The Hidden Impact of Your Stress

We live in an age where scientific research reveals new and astonishing insights into how our bodies function. These new and surprising discoveries can revolutionise our views on the best way to maintain a healthy, efficient body. But the constant flow of new information sometimes reveals contradictions in the way we understand how our bodies work.

Yesterday’s dramatic insight into the healthiest eating habits, for example, can be overturned by today’s revelations into the mechanics of human digestion. And that can be more than a little confusing at times!

Some areas of research, however, are providing more consistent conclusions about the complex dynamics of human health.

Let’s take a look at stress. We know that long-term exposure to anxiety is harmful to every aspect of our wellbeing. It’s become absolutely clear that we did not evolve to carry the burdens of stress that characterise most people’s lives today.

In a bizarre twist, when so many of the challenges of daily survival have been overcome, we still behave as if we’re constantly under the threat of injury or extinction. In a fascinating study, a group of researchers discovered that just over ninety percent of blood samples submitted for analysis revealed adrenal stress. Over ninety percent. The group contained individuals aged between twenty-two to seventy-six and the majority were under thirty-five. It’s a disturbing insight into the current state of our world where the majority of people are experiencing adrenal stress. These are serious warnings that require us to fully consider all the health implications.

I promise you nothing is as chaotic as it seems. Nothing is worth diminishing your health. Nothing is worth poisoning yourself with stress, anxiety and fear.

― Steve Maraboli

Let’s consider the visible signs of long-term anxiety. Long-term exposure to stress accelerates ageing. That means we look older than our years. Our bodies age at a faster rate as critical systems decline and our natural repair mechanisms malfunction. The immune system can be overwhelmed and this is the typical entry point for a host of serious health issues.

It’s ironic that whilst many people are focusing on specialised diets to enhance their health and opting for what appears to be healthier nutrition, the growing rates of obesity and diabetes suggest that diet alone is not the determinant factor in ensuring better health.

Stress is playing an equal if not greater role.

If everything really is connected, it would be absurd to exclude the effects of stress from any consideration of our health needs. The evidence strongly suggests that our ability to digest and metabolise efficiently is deeply influenced by our stress levels. It’s an element that’s often overlooked when we seek nutritional advice and healthier ways of eating. But it plays a significant role in determining how we process the fuel we select for our daily diet.

If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person.

― Lucius Annaeus Seneca

And there’s more. Stress can seriously degrade our ability to think clearly. The parts of the brain that generate the stress response are directly connected to our higher brain function.

As we surrender to the fears, stresses and anxieties that have become the commonplace backgrounds to our daily existence, our capacity to visualise, plan, calculate, assess and process information in a rational and logical manner is dramatically reduced. Does that surprise you?

IQ levels fall when we’re exposed to daily levels of anxiety. Can you imagine that? Just when we need all of our wits to resolve the day’s challenges, our ability to concentrate and think clearly is severely compromised.

These important issues deserve our fullest attention. When we sink into cycles of anxiety, we compromise our potential. But we have a choice. We can either sink further into the negative consequences of allowing our stress levels to run rampant - or we can check this pernicious set of behaviours and make a clear commitment to free ourselves from the habits and consequences of allowing stress and anxiety to dominate our lives.

Our stresses, anxieties, pains, and problems arise because we do not see the world, others, or even ourselves as worthy of love.

― Prem Prakash

So, what’s the answer? The first step on the pathway to better health and a far happier way of experiencing life is to learn to adopt the physical aspects of relaxation.

We’re all hardwired as humans to respond to the way we hold our bodies. Minor adjustments to our posture can trigger immediate changes in our physiology. Subtle shifts in our posture can produce rapid changes in our blood chemistry, lowering adrenaline and cortisol levels. All we need to do is relax our shoulders and take a couple of deeper, slower breaths. Our bodies recognise this archaic postural shift as a direct command to stand down from the defensive ‘fight or flight’ response that underpins the stress response. We immediately begin to calm down, to regain our balance and experience a wider, more objective perspective.

It was after I first began to uplift my thoughts a bit that my cravings for junk food started to dissipate. I did not connect the two at that time. First, I simply noticed that I didn’t need to sleep so much. It took a while before I realised that in addition to my improved energy level, there was a direct correlation between chewing on mental garbage and putting garbage in my mouth.

― Holly Mosier

Any change can feel strange at first. That’s to be expected. We spend most of our lives in a state of constant anxiety, strangely accustomed to the stress to the point where we accept it as completely normal whilst remaining blissfully unaware of the destructive impact of this deep-seated behaviour.

Take a moment today to relax your shoulders and jaw muscles, to breathe more deeply and learn to appreciate the state of calm that follows gently in the wake of this life-changing shift in your posture. Make a powerful commitment that you are now going to unchain yourself from all your fears and anxieties. Let your deeper breaths fuel your new-found feelings of calm. Open your heart to a wonderful oasis of tranquility where you can feel centred and deeply empowered.

The evidence suggests that every aspect of your life will improve just by following this simple expedient. Try it right now and notice the amazing changes that flow naturally into your life.

Exciting news - the amazing Wellbeing Foundation Courses for Personal Growth and Transformation are now available online. It’s like having Greg alongside you in the comfort of your home.

You can contact Greg and his Team at:

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