How to deal with stress
I believe stress is an emotional response to something significantly blocking you from reaching your goal. Too much unchecked s
tress in your life can seriously effect your Health, Wealth and Relationship Minds. Stressors can be anything from fears and anxieties, to getting lost on your way to an important event to meet a deadline. Stressors themselves aren’t good nor bad, it depends on how you perceive them, for example if you were to imagine you favorite family members coming to visit when you have lots of work to do. You’ve got both negative and positive emotions blended together.
Its really difficult if not impossible to get rid of all stress in your life, there’s just no way to control so many possible situations and outcomes in the universe. If you do figure how to do it please let me know! Until then the best you can do is develop the tools so you can learn how to deal with stress.
Your first line of defense dealing with stress is your own brain and body. Under stressful situations people turn to medications to help them deal with the stress, but your brain and body are capable of naturally creating the results found in a pill. After all most medications are synthetic compounds that mimic chemicals and neurotransmitters already in our brain. So this begs the questions; How do we generate those chemicals on our own and why are they out of whack to begin with?
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, if you are on medications you should always consult with your doctor before making any decisions about your medication.
First lets look at a neurotransmitter called GABA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid). When your brain is unable to create enough GABA, you might experience: Anxiety symptoms, Irritability, Headaches, Hypertension, Palpitation, Seizures/epilepsy, Lower sex drive. Imagine already having one of those problems and then trying to deal with a stressful situation. Yeah no fun at all.
GABA creates the calming, rhythmic electrical impulses in the brain. It increases production of alpha waves that give you relaxed mental alertness (without drowsiness). GABA lowers beta waves that create states of nervousness, racing thoughts and hyperactivity. Its like the body’s own natural valium.
But don’t go out and buy GABA supplements, it is still unclear if GABA supplements are able to pass through the blood brain barrier that protects your brain from toxins found in the body.
Instead provide your body with the building blocks the brain needs to generate GABA. Make sure your diet includes foods that contain high levels of glutamic acid(glutamate), such as: Almonds, Tree nuts, Bananas, Broccoli, Brown Rice, Halibut, Lentils, Oats, whole grain, Oranges, citrus fruits, Rice bran, Spinach, Walnuts, whole grains, Mackerel, and Wheat bran.
A supplement that you should take to further boost GABA production is the amino acid L-Theanine. This amino acid stimulates your brain’s production of alpha waves, which make you feel relaxed but alert and not drowsy and stimulates your body to produce other calming amino acids, such as dopamine, GABA, and tryptophan. L-Theanine is found naturally in green tea, but even if you got the youngest tea leaves with the highest levels of L-Theanine you would still need to drink 5-20 cups of green tea a day to fulfill the 50-200mg of L-Theanine needed.
L-Theanine supplements have been studied in Japan for over 60 years with no side effects. They use an extract form of L-theanine to relax; they consume foods or chewing gums that have L-theanine added and take it as a dietary supplement.
OK now that your body and mind has its defenses built up lets give you some techniques and tips to actively deal with stress as it come in to your life.
1. EXERCISE - If exercise was sold in pill form it would be the best selling medication ever. Working out even for 10 minutes changes your neurochemistry by increasing the levels of chemicals such as dopamine, glutamate, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Exercise also releases tension and burns off high levels of testosterone that accompany stress and aggression.
During stress periods, stop and do some form of aerobic exercise (outside if possible) go for a walk, do a few jumping jacks, pushups, stretches or simply meditate even for 10 minutes.
2. CALM THE MIND – Knowing how to find the mute button in your mind is very important, otherwise your mind might be over run with too many things to focus on at one time or negative thoughts that prevent you from finding opportunities hidden in stressful situations. Here are some exercises you can do in your mind to hit that mute button when ever you need it.
- Ball in the center of the mind – Close your eyes and feel all the sensations from every side of your mind coming together to form a ball and place it right in the middle of your mind. Hold it as long as you can.
- Listen to your heart beat – Breath in through your nose for 5 seconds, then hold your breath as long as you comfortably can while you listen/feel your heart beat and pulse. Then breath out through your mouth for 5 seconds and hold your breath again while you listen to your heart. Your heart is always pumping but you can only hear it when your mind is completely quiet.
- Object visualization – stare at an object then close eyes and visualize that object in your mind. Open your eyes to confirm the object. For best results out loud describe the object in as much detail as possible, only open your eyes when the image has faded.
3. LAUGHTER – A good laugh actually induces physical changes in your body and mind. Laughter increases your intake of oxygen-rich air, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain to relieve your stress response. Laughter also soothe tension and stomachaches by easing digestion and stimulate circulation and reduce the physical symptoms of stress. Its been shown that 10 minutes of belly laughs can provide two hours of pain free sleep.
Remember it’s very difficult if not impossible to get rid of all the stressors in your life. But what you can do is control how you respond and deal with stress. Change what you can and don’t waste time on what you cant.
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