Give Stress the Flick

You can give stress the flick.  Learn why you should and how you can do it.

How stress works

You’ve probably all heard the statement that stress is a silent killer, but do we really understand how stress can kill us.

Every time we perceive a situation as stressful, our bodies become flooded with adrenaline.  Now, this is necessary if we are being chased by a wild animal or a murderer, but entirely unnecessary if the situation is not life threatening.  How many times a day do you flood your body with adrenaline?  Every time your child misbehaves in public or won’t go to sleep?  Every time your boss is unreasonable, your partner doesn’t remember to pick up the groceries or pay that bill, every time you’re faced with a new challenge, when that bad driver cuts you off in traffic, when someone steals your wallet, when your teenager’s room is a mess?

How many times a day do you flood your body with adrenaline?

“What is the problem with that you might ask?  My life has always been stressful.  I’ve always coped OK with it.  There’s no problem.  I’ll be alright.”

 Why you should give stress the flick

One of the key factors in understanding the stress disease connection is through understanding the interaction between our two main categories for survival; growth and protection.  These two modes do not operate optimally at the same time. Dr Bruce Lipton, pioneer in the field of applying the principles of quantum physics to the field of cellular biology, found that we are biologically programmed to protect our cells from attack if a threat to the system (like stress) is perceived and that we put repair and healing on the back burner until the threat has been resolved.

The body responds to stress physiologically through the HPA axis and this axis also regulates our body temperature, digestion, mood and sexuality and it is also the pathway for hormonal control.  Once triggered, the immune system is suppressed.  Continually flooding the body with adrenaline results in the eventual breakdown of the immune system.

Stress places the body in a state of protection, meaning that we are unable to renew or detoxify our cells and the long term consequences of that mean illness.  Life in the Western world and increasingly in developing countries, becomes more stressful and more complex with every passing year.

The biggest problem is that most of us are unaware of how stressed we really are because we have become so accustomed to the events of daily life.

Why I gave stress the flick

I was born an A Type personality. Apparently, I screamed for the first four years of my life.  As a young child I developed habitual patterns of worrying, which is only another word for stress.  One might say I had plenty to be stressed about, but the truth is by the time I reached adulthood, the slightest upset in my life was cause for a massive flood of adrenaline into my system.

You don’t have to be a Type A personality to be affected by stress. Regardless of whether or not you see yourself as a stressed person, we are faced with multiple challenges and lifestyle stressors on a daily basis. As well as that, there are many types of hidden stress. If you tend to be a worrier, you have stress.  If you procrastinate, are a perfectionist, or obsess over your appearance you have stress. If you are in a relationship, you can have stress, if you are not in a relationship, you can be stressed.  If you have children, you are definitely stressed.

It is impossible to fully escape the stress of modern life, but we can change the impact that it has on us.  In my attempts to become stress free, I tried meditation.  I attended a 10 day meditation seminar and learned various techniques to calm the mind.  I have enough relaxation CD’s on my computer to set up an online store.  I tried self talk for stress reduction, counselling, and hypnosis. When I was engaged in any of these activities, I felt pretty calm, but as soon as they ended, I felt stressed again.  My mind raced and I imagined the worst of all scenarios.  I  tried massive doses of Vitamin B, flower essences, crystals, stress supplements, cell salts, sleeping potions, homeopathy, and everything that anyone suggested.  Obviously, my ability to stress was extreme and a result of faulty perception and habit. It was the way my brain was wired.

But, as I continued to clear the emotional charge on traumatic memories from my childhood, and deal immediately with stressful life events, my overall stress levels reduced significantly.  What I found that as I de-stressed on a daily basis, the neural pathways in my brain that previously fired continuously and released adrenaline stopped firing as much.

Solution that works

The thought zapper that permanently changed my stress response was Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT.  Without it, I dread to think what my health would have been like by now, because I had become so deeply stressed by life, past, present and future that I was totally unable to cope.  If I stress at all now, which is very rare, I pull out my thought zapper and zap the unruly, out of control thoughts and bring myself back to balance usually within minutes.

 Being prone to worry and stress, I find that EFT smooths out the bumps in life, makes life so much easier, enables me to think clearly and feel balanced and it also assists me on the physical level by enabling me to keep healthy.

Stress?  Who needs it?  Give stress the flick.

If chronic stress is a problem for you and you need some help in becoming stress free contact me to book a one-hour consultation. In many cases one session is all that is required as you will gain a basic understanding of the technique and be able to resolve your own stress.

Image courtesy of; Free Digital Photos