by Pat Cougar, R.N., Reiki Master & David M. Pierce, C.Ht.
With our busy lives, many of us have begun to accept stress as a natural part of life. Not all stress is bad. Low levels of stress can motivate us to move forward, take action or accomplish goals. We expect some anxiety when there are changes in our life such as the birth of a child, moving, changing jobs or starting back to school. Eventually, due either to the cumulative effects of continuous lower levels of stress, or a traumatically stressful incident, we can reach a point where stress becomes distress.
When our mental and emotional distress continues and increases in severity, most of us start noticing physical symptoms. Headaches, fatigue, muscle aches, disturbances in sleep, and gastrointestinal symptoms, are just a few problems which can occur. We now know that several major health problems, such as heart disease and cancer, are related to stress levels. The functioning of our immune system is greatly affected as well.
As experiencing some stress is unavoidable, stress management becomes the goal. Prevention is the key in successfully managing our stress and maintaining our physical and mental well-being. Taking time each day for moderate exercise, as well as time to be peaceful, better enables us to handle daily stressors. Setting priorities, allowing yourself to put some things "on the back burner", developing awareness of your "thought habits" - changing negative thoughts to positive thinking, and humor, are all things that contribute to positive and healthful stress management. We now also know that maintaining your "spiritual health" is a vital part of living a healthy, well balanced life.
If you find that you are having difficulty lowering your stress levels, seek support. Talking with family, friends and counselors can help. Take a class that teaches you ways to manage your own daily stress. Examples of these classes would be such things as yoga, tai chi, biofeedback, self-hypnosis, meditation, or energy work such as Reiki.
Don't wait until a major physical symptom or disease takes you to a medical doctor. Be active in your own well-being. Be around to celebrate life.
