I have five major web sites, Destress Yourself, Destress Yourself Blog, Destress for the EMS, Elizabeth Stanfill (which is our newsletter archive), and Frazier Park, CA. I also have some research tools to each of these web sites, that show me what people type into the search engine to get to my web sites. Really cool huh? I love that stuff!
The number one phrase that is used, everyday, to get to my websites is, "How to Destress Yourself."
Everyday, I am helping people to 'destress yourself'.
If I only had a few minutes to talk with you and you really needed help to Destress Yourself, this is what I would tell you.
There is a stress response, better known as the 'fight or flight' response, that is activated when we face stressful situations. When the stress response is activated it increases our heart rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, blood circulation, and causes our blood-flows and many other body functions to shift.
Now, not everyone reacts to each situation the same way because we all think differently. Our reactions (thoughts about a situation) are what causes this stress response. So, a situation happens (it could be anything), we see it as stressful (we think doubt, fear, and worry), and then our stress response kicks in.
Negative emotions like anger, frustration, disgust, sadness, anxiety, irritation, aggravation, hatred, misery, depression, grief, and nervousness, imitate the stress response. So every time you have a negative emotion (for some, this could be all day long) you are creating wear and tear on your body.
SIDE NOTE: these negative emotions are standard and repetitive for many (the stressed) and that is why I call them habitual ways of reacting. These habitual ways of reacting can be decreased and eliminated.
So, in order to Destress Yourself, you must discover how, when, and why you are activating this stress response, and then learn how to decrease and ultimately eliminate it. Or, you could just change your negative reactions. This may be very easy or this may be very difficult, it just depends on your willingness and commitment.
Let me give you and example of activating the stress response. A very stressed out person has a habit of worrying about everything because of the way they look at the world and a very relaxed person has a habit of having faith about most things because of the way they look at the world.
So, if I were to ask a question like, "I wonder what is going to happen to our economy?" A stressed out person would think and talk about all the things that could go wrong, all the while experiencing the negative emotions mentioned above. A relaxed person would think and talk about all of the positive things that are in store for us and experience more positive emotions.
When the stressed out person starts to think and talk about all the things that could go wrong, guess what? That's right, the stress response kicks in. The stress response may kick in all day long for this person because of the way they think. Their thought process is full of doubt, fear, and worry (stressful). Not only does this person have a very habitual and stressful way of thinking, they also have a very stressful habit of kicking in the stress response.
This stress response is causing emotional illnesses like depression and anxiety, mental illnesses like a racing mind, the inability to concentrate, and indecisiveness, and physical illnesses like gastrointestinal problems, head aches, neck aches, and shoulder aches from the tension.
This stress response is causing individuals to do things, that they think make them feel better, like binge eating, drinking, smoking, numbing through drugs and medication, as well as immoral behavior like addiction to pornography or inappropriate sexual behavior.
This stress response is wearing out the mind and body and therefore, causes exhaustion and fatigue. This causes mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual exhaustion, also known as Burnout.
STRESS IS THE NUMBER ONE CAUSE OF EVERY ILLNESS! I believe this with all my heart and if you knew what I know, and see the things I see, and have seen, you would believe it too.
The best way to Destress Yourself is with education and action. Last week we discussed that "IT IS TIME' to take responsibility for your life.
Take responsibility for your life by learning how, when, and why you are activating the stress response. The best way to do this is by learning to relax. I mean really learn how to relax, which is the opposite of the stress response. We can call it the relaxation response.
Once you learn to relax, or activate the relaxation response, you will be very skilled at noticing when you are activating the stress response because of your awareness. When you learn to relax you become more aware of your mind and body because of your ability to implement the relaxation response at anytime and anywhere.
You have a choice, you can activate the stress response, which is unintentional, or you can activate the relaxation response, which is intentional. That is the difference between a stressed out person, who lives their life unintentionally, and a relaxed person, who lives their life full of intention.
With that said, I would like you to join me for our FREE Tele Class on, you guessed it, Learning to Relax.
This Wednesday, January 27, 2010, at 7 am Pacific Time (10 am Eastern).
Dial in number 1-213-289-0500
Access Code 205356#
Meet You There!
Have a wonderful week!!!
Don't forget to have fun and be playful!
Please email me if you have any questions, I would love to hear from you.
elizabeth@destressyourself.com
