sports have shown to help people relax.
Conclusion
Stress management is the application of methods to either reduce stress or increase tolerance to stress. The tricky
part of managing stress is that, when dealing with stressful events that are enjoyable « the good stress », you may not
always notice how stressed you feel until you experience the more serious stress symptoms, or until you feel overwhelmed.
Positive stress is desirable for your own good, and also for the good of your family and also for the society as a whole.
