STRESS KILLS – TAKE FIVE AND SURVIVE
Ron Eslinger www.eslinger.net
In October of 2008, I wrote an article for Visions Magazine titled Change your Mind – Change Your Brain – Change your Behavior. You can make changes in your life by changing your thoughts. Your thoughts change your brain activity. When your brain activity changes, so does your behavior. That behavior may be chronic pain, smoking, or over eating. Any behavior can be changed by changing your thoughts, and by changing your environment. Simply stated, stop and change negative thoughts, unhealthy thoughts, worrying thoughts and stop thinking of the past and the brain begins to change. Add to that a change in your environment. Ask yourself, do I need to change; who I hang around with, what I watch on TV, the music I listen to, the game I play, my job, where I live and even what I eat and drink. By making positive changes you actually effect changes in your genes. A choice only you can make.
Time Magazine January 18, 2010 printed an article titled Why Genes Aren’t Destiny. This article states, not only does changing your thoughts and your environment change your brain, you can also influence your genetic code. So what does that mean? It means that you no longer have to be controlled by your parent’s genes. You can influence your own genes are your thoughts and your environment, both of which no one controls, but you. Are you ready to change your thoughts in order to change things about you that you would like to change? Only you can decide.
You can start here, I stated that stress kills and suggest that you take five and survive. Research has shown that chronic stress causes the following according to “Employee Burnout: America’s Newest Epidemic” (Northwestern National Life); and “Job Stress: The 20th Century Disease” (UN International Labor Organization); “Mitchum Report on Stress in the ’90’s.”
Job Stress
• It is also projected that 60% to 80% of all work related accidents are due to stress.
• 40% of worker turnover is due to stress.
• Up to 90% of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related complaints.
• Up to 80% of industrial accidents are due to stress.
• Over 50% of lost work days are stress-related.
• 14% of all workers say stress caused them to quit or change jobs in the previous two years.
Stress affects our blood pressure; sleep habits, nervousness, depression, diabetes, digestive system chest pain and is even reported to be a cause of cancer lupus and arthritis. Whenever our bodies are stressed – whether the stress is real or imagined – our brains take over and respond. Stress, by the way, can come in many forms: an impending deadline, an inability to complete your work tasks, or even a verbal lashing from another person. Yet, the physiological response is basically the same. There are many other physical, emotional and behavioral diseases caused by stress.
Knowing that stress kills, what are you willing to do to survive? Most people just ignore it unfortunately that does not make it go away. Make the change by creating a new positive image of your life while practicing the following three, five-point exercises. A free MP3 Relaxation audio is available at www.eslinger.net.
Five Ways to Cut Down on Stress
1. Exercise regularly.
2. Avoid false guilt and worry
3. Set realistic goals and priorities.
4. Hang loose. Set aside idle time to relax every day.
5. Avoid overindulging in drugs, alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine.
The five steps for stress reduction.
1. Progressive relaxation starting from your head or toes and mentally relaxing each part of your body (you can down load a free progressive relaxation at www.eslinger.net)
2. Create a positive visual picture in your mind using your imagination and memory
3. Create feeling sensations that go along with the visualization (beach feel warm, etc.)
4. Establish a positive anchor (squeezing the thumb and index finger or taking an abdominal breath are common anchors) to hold on to the relaxed, positive sensations.
5. Practice by thinking of the image and as you use the anchor. (What the mind has experienced it can recreate, think of and create your positive relaxing experiences).
How to enhance the relaxation response
1. Quiet place
2. Positive self talk and thought
3. Soothing music (biorhythmic is most relaxing)
4. Creative day dreaming of calming events
5. Taking a walk in a park or woods where you can appreciate nature
Everyone experiences relaxation differently. The key is to relax to the best of your ability.
For a free copy of a full stress management seminar go to www.eslinger.net for a free download.