Category Archives: Stress

How do I know if I am stressed?

If you are:

• Finger tapping
• Compulsively eating
• Biting your nails
• Having repetitive thoughts

You might be stressed.

If you have increased your smoking, drinking or drug use you might be stressed.

If you are absent or being late for work then you might be stressed.

Prolonged Stress

Prolonged stress can result in:

• Heart disease
• Food cravings
• Insomnia
• Depression
• PMS
• Obesity
• Arthritis
• Diabetes
• and multiple other conditions that are a direct result of uncontrolled stress.  

The most stressful jobs:

1. Teaching
2. Nursing
3. Management
4. Other professionals
5. Social workers
6. Road transport
7. Police and prison officers

On an average workday, an estimated one million workers do not make it to work due to stress.  “Health and Executive Magazine,” claims 6.5 million sick days are being taken every year as a result of stress.

Stress Reduction:

Stress affects blood pressure, sleep habits, positive exercise, nervousness, and confusion. Whenever our bodies are stressed – whether the stress is real or imagined – our brains respond as if it is real.

Stress, by the way, can come in many forms:  an impending deadline, an inability to complete work tasks, or even a verbal lashing from another person.  The body’s response is the same regardless of what causes the stress.

Ten Ways to Cut Down on Stress

1.  Talk it out. Get support from family and friends.
2.  Exercise regularly.
3.  Avoid false guilt.
4.  Set realistic goals and priorities.
5.  Avoid perfectionism.
6.  Keep a sense of humor.
7.  Hang loose. Set aside idle time to relax every day.
8.  Live by the calendar, not the stopwatch.
9.  Avoid over indulging in drugs, alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine.
10.  Think positively

 Taking time out of a busy schedule to relax is very important.

Everyone experiences relaxation differently so the key is to relax as best you can.

The ability to relax is enhanced by finding a quiet place, creating positive self talk, listening to soft music, day dreaming, or taking a walk.

Try this simple breathing technique to relax and decrease stress.

Blow your stomach out like blowing up a balloon.  This will drop the diaphragm down and automatically create a deep breath.  More oxygen is able to enter into the two lower lobes of the lungs, which has more blood vessels to carry oxygen to the cells.

  Exercise

Exercise is the most widely recommended form of treatment for relieving the effects of stress and depression.  It increases endorphin release (the bodies natural morphine) along with melatonin (natural sleeping pill) and serotonin (natural Prozac) production, and helps level out blood glucose. Exercise helps us sleep better which also decreases stress.

Think Stress Control

Skipping breakfast is a bad idea.  Starting your day on an empty stomach results in DECREASED ATTENTION and POOR PERFORMANCE.  Even if your breakfast consists of something sweet or fatty, which is common, it can still help you get a better start on your workday.  It is also true that breakfast eaters are leaner, have lower blood pressure, eat less throughout the day, and are in better health than those who skip the most important meal of the day.

 In Conclusion

Stress responds well to meditation, Relaxation Therapy, Self-Hypnosis Exercise, a walk in nature, soft music, get 6-8 hours of sleep and a proper diet with the right vitamin and mineral supplements greatly decreases stress and enhance wellness.

Ron Eslinger, RN, CRNA, MA, APN, BCH

www.eslinger.net

In my many years of coaching, consulting and hypnotherapy, I found that most people live today as if it were yesterday. That worry is a negative hypnotic suggestion of something that the person has no control over. I am very surprised at how many people actually look for things to worry about.

Worry is simply a form of stress. Thomas Carlyle stated, “Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.” Therefore, we can live and enjoy today without worrying about what we did in the past and concerns of what might happen in the future.

This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. This verse was found on a plaque on the desk of the renowned newscaster Lowell Thomas.

What does worry do to you? Many died from ulcers just because of worry. Worry decreases the effect of the immune system. Worry is known to cause high blood pressure and heart disease. Worry can cause panic attacks, anxiety attacks and depression.

What can you do to decrease or stop your worrying?

When you find that you’re tempted or started worrying about a problem write down the following four questions.

1.  What is the problem?
2.  What is the cause of the problem?
3.  What are all possible solutions?
4.  What is the best solution?

When you answer these questions you’re in a position to determine if the problem is worth worrying about or not.  If that problem is not in the present but is something from the past or something maybe in the future you can crowd out or dilute the worry by actively doing some of the things mentioned below.

A person can worry and be miserable or he can make the decision to change his current thinking. Changing your thinking will change the way the brain sends out signals to the body and which changes the worry behavior. There is a part of the brain called the limbic system which is that part of the mind that responses to your thoughts.  An example might be thinking of something sad that happened in the past, that thought will make you experience sadness again. The brain does not know the difference from a thought and what is actually happening. Thinking of something happy from the past will make you
happy.  Thinking about eating a lemon can create salivation and discomfort in your mouth. Thinking about something that’s exciting to do in the future will create excitement and anticipation. Most of these are very positive situations, however, worry or a negative thought creates biological changes in the body and it’s these changes that create ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, fibromyalgia and many other gastrointestinal and dermatological medical conditions.

You can take control of your health by controlling your worry. Abraham Lincoln said,“We are only as happy as we make up our mind to be.”  When we worry about something that is out of our control, we are wasting our thoughts, our time and our health.

What can you do to crowd out, dilute or diffuse worry? Simple, stop the thought and do things that you like to do with people you like to do them with and simply enjoying life. Smile, research says that a smile is just as effective if it’s fake as it is if real.   A smile, fake or real, boosts the immune system, changes our outlook and even affects those that are around us.

Other things you can do include listening to relaxing music, taking a walk with nature, eating, drinking, exercising, meditating, sleeping and playing in appropriate ways will increase the anti-stress hormones in your body such as endorphin, our natural morphine, serotonin  our natural Prozac and melatonin our natural Ambient.

Take control of your life, stop worrying and live.

Ron Eslinger www.HealthyVisions.com

Medical reports show that 80% of all illnesses that you go to the physician for are caused by stress and that all chronic pain syndromes have an 88% stress component. Stress is normal and has also been dubbed dire fight or flight response which is one of our protective mechanisms

The Random House Dictionary defines stress as, “physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension,” and, “a situation, occurrence, or factor causing this.” The word “stress” actually comes from a Latin word meaning, “distress.” There are two types of stress, positive stress, Eustress and negative stress, distress.

What is Eustress?

“Eustress” means stress with a positive effect. It was coined by psychologist Richard Lazarus in 1974. How can stress be positive, you ask? Think of the emotional strain caused by these positive events:

• Winning a race
•  Being a new parent
•  Riding a rollercoaster
• Watching a scary movie

In these situations, the physical, mental, or emotional strain actually produces positive emotions, rather than the negative emotions usually associated with stress. Without distress or eustress, life would be a pretty boring ride! However, in eustress when the positive event is over, stress hormones return to normal. Stress that kills can be from multiple events in our lives. Unlike eustress listed in the exciting things above, stress can be multiple negative events happening individually or negative events compounded on top of each other creating unhealthy physical, mental and emotional responses.

Only within the last few years has medicine reported the effects of stress and its association with cancer, fibromyalgia, arthritis, lupus migraines and a number of other illnesses. Irritability, anger and insomnia are other responses to stress.

“Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one”, Hans Selye. There are three “As” one can follow to handle stress; alter, avoid and accept.

1. ALTER the situation or your approach to it. a. Changing our perception. By changing the way we think about a given situation, changes the way we respond to it. b. Changing perception does not mean that the problem is not real, but rather that we are going to alter how the problem affects us. c. Perception is reality and is truth to the brain

2. AVOID the situation. a. If drinking coffee gives you indigestion, and causes you stress and embarrassment at work, don’t drink coffee! b. This A is all about identifying the things that you needlessly stress about, and how to remove those items from your life. Worry is a major stress component about something you have no control over.

3. ACCEPT the situation. a. Accepting the situation is appropriate when: b. The task must be done eventually c. Avoiding or altering it would cause undue stress to you or another person Each of these three methods include Creating a Stress-Reducing Lifestyle The foundation of a positive, low-stress lifestyle is made up of three building blocks: diet, sleep, and exercise.

No stress reduction program will be successful in the long term unless you have this solid foundation.

Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are – Chinese Proverb.

How often have you given this advice? “Just be yourself.” Change how you think about your situation which will change the body’s stress producing hormones to stress reducing hormones which will decrease your stress. There are a multitude of relaxation techniques one can use to help deal with stressful situations, life style and work. You can find free music, relaxation imagery, videos and articles

at  www.healthyvisionshypnosis.com/resources.

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