42.6 F
New York
Friday, March 29, 2024

The Importance of Eliminating Your Stress

Related Articles

-Advertisement-

Must read

Roseanna Ellis, a health and life coach, explains that unchecked stress can severely endanger our health. She offers alternative solutions that can be found in Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
Roseanna Ellis, a health and life coach, explains that unchecked stress can severely endanger our health. She offers alternative solutions that can be found in Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
Stress is inevitable in our high demanding world. According to the National Institute of Mental Health about 40 million Americans suffer from stress or anxiety. Every doctor knows that prolonged or chronic stress causes illness. But just knowing this is not enough to stop us from stressing out. Knowledge is power and knowledge of self is self-empowering.

Fear is a basic primal emotion that is vital to our evolutionary survival. We were born with built-in circuits in the brain that helps us detect anything that could be a potential threat. Every stressful thought has a chemical reaction changing the composition of the body affecting every cell on a moment to moment basis resulting in negative physical consequences. When threatened the brain organizes over fifty trillion cells to deal with the impending danger which prepares the body to fight to the death or flee for your life.

The body operates on two extremely important processes specifically designed to ensure survival. One is protective and guards us from external danger such as fleeing from an enemy. The other is growth and repair which protects us from internal danger such as bacteria, viruses, allergies, cancer cells, etc. Both hormones are produced by the adrenal glands. When the fight or flight alarm goes on, the adrenals release cortisol. When the mind is calm and peaceful the adrenals produce DHEA. DHEA is the most powerful and abundant steroid hormone in the human body. It is known by many health experts as “the life sustaining hormone” because of its endless positive effects on the body. DHEA controls weight, corrects blood sugar concentrations, controls blood cholesterol, maintains cardiovascular health, maintenance of muscle and bone mass, enhances the activity of the immune system, enhances longevity, produces energy, increases mental ability, memory enhancer, increases sexual drives and improves mood just to name a few. “Stay calm and you stay healthy”.

Cortisol and DHEA have opposing effects, and do not operate simultaneously. This makes sense. Healing the body takes a tremendous amount of energy. What good would it do for the body to be using vital energy to digest a meal, destroy bacteria, viruses or cancer cells when the energy is needed to save the system from extermination? When we are in danger all energy must be conserved for survival and the stress hormone “cortisol” allows this to happen.

Chronic Anxiety Can Affect Your Health and even your Life:

While it is very necessary for stress hormones to repress the growth and repair process for survival, it comes at a great price. During chronic stress when the production of DHEA is halted to keep up with the demands of cortisol, the body is vulnerable to many health issues. High cortisol levels have been shown to decrease bone density leading to osteoporosis, decrease muscle mass, interfere with the generation of new skin (aging), suppress thyroid function, increase abdominal fat especially around the hips and waist, create gastrointestinal problems such as ulcers, inhibits the production of life-sustaining energy, distort learning and memory, impair cognitive performance, and over time can lead to a feeling of being overwhelmed where the ability to reason plunges. The longer you stay in the protection stage, the more you compromise your growth mechanism. Seemingly everything that DHEA does to create health within the body, high levels of cortisol does the exact opposite.

Neuroscientists understand that the way we think and our perceptions to a situation can affect the very structure of the brain in a way that can damage our health. The brain does not know the difference between a real danger and a perceived one. Our perception of a situation informs our brain how to respond. Nor does the brain have a concept of time. When we recall an unresolved traumatic experience from 10 or 20 years ago the brain will elicit the same fight or flight response as if the danger was still here. We see this many times. Try putting a person on a plane that had a traumatic experience and developed a severe phobia and see how quickly their system will go into an extreme anxiety attack, verses another person who sees the plane as an exciting experience. Or talk to a veteran who has constant nightmares and PTSD for twenty or thirty years over past war traumas. Every time we stress about work, family, finances, the past or the future we activate the release of stress hormones compromising our immune system.

Imagine having the ability to shut off your alarm system at will and eliminate unwanted stressful emotions like fear, anxiety, stress, phobias, and pain.

When we see how thoughts and perceptions can affect our emotions and physiology, it makes sense to learn a strategy to manage the stress. We must learn to turn off cortisol and boost DHEA levels. There is a simple self-help energy therapy called Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) that is making headlines all over the world for releasing stress related issues. EFT is unique in that it uses the manual stimulation of “Chinese acupuncture points” without needles (acupressure) that are believed to send signals to brain that quickly reduce a hyper-arousal state. The brain then reorganizes the stressful issue neutralizes it and replaces it with a new cognitive shift like “it isn’t such a big deal”. What is amazing is when a specific stressful issue is resolved with EFT the chances of it reoccurring is slim. It is well known for helping disaster victim. At least three international humanitarian relief organizations have adopted EFT as a treatment in their post-disaster missions. I myself have used EFT successfully on all my own traumas as well as on Katrina victims, war veterans suffering from PTSD, children and adults with test anxiety, public speaking issues and phobias just to name a few. I also teach them to use EFT on their own. Even ten year olds can perform EFT with success.

There are five simple procedures to follow in using EFT for success:

First, define your problem whether stress, fear or anger (be very specific)

Second, Rate the intensity of your issue from 1-10 with ten being the most severe

Third, tap with your fingers on the eight points while focusing on your issue

Forth, repeat the tapping sequence three times

Fifth, recheck your intensity level again and jot down your new level of intensity

Sixth, if the intensity is not a zero yet, repeat the process again until zero is attained

Do not give up, no matter how silly or funny this process looks. Those with chronic illnesses are not laughing at all.

A common result when using EFT for stress is your subconscious mind may bring up deeper issues to the surface. For example, you may be stressed over a dead-line, when a fear of failure may pop up and that may be the “core issue”. In that case you would begin the tapping procedure again for “fear of failing”. Tapping these points for a few minutes every day on what troubles you will make a huge difference in your overall health and your ability to focus and think clearly.

Go ahead and dare to believe that this might be true. And believe for a moment that you can develop the power to control your own thoughts, your own emotions, your own body, mind and health. Believe that there are endless possibilities for your life to become better with each passing year. There is nothing you cannot be, have, or achieve. Change the way you think and perceive and you can change the course of your health and life forever.

Roseanna Ellis is a licensed practitioner, an EFT therapist and a health and life coach. She is the owner of Well Again Co and has over 18 years of experience working in the medical field. She specializes in chronic pain and stress. She had given EFT workshops here in the states and Europe. She traveled to Africa (Cape Verde) teaching EFT to Corporate managers to enhance leadership and communication skills.

She can be reached at 732-500-4502. Visit her website at www.wellagain.net her email is [email protected]

balance of natureDonate

Latest article

- Advertisement -