Opus I – Getting A Handle On Your Stress: Take control of your life
“The harder the stress of life the sweeter the song.”
~ Source Unknown ~
Being stress-free is not an option to living your life because you need stress to live, and be creative in giving, and receiving what you are here to give, and receive.
Yes…
You have a purpose, a reason for being here.
Do you know yours?
Do not wait another day to find your purpose because without knowing your purpose, your life may appear to be meaningless, and without the passion needed to live each precious moment.
Business, and personal stress must not be avoided because you need stress to be creative, and feel alive. It is when stress becomes distress (negative stress) or eustress (positive stress) you must learn to manage, and overcome your stress reactions.
Stress reactions are your body signals that tell you what you must change doing, eating, feeling, thinking etc. if you want to change the signals your body is sending.
Managing, and overcoming distress, and eustress involves being aware, acknowledging, and accepting what your body is telling you because if you ignore the signals you face discomfort, disease, illness or worse.
[This addition posted on July 15, 2008]
Did you know that your stress, distress, and eustress is your choice?
That’s right – you choose the cause of your stress, distress, and eustress by the choices you make with the following stressors:
Breathing, Environment, Attitude, and Nutrition. [B E A N]
Your Breathing…
Check your breathing to see when it is jammed, natural, reversed or shallow.
Holding your breath until after you have completed an activity (talking, walking, etc.) creates a physical response, a stress reaction.
What is your physical response, your stress reaction?
For natural normal breathing, your chest, and belly expands when you breathe in, and deflates when you breathe out.
[Caution: Go slow. Attempting to fix your breathing style by taking in more oxygen than your body knows may cause hyperventilation. If this occurs, cup your hands lightly over your mouth rather than look for a paper bag, and breathe in, and out slowly. You can do this while sitting or standing, preferably sitting.]
Are you able to follow your breath as it moves through your body?
Your Environment…
Living, shopping, and working in sick-buildings, and under fluorescent lights create stress reactions.
What allergens do you live with every day?
Your Attitude…
Blaming others for your situation makes you the victim, and this creates stress reactions.
Thinking positively rather than negatively, and using questions that begin with what, and how rather than who, when, and why helps you take control of your life. When you feel like crying, cry. Crying is one way your body releases your stress reactions.
Your Nutrition…
Drinking caffeine creates stress reactions.
Eating three meals, and two snacks a day works wonders.
Eating white products — sugar, white flour, white rice — creates stress reactions.
Fresh fruit, and vegetables help reduce your stress reactions.
What about nitrates, and preservatives? Are they in the foods you eat?
Bottom line: There are no “stress management pills” that help you take control of your life, so go ahead, and share your feelings, don’t act on them. Instead, discover that your stress matters, and how to live with less of your stress reactions.
Yes, you are able to live with less stress reactions each, and every day; the choice is yours. Discover your choices; do it now.
Your body is telling you what choices to make.
[This addition posted on March 26, 2009]
Stress is your body’s biochemical reaction to how you live your life. Stress can develop into distress or eustress, and disease, through your personal adaptation to external, and internal environments. When your energy production is higher than your body can discharge, distress or eustress occurs. This can result in feelings such as loss of control, being overwhelmed, stuck, and/or agitated. Each person reacts differently to the different stressors (causes). It is important for you to know what causes your distress or eustress, and recognize the stress indicators (symptoms), and the signal they give.
Some signs, and symptoms of stress (distress or eustress) are tension, and physical illness; low energy, and fatigue; irritability; insomnia; headaches; and backaches. According to Hans Selye, M.D. “Stress is not something to be avoided.” It is a “response of the body to any demand made upon it.”
Since stress is a body response, we only know that we are stressed, or more correctly in distress or eustress, when our body tells us, that is, when we feel symptoms known as stress indicators. It appears that stress is good.
It is when you feel distress or eustress that you need to take another look at your lifestyle, and the choices, and decisions you are making.
[This addition posted on November 27, 2009]
Help in becoming aware of your body, and locating both physical, and emotional feelings can be very constructive. Making contact with yourself generates enthusiasm about your goals, fosters an appreciation, and acceptance of yourself, and makes your actions more diversified.
Bioenergetic Analysis, a body-oriented approach to stress management, teaches you to stay in touch with your body for messages, and cues in order to make decisions that are conducive to good physical, and emotional health. It is important that you become aware, and accept what you are feeling rather than deny what you are feeling.
Eustress, the opposite of distress, is stress that is somewhat beneficial – but not too much; since your body cannot differentiate what stressors cause distress, and what stressors cause eustress. In both cases your adrenal glands secrete adrenaline. According to Dr. Selye, too much adrenaline in your body is worse than intoxication. You must manage the stress that your attitudes, nutrition, environment and breathing present you, and to the people you love. It is essential for you to review your lifestyle, and goals.
[This addition posted on August 1, 2010]
You must discover alternatives to stressors, such as resentment, caffeine, fluorescent lights, and holding your breath. You must choose alternatives, and support your choice. One way to know that you are making the right choice is to listen to your body signals. Identification, and management of stress indicators and stressors through body, and emotional/feeling awareness, acceptance, and choice encourages you, and helps you take responsibility for your physical, and emotional health, and well-being.
The process of managing stress is idiosyncratic, for each one of us has our own unique way of internalizing stressors. You respond to life as a result of the learning you acquired during a very dependent part of your life. Attitudes, beliefs and values that move your behavior are learned during this period of time. As an adult, you now have the power to create your own environment; but first you must become aware of the “old issues”, attitudes, beliefs, and values, especially those behaviors that are not workable nor effective for you at this stage of your life. There are alternatives to becoming ill or dependent on alcohol, and drugs. Decisions that change your behavior can be accomplished with attitude, and body-work, such as Bioenergetic Analysis.
Bioenergetically, each one of us reacts differently to stress, because stress as an energetic condition is related to our character structure. Our character structure is our way of surviving, and must be accepted as such. The following reaction patterns to stress have been identified, and defined by Alexander Lowen, M.D., the founder, and prime mover of Bioenergetic Analysis. The schizoid character structure under stress feels fragmented, and spacy; the oral character structure feels needy, dependent, and physically-emotionally collapses; the masochist character structure whines, complains, feels stuck, and trapped; the psychopathic character structure denies that he/she is stressed; the rigid character structure becomes hysterical, and aggressive.
[This addition posted on April 8, 2011]
Are you open, and receptive to seeing the good in all of your experiences?
Indeed, this is not as easy as this sounds; yet when you are open, and receptive to seeing the good in all of your experiences, your experiences turn in a positive direction. Having gone through many death-defying, and difficult situations, being open, and receptive to looking for, and seeing the good in them have turned them into “lessons learned”‘ experiences and make for a more confident and stronger life. Living with stress by taking control of your life makes for a creative life that resonates from your head, and your heart.
Being open and receptive to what is good in your life requires a level of safety that is not only necessary, and needed; your life requires you to be able to respond to any, and all emotions, and thoughts without acting on them.
Sharing your emotions, and thoughts is one way to move from isolation — that tends to feel negative — to community that is filled with shared feelings, and thoughts — that tends to feel good!
How about sharing your emotions, and your thoughts here to begin seeing the good in all of your experiences???
[This addition posted on November 29, 2011]
Being present in the moment is an excellent way of “getting a handle on your stress.”
Here are a few thoughts on what being in the present moment does for you.
>>>More on how-to get a handle on your stress coming soon.<<<
