Your Health strategies

Laughter is one of the best medicines for Sickness, depression, anxiety, relaxation, respiration and stress.   It is a great way to release tension, and to improve the outlook of your day.  Let’s face it, even after a really bad day having a good laugh can help put everything into perspective. 

But wait there’s more… The benefits of laughter actually go deeper than we realize.  There are several reactions within your body that occur when you laugh and they all directly help with Stress Relief and the release of tension.

Laughter is more than a Stress Relief Technique

Dr. Lee Burk has been researching the effects of laughter on the body.  To this moment their published research has shown that laughter lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, increases muscle flexion, and boosts the immune system. Even more interesting is that Laughter creates a state opposite to stress in your body … in other words … laughter creates healthy or positive emotions and is a great method of Natural Stress Relief

Other benefits of laughter include:

·        Increased aerobic activity which gives your diaphragm a work-out and increases your body’s ability to circulate oxygen.

·        An increase in positive emotions that can assist in the fight of disease.

·        Reduction of stress hormones including epinephrine, cortisol, dopac, and growth hormone.

·        Improved and strengthened immune system.

·        Improved blood pressure.  This seems to have a more noticeable effect in women.

·        The cleansing of your lungs and respiratory system.  When you laugh you empty your lungs and breathe fresh air into your respiratory system.

Turn that Frown Upside Down

In 1931 a team of scientists discovered that it takes 50 Muscles to frown and only 13 Muscles to smile.  After reading this I came to realize 3 solid conclusions; Scientists really do have far too much time on their hands, it is far easier to be cheerful than to be grumpy and you will use less energy if you view your day from a happy perspective.

Unless your name is Bruce Willis there’s a pretty good chance you won’t be called out to save the world.  But you and Bruce do have something in common.  You both know what it’s like to experience overwhelming stress and you both need to have a good stress relief escape plan to deal with it.

You see, stress (especially chronic stress) can be so draining on your life and lifestyle.  If left unattended it can slowly affect your mind, body and eventually your spirit.  With this in mind it is important to understand and acknowledge when you’re under stress, and as mentioned earlier have a really good stress relief plan.

Listen to your body’s Stress

The first step is to pay attention to your body and its messages.  Here are some of the tell tale signs of stress:

—> You find yourself getting angry easily and acting short at others,

—> You feel tension building up around your shoulders and temple,

—> It’s becoming hard to sleep at night or you need drugs or medication to sleep

—> You’re grinding your teeth when you’re sleeping

—> You constantly feel tired

—> You’ve had a cold or flu for ages and can’t seem to shake it.

All of these may be signs you’re stressed and need relaxation techniques to experience relief.

Have a Game Plan for Stress Relief

Let’s face it, we all experience stress in our lives, but the key is to manage it before it builds up too much and causes damage. Here are some of the natural stress relief techniques you can include in your stress relief plan:

—> Avoid negative stress – If you know that you’re going to place yourself in a stressful situation in the first place you can just say ‘No’.  Many people do this in their work environment by over committing themselves.

—> Relaxation breathing techniques – This is a good way of eliminating your stress instantly.  Check out this technique here.

—> Stress relief CD / Meditation CD – A Relaxation / Meditation CD will guide you through a set process for relaxation.  This should be used regularly for maximum benefits.

—> Regular Exercise – This is great at dealing with stress (especially for men).  If you haven’t exercised for a while it’s important to start with low intensity and build up over time.  For maximum benefits you should also change your diet to eat heaps of healthy food.

—> Visualization techniques for relaxation – If you find it difficult to sleep at night then visualization techniques could be just the thing.  You may learn how to do this or be lead through a process by using a stress relief program or meditation CD.

—> Stress relief program – A good stress relief program will include a process for meditation, stress relief techniques and a journal to record your thoughts and progress.

—> Other stress management skills – This includes spending time with friends, time saving solutions, taking a hot bath, reading a book and watching a movie/ your favorite show.

Set aside time for stress relief today … you never know when you might have to go out and save the world after all

Stress Relief Techniques … If you don’t do them will you get fat? When doing a little research on the subject I have come to believe there is a solid link between the 2.

You see, our body contains a system called the neuroendocrine system which activates a series of hormones whenever we feel threatened or stressed.  Many years ago this system was useful to assist us in fleeing when there was danger near. 

The Hormones released include adrenalin (for the burst of energy), corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) and Cortisol (helps us to replenish our bodies after the stress has passed).  The downside is Cortisol can hang around in our system for a while after the stress and cause your appetite to increase.

This system is great when you’re under physical danger but isn’t so good on the everyday stress that we all face like paying the bills, work pressure and family pressures.  In other words your neuro-endocrine system can’t tell the difference between non-physical stresses and still responds with the need to replenish your system – or eat.

By listening to the messages from the neuro-endocrine system can not only lead to weight gain, but also leads to visceral fat which is fat that lies around the stomach area of the body and increases the rate of heart disease and diabetes.

What does that all mean?  Put simply, if you experience stress you are more likely to gain weight.  This is interesting when you consider more people are under stress today than 30 years ago and we currently have a record obesity rate.  Interesting.

It all comes back to Stress Relief Techniques and playing a part in learning how to

a) Release built up Stress

b) Developing new methods for handling Stress

There are many forms of Natural Stress Relief available to show you how to handle stress more effectively and release built up stress.  There options available include: Stress Relief CD’s, Relaxation Programs, Stress Management Activities and Relaxation Breathing Techniques.  Whether you like it or not stress is in everyone’s life. It’s more a question of how you handle it.

No matter how you look at it Men and Women are different.  Sure their different in certain obvious ways but they are also different in how they handle stress and anxiety.  This is to do with psychological and hormonal differences in men and women and makes sense to approach their stress relaxation techniques from different angles. For instance man’s natural response when under stress leans towards fight or flight, where women’s natural response is to nurture or befriend.

With this in mind here are two separate bags of tricks for men and women to find natural stress relief and relaxation techniques to suit them specifically.

Relaxation Techniques for Women

—> Pamper yourself – When your feeling stressed take a long hot bath, go for a walk, go shopping with a good friend or read a book.  Do anything that is about you and no-body else. 

—> Say no – Women tend to put on the superwomen cape and try to do too much for too many people forgetting about themselves.  When you’re feeling really stressed it’s important to consider yourself and how the stress is affecting your own wellbeing.

—> Make sure you have an effective support system – Surround yourself with friends and family that help you to balance yourself.  Look for someone who can be your ‘Rock’ in times of stress or anxiety that can help you to relax and feel balanced.

—> Find a friend who can keep a secret – Find a friend you can confide in and trust to talk things through.  It’s important this person respects your privacy.

—> Talk about it – Tell people your story and let them know why you are so stressed.  Women love to get things out into the open.

Relaxation Techniques for Men

—> Exercise – Men can release stress and anxiety by doing something physical like running, going to the gym, playing some tennis or any sport that gets the blood pumping and releases tension and adrenaline.

—> Spend time alone – Men like to ‘go it alone’ sometimes to have some time by themselves.  This can be an activity like hiking, fishing or other solo activities.

—> Go out with the boys – Go out and play some sport, or any team activity that lets a guy escape their stress and is a good way to unwind.  Men will also use this as a method of companionship.

—> Find a good support system – Even though relationships are very important to women doesn’t mean men shouldn’t have friends they can confide in.  It is important to have someone there that they can trust.

A Relaxation Technique for Men and Women

A good relaxation program can prove to be a useful Natural Stress Relief technique for both men and women.  Relaxation Programs give you structured methods to release built up stress and anxiety to experience true stress relief.  An effective relaxation program should contain stress management techniques, guided meditations and a way of recording your thoughts.

You are what you eat, and if you’re feel like you need some sort of stress relief or you experience anxiety attacks it may have something to do with your diet. 

Let me explain … there are several factors that determine the level of stress and anxiety you experience daily.  They include: your environment, your psychological status, your methods for releasing stress and your diet. Diet has shown to impact how we handle stress at work, our level of concentration and the ability for our bodies to function normally.

There are several parts of your diet you may believe help to relieve stress, but few people are aware that these are the same things that actually cause stress.  Take for instance, smoking.  Many people believe that smoking helps to relieve stress.  But if you read this article you’ll understand smoking is one of the main causes of stress.

Here are some of the foods and drinks you should take in moderation to reduce your stress and experience natural stress relief:

—> Foods that contain caffeine – This is found in coffee, non-herbal tea, chocolate, coke, etc.  Caffeine causes the release of adrenalin which increases the level of stress.  Too much caffeine has the same effect as long term stress on the body. 

—> Alcohol – Excessive consumption of Alcohol stimulates the secretion of adrenaline and is shown to result in nervous tension, insomnia and irritability.  Excess alcohol will deposit fat around the heart and in excess limits the liver from removing toxins from the body.  During stress your body produces several hormones that are normally filtered by your liver.  If your liver isn’t functioning properly, then your body can’t remove the toxins resulting in serious damage

—> Sugar – Sugar has NO essential nutritional benefits what so ever. Sugar provides short burst of false energy that can not sustain the body.  These short bursts of false energy result in irritability, poor concentration and depression.  High consumption of sugar can also result in diabetes.

—> Fat – Avoid foods rich in saturated fats as they place unnecessary stress on the cardiovascular system.  These include: deep fried foods, bacon, sausages, cakes and pies. 

—> Salt – Foods high in salt increase the blood pressure affect the adrenal glands and cause emotional instability.  Look for salt substitutes that contain potassium to still enjoy the flavor of salt without all the nasty side-effects.

These foods mentioned are all Ok in moderation, but should never be used solely as a method of stress relief as they will result negative side affects.

Of course diet is essential in stress relief, but nothing can beat well chosen stress relief techniques like exercise, yoga, a stress relief CD, meditation, relaxation breathing techniques or other beneficial stress management activities.