How Stress Affects Your Mind & Body

As a Massage Therapist, I see every day how STRESS affects people’s emotional and physical health. For a long time, I didn’t realize how much chronic stress impacts the different systems of our body.  Have you ever considered how lifestyle choices plus stress can lead to mental and physiological conditions and disease?

What is important to understand is that there are 5 ways that stress affects both your mind and your body. You have more control over your health than you think!

Physical Signs of Stress

Our bodies are able to adapt to a certain level of dysfunction and has an amazing ability to manage some stress for us. There are many signs of distress in our bodies before we suffer from an injury, condition, or disease.

Physical signs of stress include body aches and pains, limited movement in joints, weakness, fatigue from lack of good sleep, brain fog, digestive issues, or decreased energy levels and stiffness. Please don’t fall victim to thinking these symptoms are always related to age. It is critical to have an awareness of how stress is affecting your health and to know that you are in some control of what happens.

• Doing a little movement every day is helpful to combat stress because it releases those happy hormones. 
• Sit outside in nature. You will be surprised at how much of a positive impact this can have.
• Have a daily stretching routine. This will help with flexibility and helps to detox the body as well.

Emotional Check In

The emotional responses of stress can be irritability, frustration, anger, anxiety, and depression. Not expressing your feelings and holding stuff in can lead to all of these outcomes.  There are many positive and healthy ways to deal with emotional stress.

• Talk with a trusted friend or loved one or find a support group, coach, or therapist. Everyone needs a little extra support once in a while to overcome obstacles.
• Say positive affirmations. Write them down and repeat daily. Doing this consistently helps to break the negative thought patterns we all tend to have sometimes.
• Start a daily breathing practice.  Take some deep breaths in and out. This helps to stop that fight or flight response and a simple way to shorten anxiety attacks.
• Try meditation, prayer, and gratitude practice. Just a few minutes to yourself to quiet your mind is helpful to cope with stress. There are many great apps out there to help with all of these.

Food is a Stressor

Do you know that nutrition is a chemical stressor to the body? Consuming a diet full of sugar, white flour, processed foods, and gluten is highly inflammatory and can make your joints and muscles stiff and tense and cause weight gain. They are also traced back to many chronic illnesses as well.

• Try an elimination diet. Cut out those inflammatory foods and notice increased energy and better sleep. Eating less processed foods will help to improve digestion and when the gut is healthy you are less likely to have issues in other areas of your body.  You can still enjoy treats but try to limit them. I know it’s hard but your body will thank you for it!
• Contact a trained Dietitian to get some additional help with which foods are good for your body type. This will help you get on the right path as opposed to falling prey to the many fad diets out there.

Your Environment

The environment we surround ourselves in can cause a huge amount of stress. At times, we all have work and family stress. Where you find yourself every day has an impact on your health. You always have a choice whether or not to stay in a toxic environment.  We definitely can’t change our families but we do have the choice of who we spend time with. Having a loving and supportive social network is proven to reduce stress.

• Make an effort to surround yourself with the positive people in your life and limit the negative interaction.
• Find something to laugh at every day.
• Schedule fun activities into your calendar to give you something to look forward to.
• Limit chemicals in your home. Look for natural cleaners that have fewer chemicals. You would be shocked at how these chemicals cause havoc on the nervous system which affects all other systems of the body.

Keep the Faith

Having solid values and spiritual beliefs goes a long way in helping to reduce stress. It takes away the fear and worries you may have or at least puts things into perspective. Being hopeful and understanding that everything happens for a reason has been tremendously helpful in my own battles with stress. Negative thinking perpetuates more negative stuff to happen. Nurturing a positive mindset helps to manage stress levels.

• Figure out your purpose. Having a purpose in life and helping others has really made it so much easier for me to function.
• Live in the moment. Be present with yourself and others and be aware of what’s going on around you.
• Have a spiritual practice. Whatever this means to you. Believing in a higher power keeps stress from becoming overwhelming.

The Big Picture

Once I had an understanding of the 5 Aspects of Whole Health™© that I learned in coaching school, my perspective changed tremendously.  As a refresher, those are: Physical, Emotional, Nutritional, Environmental, and Spiritual. They outline a big picture of how everything is connected and are all equally important in how they impact health and disease.

Stress can be so harmful if it goes untreated. By just being aware of how stress affects you is the first step. Knowledge is powerful! Try to incorporate more self-care and stress management into your daily life. I promise by doing so it will help you become the best version of yourself and will improve your overall health and mindset. What is one way you are going to manage your stress today?

Jill DeMasi is a Lifestyle Blogger, Licensed Massage Therapist, and a Certified Wellness Coach with a passion for helping others manage stress, chronic pain, and anxiety. Learn more about her journey and wellness practice that offers natural solutions to stress at www.AtTheHeartofWellness.com.

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