Stress is a choice!
What Causes Stress and How Can I Relieve Stress?
In this day and age, stress is all around us and is unfortunately unavoidable. While most think of stress as the mental stress, you should realize that stress impacts the body the same way regardless of the source of stress. That means, the environmental stress and chemical stress for instance, do the same type of damage to the body as the mental stress does. Thankfully there are many things that you can do to relieve stress.
What Are the Different Types of Stress?
The three main categories of stress are Environmental, Physical and Emotional and all other subcategories fall under these 3 main headings.
Environmental Stress
Every second of the day and night we are surrounded by environmental stress. Environmental stress is made up of toxins and chemicals in our environment. These toxins and chemicals in our environment can cause multiple problems in our bodies. They can cause cancer, affect the functioning of our thyroid and mess up our hormone levels. The air we breathe is filled with chemicals and toxins that we can not see. Our lungs do a great job of trying to filter and protect us from being harmed from these chemicals and toxins, but they cannot protect us 100%. It is very difficult to avoid the airborne stress, but we can do some things to help minimize it. One thing you can do is to buy air purifies for your home. Air purifiers can filter out allergens and toxins. You can also wear masks and make sure that you have your work area well ventilated if you are dealing with chemicals, such as paint, that can release fumes into the air.
In addition to the chemicals in the air, we also are exposed to chemicals we use in and around our homes. All the chemicals we use to clean our homes can cause us environmental stress. Thankfully there are many companies that offer us natural cleaners to help us avoid using the harmful chemicals in the normal cleaners. If using chemicals cannot be avoided, then wear gloves to help prevent the chemicals from absorbing through your skin.
As for pesticides clearly, we can use non-chemical pesticides which are readily available these days. My theory and pesticides are as long as they don’t come inside the house, I am good and we can co-habitate with peace. My main issue with pests is ants and I use a mixture of Borax and sugar to keep them out of the house. If you belong to FB, you ought to join ‘Ask the Bugman’ and purchase his eBook. The man is brilliant and lectures extensively on the subject of chemical free pesticides.
Chemicals in our foods are nothing new to us anymore. Many pesticides and herbicides are used to increase the production for consumption but at what cost? I have certainly come across many who deny the known evidence and the long term effect of these toxins; obviously the choice is yours but does know that money talks and so much of the information provided to us is funded by the big corporations with the main focus being profit. I remember when DDT was sprinkled to combat pests AFTER it was banned in the US!! I guess the lives of other children and people do not matter!!. But let’s not digress, when buying food for you and your family purchase CERTIFIED organic and do your due diligence because your health and the health of your loved ones matter. Do not trust what “they’ say. Ask for written proof that it is certified organic; visit the farm if it is local and btw, do buy local and fruit and veggies of the season. Do not get fooled by the word, free range. Free range does not mean the animal is grazing grass on the mountains and prairies. Look for Pasture Raised. Natural does not mean chemical free and it is a scam to fool the consumer to buy something that is not chemical free.
When you bring home your fruits and vegetables, soak them in some white vinegar to help clean any chemicals off of them that may be located on the outside. There are a lot of harmful chemicals in plastics that can leak into our food and drinks so do not heat up the plastic that contains your food and drinks. Try switching out your plastic containers with glass containers. Instead of drinking out of water bottles, put your water in a glass or stainless-steel container to store and drink it from. Speaking of water, there are also toxins in our water that our water treatment facilities do not filter out. There are many high-quality water filters that you can have installed on your whole house or just on certain facets. I recommend the filters that filter water for your whole house. Even though you may not be drinking water from every place in your house, you can still absorb the toxins through your skin when you are taking a shower or even wearing the clothes that have been washed in the water.
Speaking of toxins that can be absorbed through our skin, we put toxins on our hair and skin every day. Shampoos, conditioners, body washes, deodorant, toothpaste, mouthwash, lotion, face moisturizers, shaving cream, and make-up can all contain harmful toxins. When deciding which ones to use, it is important to read labels. The purer and more natural, the better. There are now many brands that are dedicated to providing safer and natural alternatives to these items.
Finally, a highly important environmental stressor that we cannot ignore is the stress that affects our body from the radiation given off from electronics. Most people’s daily lives are now filled with electronics. From computers to cell phones, to tablets, to smart televisions, to smart appliances, to electronics in vehicles, to wifi, to Bluetooth headphones, etc. While these electronics can make our lives easier, the radiation from these devices can greatly impact our health. Try to limit your exposure as much as you can. For instance, it is best to not carry your cell phones against you in your pockets. When not using them, put them in a purse or as far away from you as you can. Many people use their phones as alarm clocks which is convenient but probably not the best choice. Put your cell phone and all other electronic devices in another room when you sleep and buy a basic old fashion alarm clock that runs on regular batters or plugs into the wall. Try to also break the addiction of playing games or spending hours on your phone with social media. The more time you spend holding your phone, the more radiation you are exposing yourself to.
Medical radiation is another source of radiation to be concerned about. Brace yourself because there is a controversial subject to think about!! Yearly mammography is a national guideline for women over the age of 40 and those with a family history of Breast cancer. The issue, however, is that with over 60% of women having Fibrocystic breasts, breasts with calcified lumps, it is hard to say how effective yearly mammography is. It is proposed that breast ultrasound should be the yearly screening choice and if any abnormalities, then further studies should be performed. With that said, there is a definite cut down on radiation exposure.
Emotional Stress
Emotional stress is mostly due to worry and negative thoughts with fear making it to the top of the list. It is common for people to have relationship problems, problems with their work environment, money problems, or other issues that impact our lives and take over our emotions. When we worry about things or have negative thoughts, it will actually change the chemistry in our bodies. This can cause pain and injury to our muscles, joints, and organs. Think about it, how many times we say, ” Calm down, you will have a heart attack’, so and so worried so much that ended up with stomach ulcer! When it comes to emotional stress, we put 98% of this stress onto ourselves. As hard as it is not to, it only hurts yourself to worry. Especially worrying over situations that we cannot control. Try writing down everything that you are worried about and all of your negative thoughts. Science has shown that there is a process that occurs when you do this to help your brain to stop worrying about the subject when you write it down because it thinks that the problem is being dealt with. If negative thoughts are swimming through your head, try to write down all the good things in your life that you are thankful for every day. Regardless of what is causing you emotional stress, daily meditation and yoga can definitely help you cope with your emotional stress and is a great addition to your daily routine. I am a big fan of EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique and find it helpful for the DIYer or someone who wishes a professional’s assistance.
There are devices and tools that can be found on the internet designed to help with the meditation process- something I am still working on! I use Theta Healing methods of visualization and manifestation process in bringing peace into my day. Of course, daily affirmations are a must-do on my list and I strongly recommend doing them no matter what.
Physical Stress
Physical stress not only involves aches and pains, acute and chronic pains but also lack of movement and function! Our bodies stay healthy with movement. When you are sitting or having repetitive movements, you are working against the design of the body. The inborn design of the body, in all aspects of being, is THE perfect design. Common sense clears the fact that every time we go against the natural design, we create more physical stress. A clear reflection of health is the posture. You will never see an unhealthy person with a great posture or a healthy person with a bad posture. That is simply not naturally possible. I have been in practice for over 2 decades and have learned a few things here and there that I have learned throughout the years. My eBook is more like e-tips!!! 17 tips to up the game of the brain and posture. If you want to see what I do daily, to diminish or eliminate some of the common physical stressors, you ought to check it out.
The choice to be proactive or reactive is a choice we make. Stress is simply our reaction to an outside stimulus so choose your reactions wisely!!
Be outrageous, contagious and courageous 🙂
Dr. Shakib