We're Not Running From Dinosaurs

How often do you wish you could just live without all of that stress. Well stress isn’t inherently a bad thing. Instead, it’s a vital survival process that allowed us to run away from danger or get ready to fight back during the caveman days, however we're not running from dinosaurs. Still even today, stress can motivate us and help us get through cramming all night long for an important exam or getting an important work project finished. There is a time and a place for stress. The big problem today is that we’re under too much stress and feel it almost all the time. That’s when stress can become very dangerous and even deadly. I know that kind of stress... and my adrenals do NOT like it. 

Stress tends to be categorized into two different types of stress. Acute stress and chronic stress. Acute stress is what you feel when you’re in a dangerous situation. When your house catches on fire, and you barely get out, you’re feeling acute stress. While it takes a toll on the body, it’s not nearly as dangerous and deadly as chronic stress. This is the type of constant stress we feel day in and day out that I described at the beginning of this post.

It simply starts to wear out the body. Stress will do damage to your heart, your arteries, and even your gut and your immune system. Stressed people frequently suffer from high blood pressure, heart disease, stomach and digestive problems, ulcers, and due to the lowered immune system, they are more susceptible to various bacterial and viral infections like cold and flu. Add to that the fact that high stress is often accompanied by insomnia it’s no wonder we feel bad.

Stress makes it harder to heal and recover from any injury or sickness, and it’s clear that stress is dangerous and something we need to address. It’s important to focus on reducing stress as much as we can and find ways to cope better. We have to actively make time for relaxation to give our body a chance to recoup and recover. While there isn’t always a lot we can do about external stressors, there is a lot we can do to counterbalance from yoga and meditation, to getting more sleep and cutting back on distractions. I love any sort of gardening, from the urban garden, to the large plat outside, to the sweet little pot on your desk. Nature offers a feast for the senses and for me it is always helpful in reducing that moment of stress.