There’s more than enough information out there detailing the detrimental effects that stress plays on your health. You know very well that chronic stress is not only hard on your mind and body, but research proves that it can directly affect how long, and well, you live. There are many people in the world who feel that they have stress well under control, but did you know that regardless of whether you’re healthy or not, highly stressed or stress free, the presence of stress is constantly trying to wreak havoc on your health? In order to balance stress and stress-less in your life, supporting your health with a few simple steps will protect your health now and over the long term.
Step one Prioritize your attention to stress
Stress. We all have it. Whether it’s internal, external, or both. The key when it comes to how stress affects your health is to recognize that it actually exists. I’ve already stated that there are a lot of people out there who would gauge their level of stress in their lives as ‘low’ or ‘nonexistent’, however I’m here to tell you that regardless of how little stress you think you have in life, your perception of it is exactly that, simply just perception. I’’m a positive guy, but once you take a long hard look into your life, slowly but surely it becomes apparent that some level of stress masks itself in many forms throughout many aspects of your life.
Step two Defend your mind and body against stress
Whether you’re uber healthy or extremely ill, your mind and body is constantly dealing with stress around the clock. The healthier you are, of course, the better job your body does at handling and managing your stress without effort, however regardless of your current health status, both milid or extreme stress slowly hammers away at your health. This slow, under recognized unconscious chipping away of stress on your health is the exact reason why it should be a first priority that you give your mind and body the defences it needs. Two of the most critical thingsyou must actively do to defend your mind and body against stress include taking the proper adaptogenic (herbal or nutritional) support, and get proper rest (read more here and here).
Step three Eliminate and respond to stress
Although we’ve all heard it before, simply eliminating stress from your life is not an easy task. That being said, it’s wise to slowly begin to understand not only where your stress is coming from, but whether or not it’s possible to eliminate it from your life. Sources of stress from things like money, jobs, and family may always be present, but it’s more so about how you respond to each that ultimately creates or helps eliminate stress. By actively working on eliminating stress (real or self imposed) within your life, you’ll ultimately have less stress present and less stress to defend against.
Repeat
Continue to repeat steps one, two and three, and guaranteed, stress and its effects on your health will begin to melt away.
Dr Jeremy Hayman, ND helps patients at Cornerstone Naturopathic Inc. feel better, live better, and achieve optimal wellness and health. Years of patient care coupled with dedication to personal life balance has helped Dr Jeremy employ the adage that “your approach to health should be simple”.