Stress Relief

Stop stress from ruining your health

It probably wouldn't surprise you that doctors report between 75% and 90% of their patient appointments are due to the negative effects of stress. Over $300 billion or $7500 per employee is spent in the U.S. on stress-related compensation claims, employee turnover, medical insurance and expenses, absenteeism, and lowered productivity.  This, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.  In a Roper global survey, 23% of women and 19% of men workers report being "super-stressed.”

I could go on and on about the costs, both human and monetary, but you already know about stress don't you?  You've felt it in your body every time the pressure of your obligations and responsibilities in your job, finances or relationships overwhelms you.
You can't sleep at night. You overeat or choose unhealthy foods. You resort to self-medication with alcohol or meds. Or maybe, you just react with anger and then frustration from being between a rock and a hard place…which then leads to depression, the leading cause of occupational dis-ease for the 21st century.  You're overweight, tired, and cranky.

What really is stress? It's an individual's response to a threatening situation. It's the same response that saved our ancestor's lives when they gathered and hunted for their meal.

There's 2 reasons we hold onto this stress:
1. We are unwilling to look at ourselves.
2.  We walk around with vague goals and uncompleted tasks.

Sounds pretty simple huh? Yeah, right.  I've been there, I know what it's like having worked as a manager at a Fortune 500 company for years under the threat of " Find a way to get it done and on time or we will find someone else who will."  And then having to come home to find even more problems.

It really comes down to this: Change it, Change You, or Leave it. There are no other options folks. Stress doesn't go away by wishing on a star. Let me give you some actions you can take right now on a daily basis to counteract the effects of stress:

1. Force yourself to smile, even if you have no reason to. It is nearly impossible to have a negative thought when we are smiling because we have so many positive memories anchored to the physical act of smiling.
2. Breathe consciously. This simply means to take many moments in the day when you breathe slower and deeper letting your belly expand and keeping your shoulders down low. Do this with smiling.
3. Bring pictures to work of the best vacations or other wonderful times you've had. Look at them often.
4. Repeat this word to yourself often…PERSPECTIVE 

Your well-being simply depends on this:
What you eat and drink.
How you move.
What you think.