Does stress go undetected?
Stress is one of those things in our modern day world we hear a lot about, but often don’t really have the time to consider whether our lifestyles are making us stressed as we are too busy! Or we don’t really consider stress too much of a big issue because we are not really noticing it.
The problem with stress is that it can be a little insipid, as in those little niggles go unnoticed, that uptight knot in your stomach, headaches, badly behaved bowels, muscle pain, fatigue, or not sleeping so well at night becomes just part of our life. We think that we are OK, because we have on some level normalised it, that we aren’t really stressed, despite the little gnawing niggles.
What happens to a stressed body?
Our bodies are very resilient and will give you the best that it is given at any moment, our adrenals are very good at pumping out that adrenaline, to keep us going, drink more coffee to keep firing them up. The problem with this approach is that your adrenals can eventually get worn out and burnt out. As the adrenals begin to falter, so do other systems/organs in the body. Your blood sugar begins to go haywire, you reach for the cookies, and the cakes, chocolate, and more coffee. The highs and lows of blood sugar levels also affect energy and our mood becoming more anxious, restless, overwhelmed, lack of motivation or focus, or depressed. This can then affect our behaviour with things like not exercising so much, overeating, comfort eating, angry outbursts, become dependant on alcohol to help switch off, or smoking too much. All symptoms of that insipid stress affecting you in a negative way.
If you think of your body like a car engine, all parts must work beautifully and in synch, otherwise the result is a car that ends up not working and needing repair. Our cars need regular servicing to prevent issues occurring, and so our bodies are the same. We cannot expect that we can whirl along on our adrenaline forever for there not to be some impact somewhere and although this does not always show itself as obvious, ultimately left unchecked those little things can become other and bigger things.
Active ways of dealing with your stress is always better than inactive such as watching tv, surfing the net, playing online games. They may seem to offer some form of relaxation at the time, but long term dont help alleviate stress.
Time to get your stress in check!
- Keep the exercise up! Even if gentle exercise, keep the body moving.
- Get outdoors – a walk in nature, is a wonderful way of de-stressing.
- Relaxation techniques, such as Yoga, Tai Chi, meditation, deep breathing or scheduling in a massage.
- Get to bed earlier – one hour before midnight is worth two after midnight.
- Eat healthily. Cut down on that fast food.
