Stress? – 10 tips to lose stress and gain health

10 Tips To Lose Stress And Gain Health

Stress is an inevitable aspect of life, that means you should not neglect it. There are many causes and symptoms of stress that needs to be looked after. You will explore a few tips to help you manage your stress and enhance your overall health and lifestyle. Emotional Freedom Techniques is one of them, and it can help you heal the root cause of your distressed feeling.

Have you ever had a time when you were ready to give it all up?

Often in our lives, there are times when there is a lot going on and everything is so weighty that we can't help but fall apart. We can't point to a single incident or circumstance, but we all know we're a mess.

Most of these situations arise from unwanted stress in your lives.

One of the dictionary meanings of stress is 'A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances.'

I have often heard of people having a total nervous breakdown because of stress and worries.

If someone's nervous system breaks down, you can only imagine the intensity of the damage that unwanted stress can cause.

“Reduce the stress levels in your life through relaxation techniques like meditation, deep breathing and exercise. You'll look and feel way better for it."

- suzanne somers

WHAT IS STRESS?

The body's response to a challenge or demand is stress. Everyone is subject to stress, which can be brought on by a variety of events ranging from little irritations to big life changes such as divorce or job loss.

Physical components of the stress response include increased heart rate and blood pressure, as well as thoughts and personal ideas about the stressful experience, as well as emotions such as fear and rage.

Although we commonly associate stress with unpleasant events, it can also result from positive developments in your life, such as a job promotion or the birth of a child.

It is clinically proven that 85% of all illnesses are because of stress and tension.

We all deal with stress in our own unique ways. Our ability to cope is influenced by genetics, early life events, personality, and social and economic circumstances.

Stress can be helpful to your health in the short term for immediate, short-term conditions. It can help you deal with situations that are potentially life-threatening.

Our bodies create stress hormones when we are stressed, which boost our immune system and cause a fight or flight response. This allows us to respond quickly in life-threatening situations.

Our stress hormones usually return to normal immediately after a stressful event, with no long-term repercussions.

Excessive stress, on the other hand, may have negative consequences. It may keep us in a perpetual state of fight or flight, making us feel helpless or overwhelmed. This can have long-term consequences for our bodily and mental well-being.

To have a truly healthy life emotionally and physically it is really important to eliminate stress completely from our lives.

SYMPTOMS OF STRESS

The most terrifying feature of stress is how quickly it can take control of your life. You begin to adjust to it. It starts to feel normal, even pleasant.

You are unaware of how much it affects you until it is too late. As a result, it's critical to recognise stress overload's warning indications and symptoms.

Stress can be easily detected in others or in ourselves. The following are some of the most typical signs and symptoms of this uncomfortable sensation:

Loss of appetite
Inability to think straight
Have problems getting to sleep or staying asleep
Experience sexual problems
Be tearful
Headaches
Memory problems
Isolation and anxiety
Substance use and/or abuse
Racing pulse and feelings of fatigue
Moodiness and/or irritability

STRESS AND HEALTH

Stress has a domino affect that undermines healthy behaviour. If you've ever gotten through a long day on a fistful of candy bars and cigarettes, you know what I'm talking about. But, in addition to such behavioural effects, stress has a direct influence on the body.

Chronic stress damages physical health, raising blood pressure to dangerously high levels and damaging the heart, according to a growing body of evidence. Diabetes, asthma, and gastrointestinal problems are all affected by it. High stress levels may potentially hasten the ageing process.

People who are less stressed, on the other hand, have greater health, and we're starting to figure out why. Stress management can have a positive impact on your entire body, including your genes.

From A to Z, stress can cause or exacerbate a variety of health issues, including the following:

allergic skin reactions
high blood pressure
anxiety
arthritis
constipation
cough
depression
diabetes
dizziness
gum disease
headaches
heart problems, such as angina (chest pains), arrhythmias, heart attack, and palpitations (pounding heart)
heartburn
high blood pressure
infectious diseases, such as colds or herpes
insomnia and resulting fatigue
irritable bowel syndrome
menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes
“morning sickness,” the nausea and vomiting of pregnancy
nervousness
pain of any sort, including backaches, headaches, abdominal pain, muscle pain, joint aches, postoperative pain, and chronic pain caused by many conditions
Parkinson’s disease
postoperative swelling
premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
side effects of AIDS
side effects of cancer and cancer treatments
slow wound healing
ulcers (8)

THE 10 QUICK STEPS TO ELIMINATE STRESS AND HELP YOU GAIN HEALTH AND VITALITY

Stress has a critical function in our lives: it allows us to react swiftly to challenges and avert danger. Long-term stress, on the other hand, can cause mental health issues (such as anxiety and depression) as well as physical health issues. Increased stress levels, according to a substantial body of research, interfere with your ability to manage with physical sickness.

While no one can completely escape stress, you can learn to manage it in healthy ways that can help you recover faster.

Daily Walk

An early morning walk, not only gets the body moving but also allows you to empty your mind of thoughts.

The movement gets the heart rate up and just like any exercise helps your body release endorphins, that constantly keep you happy and stress free, help you relax, enhance your mood, and relieve stress.

In some cases walking also helps reduce the risk of dementia. (1)

Eat Healthy

Blood pressure and blood flow are both negatively affected by stress. As a result, nutrients from healthy foods can increase the body's blood flow.

Sometimes when in stress, your hand may want to reach out to that chocolate bar or that salty fresh packet of potato chips.

The smarter choice however is to reach out for a salad bowl or a hearty vegetable soup or fresh fruit can help your body to release hormones that fight stress naturally. (2)

Drink Water

My mom always said, "Water is the elixir of life." I never really understood this until recently when I was doing some intensive reading about the benefits of drinking water.

She always handed me a glass of water when I was stressed, angry or even upset and I would instantly feel calm.

Apparently keeping yourself hydrated can reduce the cortisol (stress hormones) levels, thereby eliminating stress. (3)

There is also a technique known as 'Interrupt the pattern', so for example if you are stressed at work and in a heated meeting just picking up a glass of water and drinking it will force the breathing pattern to change, thereby reducing your stress levels.

Have a Hobby

Having a hobby can create a happy feeling from within, thereby not allowing the stress to take over your life, eventually eliminating it.

Hobbies provide people a sense of enjoyment and independence. Those who are overburdened at work, can benefit from hobbies since they provide a stress outlet and something to look forward to after a long day (or week) at a stressful job.

I love gardening as working with soil is almost like a spa massage to my hands and since plants release oxygen, being around them always leaves me feeling refreshed.

Meditate

You can meditate any time.

It is a myth that you have to learn meditation.

A simple way to use meditation is, sit down comfortably. Take a deep breath in through your nose. Breathe out through your mouth.

Only keep your focus on your breath. You can use this simple technique for as long as you are comfortable. Gently open your eyes.

Just 10 minutes a day can help you reduce anxiety, stress and even improve your cardiovascular activity. (4)

Breathing Exercises

We are breathing all the time.

There is however a difference between conscious breathing and unconscious breathing.

Breathing deeply allows your heart rate to stabilize and also calms down your brain and emotions, reducing the cortisol levels in the body. (3)

Yoga

Yoga promotes relaxation, which is the natural antidote to stress, thus it can help you relax.

It is a proven technique that uses the combination of light exercising poses and breathwork. Yoga is known to reduce the heart rate and relax the mind.

In addition, yoga also helps your body gain flexibility through its stretching exercises.

Let go of the Past

Often we hold on to past bad memories, that result in unwanted stress.

This can then lead to overthinking and in extreme cases depression.

By being able to let go of the past allows the stress to come down.

While the past cannot be changed, the emotion associated with the past memory can be changed.

Shift in Perspective

Sometimes the issue or the problem may not be as big as we make it out to be.

It is important to review the problem as something that is only temporary and looks at possible solutions from a different point of view.

Just imagine, If you were to advise someone about an issue or a problem, how would you do it?

Would you look at the issue practically or stress yourself out? And what advice would give that person?

Sometimes a shift in perspective gives an entirely new angle to the problem creating stress and worry.

10.

Tapping with EFT

EFT is clinically proven to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, fears and phobias to help live a happy and stress free life.

Because people experience this unpleasant feeling and it can affect their well being, tapping can help them relieve tension and relax their nerves.

EFT Tapping is also simple to use and has a long-term effect. This approach also assists you in becoming more aware of your emotions and removing negativity from your mind and body.

Even professional athletes of the highest level use EFT to improve their performance at a game, and in their personal lives too! (5)

There were clinical studies conducted on war veterans with PTSD. Only after 6 sessions of EFT 90% were free from the symptoms of PTSD. (6)

These are really simple and can be incorporated into your life easily.

These 10 tips have been researched and proven to lower stress and gain health considerably, even if you choose to use only one of them.

For those new to EFT, it is also known as Tapping Therapy, which combines tapping on acupressure points while saying statements out loud to accept situations.

If you would like to experience the power of EFT Tapping first hand, just download the EFT Tapping Booklet below, and get started.

New to EFT? Learn how Emotional Freedom Technique Tapping heals.

Emotional Freedom Techniques (tapping) is clinically proven to lower stress, tension, anxiety, past-trauma to enable health, happiness and vitality.

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HOW DOES EFT TAPPING HELP IN REDUCING STRESS?

When you recall an unpleasant experience, such as an embarrassing encounter, a brawl, or a traumatic childhood event, you become more stressed.

Anger, guilt, resentment, fear, and shame are some of the negative feelings that surface. When you practise EFT Tapping, the intensity of those feelings decreases, sometimes to nothing in a matter of minutes.

This is because tapping on the specific locations releases the unresolved negative emotions that have been disrupting your body's energy system.

This drop in emotional intensity means your stress level is decreasing. As we've seen, stress has an impact on every aspect of your body, from your heart rate to your breathing to your blood pressure to your muscular tension.

The parasympathetic (relaxation) nerve system is reactivated by EFT Tapping. Because EFT Tapping decreases stress, we have access to all of our body's resources.

Even though your life circumstances have not changed, your body no longer receives those stress signals when your emotions are good and tranquil.

When you become calm, all of your body's systems begin to perform in a relaxed manner.

EFT Tapping has been shown to reduce stress, lower cortisol, improve sleep, relieve anxiety, promote productivity, and many other benefits.

A study published in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, in 2012, found that EFT Tapping lowered the stress hormone cortisol by 43%. Research also shows that Tapping calms the amygdala in the brain, by sending it a signal that it is safe to relax (7)

Added here is also a special recording for Stress Relief

Although Emotional Freedom Techniques can be used on oneself, it is recommended that you get support from a certified EFT Practitioner if you are having physical or emotional problems.

One of the biggest causes of stress is the pent-up feelings that we keep inside instead of expressing them.

Depending on our stress management abilities and ability to cope with challenges that come our way, short-term stress might transform into long-term stress.

EFT allows you to express your emotions in the most efficient way possible while avoiding harming others' feelings.

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It is a well known fact that extenuating situations and circumstances can happen at any time in a person's lifetime.

The important thing to remember is that no matter how worried we get, the situation will only go away, when we are able to think with an absolutely clear mind.

While it may be difficult at first to use your skills in coping with stress, over time practice makes it easy and you are able to cope with more and more stress, allowing life to flow with ease.

Life can be a very beautiful experience and every moment even the ones we don't like can be easily dealt with if we just treat it as an experience and stop overthinking.

Love,

Donita Packard & Dr Rangana Rupavi Choudhuri (PhD)

P.S. Want to discover if EFT Tapping is right for you? Book a Complimentary Discovery Call.

How To Self-Heal & Become An EFT Practitioner

Discover how EFT Tapping can help you to self-heal or to become professionally qualified as a Certified EFT Practitioner. Emotional Freedom Techniques (Tapping) is clinically proven to lower stress, tension, anxiety, past trauma to enable health, happiness and vitality.

BOOK A COMPLIMENTARY DISCOVERY CALL

In summary, one of the most common causes of stress is the unintentionally carried feelings. You must recognise and resolve the sensations linked with stress. Avoiding this negative feeling will only make things worse, so if and when you realise you're experiencing stress and it's not improving, try EFT Tapping which is a clinically proven approach for resolving those underlying feelings. Coping with stress is a skill set and like every skill, it can be learnt and practiced every day to ensure a happy and health life. You now have 10 tips to choose from to not only reduce stress, but also improve health.

References:

8 reasons why walking is good for your health – Tesco Living
Stress and your diet – Everyday health
Water and stress reduction : Sipping stress away – Web MD
Meditation, Stress and your health – Web MD
How professional athletes use tapping – Nick Ortner
Psychological Trauma in Veterans using EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques): A Randomized Controlled Trial, Church, Hawk, Brooks et. al.
https://staging.vitalitylivingcollege.info/training-seminars/eft-training-course/eft-practitioner-training/
https://www.helpguide.org/harvard/stress-and-your-health.htm

Disclaimer: The information on this website is purely for educational purposes and does not in any way replace the requirement for medical and psychological diagnosis and treatment. Please do seek professional medical and psychological diagnosis and advice for all medical and mental health conditions. It is advised to always book any consultations with qualified professionals.

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