Knowing what STRESS can do to you

We might not know it but stress can actually do more damage to your body than most people think. Most people take advantage of their body’s limit and push it to extremes just to get the job done, while thinking that their body will adapt to the stress they impose upon it.
To tell the truth, our body has a certain capacity in which it can function; exceed those capacities and you will end up in one of the rooms of the hospital waiting for your body to recover. Stress can affect you in many ways – physical, mental and emotional functions are disrupted giving you the inability to function properly whether doing social, personal or career work.
Stress effects on your body

There is a certain degree in which stress can affect your body. A stressed person will complain of headaches and body pains here and there. If left unchecked, this will lead to migraine and muscle tension that will eventually lead to stiffness.

Major changes will affect the biochemical functions of your body. This involves diarrhea, constipation, nausea and dizziness. You will find it hard to sleep at nights even if you feel weak and need rest. People usually resort to medications to counter this effect, but they will only give a temporary remedy.

To those who suffer from a weak heart, most often they will complain of chest pains and rapid heartbeat, the usual signs and symptoms that will eventually lead to stroke or cardiac arrest.  Note, however, that different physical manifestations of stress can be seen for different people. It all depends on your body’s capacity.

Behavioral problems related to stress

Aside from physical manifestations of stress in your body, you might also notice some behavioral changes while under the throes of stress. Changes in sleeping patterns, lack of sleep or inability to sleep during normal slumber hours is usually the initial reaction to stress. These are usually caused by heightened emotional and mental functions which are more into the negative aspect rather than the positive.

Self-pity and isolation is caused by the depressed mental state of the person when certain problems crop up in their every day life. Irritability and anger will start when the person is bereft of his or her natural ability to rationalize, which is usually the case when stressed or being burdened by heavy problems.

How to cope

There are different techniques that a person can employ to avoid these manifestations of stress in their life. The first technique, and the most important one, is learning how to relax when stress pays you a visit. You can employ techniques like mindful meditation, breathing exercises, aromatherapy, or music therapy to induce a state of relaxation to your mind. Once you have achieved this step, you can proceed on how to deal with stress that affects your body.

Since most of your physiological functions are imbalanced due to stress, you can start by pampering your body through various massages offered by health spas within your neighborhood. Loosen those tight muscles to relieve assorted aches and pains and increasing your flexibility.

Physical exercise can also help develop cardiovascular functions and strengthen your heart to avoid stroke or rapid heart rate. Also, you need to keep a close lookout on your diet. Make sure you avoid taking in junk foods and fast foods that will elevate harmful chemicals in your body.

Try to stick with fruits and vegetables and take in herbal supplements to help rejuvenate your body.

Stop Negative Self Talk With Awareness

How often do you find yourself talking down or negatively to yourself? Are you even aware that you're doing it? Many people aren't even aware that the things they say to themselves mentally or the things they mutter under their breath are negative and actually sabotaging their progress and success.

The first thing you need to do is become aware that you are doing it and pay attention to when you are doing it. If you mutter things to yourself when something goes wrong, start listening to yourself. It's likely that you're being negative. If you use phrases like, "Well, I knew that would happen," or "Well, that's how things go for me," or "Why should I expect anything to be different," or "That's just my luck." Then you are engaging in negative self talk.

Things will go wrong. Everything isn't perfect. When these situations happen or arise it's best to just move on and not even acknowledge them, especially if you can't be positive about them. I know, it's hard to be positive when everything seems to be going wrong. However, if you notice when one thing goes wrong, if you react negatively it will create a domino or snowball effect and the rest of the day will go the same. If you just walk away, so to speak and not let it bother you, chances are things will start to go smoothly again.

More often than not, it's one little minor instance that gets the ball to rolling. When you mutter or think negatively about it you give power to the negative and it escalates. Instead, try having a positive thought. Think of something you're grateful for. This will not only change your mood and outlook but it will change your vibration as well. When you get into a positive vibration it helps to repel the negative.

Over time, negative self talk can lead to low self esteem, low quality of life, a bad outlook on life and everything else and can lead to health problems. It's very rare that you see positive people suffer from the same maladies as negative people. Negative people tend to always have something wrong with them, even if it's just minor things, and many of them spend a good deal of time going to the doctor to find out what's wrong with them. You hear them say things like, "Of course I'm getting a cold. I always get sick." "There's always something wrong with me."

That's not saying that positive people never get sick or have ailments, but they generally heal or recover faster, and often without going to a doctor for medication.

Start practicing positive affirmations. This won't be easy in the beginning if you've been a negative thinker for any length of time, but you can start practicing when you are in a good mood. By doing this you will prepare yourself to use them when you start thinking negative or start talking down to yourself.

Pay attention to the things that make you think and feel negative. There's often a pattern to these events. If you can start to catch these events and use your affirmations, you can ward off a full blown negative melt-down. It may even feel unnatural at first, but once you start practicing this it will get easier.

You don't have to go through life being negative. You can change this behavior. Just like any changes in behavior you make, this one will take time and can be very challenging. It is worth it in the long run. Try it and see if you don't start to feel better. See if people don't respond to you better. No one wants to hang around a negative person. If you want to be someone people consider friendly, start practicing having a better attitude and stop the negative self talk.

Walking Mindful Meditation

Meditation has always been associated with solitude, tranquility, and physical inactivity. When one talks of it, you may usually come up with a scenario in which a person finds a secluded area, closes her eyes in silence, and rests her body while working on her mind. Does meditation always have to be like this?

Meditation is an art, method, skill and a process. It is the art of keeping in touch with yourself, of discovering your entirety and the many facets of your being. It is also a skill that must be developed. It requires discipline and right mindset. You cannot simply think that you will meditate and expect to achieve a result right after. This requires the tuning of one's consciousness. Meditation typically involves a set of procedures and guidelines to be followed. Typically, the success of the activity will depend on the adherence to the given principles and rules.

One interesting form of meditation that deviates from the old and traditional concept is walking meditation. Walking meditation is a lot different from other forms of meditation known to many. For one, you will not have to be physically inactive just to do it. In fact, you need to move and be active – you need to walk! You have to actively engage your mind and your body in this activity in order to experience a holistic positive result. This brings another benefit. Since walking is a daily activity, you can actually grow by meditation everyday!

You also will not have to find a secluded place just so you can meditate. Anywhere will do. Actually, a noisy and crowded place is even encouraged. Here is where the challenge lies. Concentration is important and awareness must be focused. You must not allow the outer world to bind your mind into it – by the things that you see and hear. You may be aware of them, but you must be on guard not to do anything about them. Do not cling to anything.

The guiding principle behind walking meditation is achieving a balanced awareness, equilibrium, between your inner self and the outer world surrounding you. This meditation will invite you to feel your entire body, all the workings of the parts that make you up, being aware how each of your body parts operates. While doing this, you also have to notice your emotion and your mood. These are all done while you walk. The outside world need not be lost in your focus. There will always be things that will catch your attention as you meditate and you are not to resist. You are not to hang on to these, though. You have to let them pass by, observing them without doing anything at all.

This is the real sense of awareness. The ideal result of walking meditation is the person's consciousness of the outside world while being completely aware of his inner self. When this is achieved, many of the puzzles and complexities of life will become clearer and simpler. By bridging the gap between what is within and what is out of yourself, you can take full control of your life and enjoy a healthier and a more satisfied lifestyle.

Mindfulness Meditation

Optimistic or pessimistic thoughts and feelings, noises, the things you see – everything around you, may it be distraction or not should be received, as you do mindfulness meditation. You are not to exclude anything with this type of meditation; all you need to do is sit down in peace and perceive any past or present events and feel any emotions you might encounter in the course of meditating. 

The Meditation Process

Once you have assumed a comfortable seating position, you are now ready to undertake the mindfulness meditation wherein you need to become aware of the current moment. You should experience what is happening right now at this very moment where you would welcome, yet slowly dissolve, the fear, rage, qualms, and reservations in life.

Mindfulness meditation teaches you to be conscious of what is happening in your life as well as your environment. It lets you witness the good and the bad events. Most importantly, it lets you respond in a positive way to the matters you have become aware of. 

Mindfulness and Mental Health

What’s going on in your head? Until you know, there can be all sorts of problems, uncorrectable problems. You can’t fix a problem that you don’t see, right? That is where mindfulness comes in. Mindfulness and mental health are intimately connected. Your mind is busy in there right now, talking about all sorts of things. It may be telling you that you are tired of your job, or that you are a victim of circumstance. It may be running through a list of all the things you need to be doing. It may be saying all the wrong things, and yet you may hear none of it.

You may just feel a slight anxiety building as your day goes on. When I first learned how to do basic mindfulness exercises, I was amazed. I found that whole conversations were going on just below consciousness. Not only was it interesting to see, but the most amazing part was that I could now often end feelings of worry or anxiety. All I had to do was stop and watch my mind until I found the cause. Yes, it actually is often that simple. If you forgot to write down an appointment, for example, it may be bothering you for hours. As soon as you see that, you write it down and you feel relaxed again. If an argument is playing and replaying subconsciously in your mind and stressing you out, often just bringing it to consciousness will make you laugh and dismiss it.

  Mindfulness And Long Term Mental Health

 Don’t underestimate the power of short term happiness and good thoughts to influence the course of your mental health over the longer term. Resolve anxieties and stresses now, and regularly, and you’ll be healthier, and you’ll be developing good habits. Good feelings now lead to good feelings in the future. Habits are what we need for any long term results. As for the big problems, mindfulness is a way to see them more clearly for what they are

As you get better at tuning into your own subconscious mind, you will start to see patterns. I found, for example, that my mind was mulling over and worrying about all the possible choices in decisions that weren’t made. It caused me endless stress. Seeing this clearly, finally recognizing how destructive this habit of indecisiveness was, lead me to change.

 I started making decisions more quickly, just to try a new way. I immediately experienced how stress diminishes once a decision is made. My habits began to change and I was getting more done with less anxiety. The most basic mindfulness exercise is to just sit quietly and start paying attention to everything going on in your body and mind. Of course this can be difficult if you’ve never done it and this article isn’t a how-to. This is just to make the case that it’s worth learning. There is definitely a connection between mindfulness and mental health.