Integrative Health Blog

Why You Really Have to Learn to Say "NO"

Posted by admin on Mon, Dec 10, 2012

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Stress and Health

Close to 80% of people with chronic illness have experienced a stressful incident or ongoing stress in their life.  Stressful situations include life altering incidents or transitions such as loss of a job, death of a family member, traumatic accident, divorce or chronic pain.  The correlation between stress and illness is obvious when you understand how stress adversely affects the body.

Make This Change to Become Healthier
Several decades ago an ongoing study of 10,000 people in Britain was conducted to determine what therapy, lifestyle change or health product across the entire population in the study had the most profound health benefit.  The study considered many therapies, products and lifestyle changes to determine what people should consider first in their efforts to become healthy. 

So, what is the ONE change needed for a healthier life?

Their conclusion was, “The Ability To Say NO."

Meaning that reducing stress by refusing to take on stressful projects, jobs, relationships or situations was the most critical factor to becoming healthy and remaining healthy.  Too many people take on stress without realizing how it adversely affects their health.

The Body’s Response to Stress

Before discussing how you can manage stress in your life it is important to understand several of the basic physiologic changes your body experiences during your stress response.  The adrenal glands secrete several hormones but the predominant one is cortisol, the stress hormone.  The more stress the more cortisol is secreted which alters your body adversely over the long term.  The more cortisol that is made the less other hormones (testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, DHEA and others ) can be produced.

The brain plays a huge role in stress management both with nerve transmitters and altered brain function in select areas of the brain.  This controls your ability to focus, manage anxiety, depression, joy and more.

The more we understand the intimate connection between stress and all the tissues of the body the more we realize how critical it is to either reduce stress from external sources or to be able to manage stressful situations from within.

Some Helpful Ways to Manage Stress:

  1. Make a list of stressors in your life

  2. Tackle one project at a time

  3. Be realistic in your expectations of yourself and others

  4. Check  your diet and cut down/eliminate caffeine and sugar

  1. Learn Emotional Freedom Technique (google technique)

  2. Read  Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff (and its all small stuff)

  3. Learn to let go- so small issues go away

  4. Get  rid of negative emotions

  5. Meditation or meditation apps

  6. Physical Activity

  7. Detoxify and cleanup your diet 

  8. Deep breathing

Learn to say "no" and live a healthier life.

Bring love and passion into your life, and enjoy the journey.

 

 

 

 

 



Topics: stress