Understand Stress & Do Something About It

Stress is caused by an imbalance, so it's important to determine what this is so we can change or adjust our various life style behaviours to bring more balance into our lives. Stress can be managed by becoming aware of your stressors and your emotional and physical reactions to them and recognising what you can change.

"Wear and tear" on our bodies from adjusting to a continually changing environment, has both physical and emotional effects and the Integrated Medicine Institute (IMI), has provided some tips on coping with a stressful environment what we can do to combat it.

Dr. Periollo of IMI advises, on any given day in Hong Kong our senses are bombarded by countless sensory stimuli. From the noises of traffic, people, air conditioners, radios, MTR, and office equipment to the bright lights of signs, computer screens, and florescent tubes there hardly goes a moment of event relative peace and quiet for anyone. Each and every one of these auditory and visual stimuli provokes a bodily reaction. How our body reacts is determined by whether our body interprets them as a "potential threat or not."

Humans are hardwired for stress, meaning that our nervous systems are programmed to react to potential threats in certain ways, "The Stress Response."

For example, "Imagine that you are walking down Queen's Road Central, on a Summer's day at lunch time. As you are walking, three or four strangers bump you; you hear the ticking of the street crossing walk alert system suggesting you better burry up. You hear the sound of an oncoming bus and the sounds of a taxi honking. A hawker stands off to your side shouting out the benefits of his wares while attempting to tug on your shirt."

All of these scenery stimuli can amount to your perception of a potential threat to your wellbeing. Within a split second your body reacts; through connections between your hearing system and your brain and your endocrine system, your bloodstream is flooded with a stress hormone called adrenaline (from the adrenal glands). In turn several things happen to prepare you to either fight or fly, namely your heart rate and blood pressure increase. Your liver releases increased amounts of stored sugar called glycogen. This happens so that your muscles will be well supplied with needed energy to facilitate your next move. At the same time, all of your postural muscles tense up so you are better prepared to fight or run. Many other changes are occurring as well, including a slowing of your digestion.

By the time you return to your office, you're likely to have increased tension, decreased digestion, elevated blood pressure and heart rate. With time and repetition the cumulative effects of stress make us ill.

From a clinical perspective Dr. Perillo advises, there are two avenues of approach to minimizing the effects of excessive stress: (1) Dissipate the effects of stress or (2) Enhance the body's ability to resist stress.

Source :Spa Resources Asia