Reduce Stress and Lower Anxiety
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In addition to eating well and getting regular exercise, there are other important factors that can attribute to your overall health. The Tulsa Personal Trainers at Fitness Together want to see the people of Tulsa have a healthier lifestyle. In addition to getting expert guidance when it comes to exercise from your Tulsa Personal Trainer, we also believe that eating healthy and reducing stress can lead to a happier population. In this article we will be discussing stress and how it can type into your overall health, and what you can do about it.
The link between stress and heart disease is well-established. If stress is intense, and stress hormones are not extended by physical activity, our raised heart rate and high blood pressure put tension on arteries and cause damage to them. As the body heals this damage, artery walls scar and thicken, which can reduce the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart. Stress has been also been found to damage the immune system, which explains why we catch more colds when we are stressed. It may intensify symptoms in diseases that have an autoimmune component, such as rheumatoid arthritis. It also seems to affect headaches and irritable bowel syndrome, and there are now suggestions of links between stress and cancer. Regular exercise with a Tulsa Personal Trainer can reduce your physiological reaction to stress. It also strengthens your heart and increases the blood supply to it, directly affecting your vulnerability to heart disease. Whatever the case may be for your individual situation, stress should be taken seriously and step should be taken to reduce it in your day-to-day life.
Remember That Situations Are Only Temporary
If the dishes are piling up in the kitchen, the laundry is stacking up in the laundry room, or if your boss reminds you of a report that you are supposed to turn in yesterday, stress can appear in your life in a variety of different ways and it never seems to go anywhere. No one managing his or her own life is devoid of stress and too much of it can lead to excessive worry, nervousness, dread, upset stomach, or difficulty breathing. The first step to overcoming such negative feelings is to recognize that you are experiencing a very common emotional state most commonly identified as anxiety. Although it’s uncomfortable, the negative feelings will pass. Fighting the anxiety can make it stronger. Paradoxically, accepting that you are feeling anxious helps activate the body’s natural relaxation response.
Learn How to Soothe Yourself
Imagine walking down a nature path only to be greeted by a snarling grizzly bear, or worse, your boss demanding that report. When we are faced with an anxiety-inducing situation, our body’s sympathetic nervous system automatically triggers physical changes. Our breathing quickens, adrenaline is secreted, and our heart begins to race. This natural survival mechanism, called the fight or flight response, is intended to help us to escape a true, life threatening emergency. However, when the threat is imagined, the response is unnecessary and very uncomfortable. One of the most effective ways to activate the relaxation response is by decreasing the heart rate. Since we can’t voluntarily alter our pulse, more tangible measures are needed. Luckily, a rapid heart rate can be lowered with deep breathing techniques. The most commonly utilized strategy is breathing by contracting the diaphragm, a horizontal muscle in the chest located just above the stomach cavity. It turns out that getting more oxygen, by simply changing the way we breathe, can facilitate healing from a startling number of serious conditions, including chronic pain, atrial fibrillation, asthma, digestive issues, depression, and a wide range of stress-related illnesses. The secret is to return to a more natural pattern of respiration: Newborns come into the world breathing deeply, but as we age, stress can alter that pattern, and many of us start to breathe more shallowly. By adulthood, on average, we’re taking 15 to 20 breaths per minute, three to four times faster than is optimal.
Stress causes our muscles to tighten and become tense. To increase a relaxed state and physical comfort, tighten and release muscles beginning with the largest muscle group. Meditation is most certainly a type of relaxation exercise, but it’s not the only relaxation exercise. Many experts have taken key qualities from meditation and put them to use in other exercises, in order to provide further relaxation benefits. For example, meditation uses mantras as a way of distracting the mind. Some relaxation exercises use mantras, while others use counting backwards or repeating a positive phrase. All of these operate under the same principle, to ease the mind from its stress. Relaxation techniques are not a cure for your anxiety on their own, but they do provide many tools that are necessary for ridding yourself of anxiety forever. First, they give you a break from your symptoms, something that many people need when they deal with anxiety regularly. Second, they can be used to calm you before activities or events. Since anxiety can cause poor decision making, this can reduce future mistakes, and ultimately future stress.
Checking Your Diet
What we eat and drink largely impacts our emotional state. Foods most associated with exacerbating anxiety are ones containing caffeine and alcohol. Even consumed in small amounts, studies have found that the stimulating effects of caffeine can cause anxiety, trigger panic attacks, and increase feelings of nervousness and irritability. Caffeine, commonly found in coffee, colas, tea, and chocolate, also causes physical symptoms such as trembling and shaking. Abruptly eliminating caffeine from the diet can lead to withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches, restlessness, and irritability so it’s important to decrease caffeine consumption gradually. Similarly, although alcohol is often consumed to “take the edge off” it dehydrates the body and ultimately increases anxiety.
Get Moving
Most of us know that exercise is good for our physical health. For the past few decades, research has suggested that exercise is even more effective than medication. Maintaining a regular exercise routine with a Tulsa Personal Trainer Fitness Together has been proven to reduce stress, improve mood, enhance self-esteem, and increase energy levels. During exercise, the body releases chemicals called endorphins which interact with receptors in the brain to causing euphoric feelings and reduction in physical pain. One of the most common mental benefits of exercise is stress relief. Working up a sweat can help manage physical and mental stress. Exercise also increases concentrations of norepinephrine, a chemical that can moderate the brain’s response to stress. So go ahead and get sweaty. Working out can reduce stress and boost the body’s ability to deal with existing mental tension. This is truly a win-win situation when it comes to getting a healthier lifestyle. You get the added benefit of not only improving your body’s physical condition, but your mental condition become stronger as well as the endorphins help take care of your body stress and anxiety.
Get More Sleep
Nearly everyone feels a little crabby after a rough night’s sleep. Disrupted sleep is common in many emotional disorders and it’s difficult to know which started first, stress or poor sleep. A study showed that losing just a few hours of sleep increases feelings of stress, anger, sadness, and exhaustion. Some of the ways you can instantly get help your sleep habits this by maintaining a regular bed and waking time. Our body follows an internal clock which performs much better when it is maintained on a regular schedule. This will help you fall asleep easier at night and wake up feeling refreshed in the morning. Sporadic sleeping schedules can lead to extra anxiety and bad night sleeps.
A relaxing, routine activity right before bedtime conducted away from bright lights helps separate your sleep time from activities that can cause excitement, stress or anxiety which can make it more difficult to fall asleep, get sound and deep sleep or remain asleep. Avoid arousing activities before bedtime like working, paying bills, engaging in competitive games or family problem-solving. Some studies suggest that soaking in hot water before retiring to bed can ease the transition into deeper sleep, but it should be done early enough that you are no longer sweating or over-heated. If you are unable to avoid tension and stress, it may be helpful to learn relaxation therapy from a trained professional. Finally, avoid exposure to bright before bedtime because it signals the neurons that help control the sleep-wake cycle that it is time to awaken, not to sleep.
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