"I always voted at my party's call, and I never thought of thinking for myself at all."William Gilbert
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How To Be Creative
Have you ever heard the saying, "The harder I work, the luckier I get?" Guess what? That's the way it is with creative inspiration too. Don't Wait For Creative InspirationGraham Green, the famous English writer, attributes much of his success to a simple ...
Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Fruitfulness
At some stage of our spiritual development, we've got to realize that the laws of life are often paradoxical. With such and understanding it is much easier to handle all seeming failures, which are mainly caused by our addiction to linear thinking. One of ...
What Do You Need To Do To Be Successful?
What do you need to do to be successful? If you are searching the net you may feel that you need to sign up for the latest affiliate marketing programme. Or perhaps you need to be a member of the latest MLM scheme. On the other hand it may be that you ...
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If you live in the early part of the twenty-first century, chances are you are feeling stressed. Life for most of us today is highly pressured. Many of us feel stressed because of too little money, and too many urgent things to do, and not enough time to relax and unwind.
We are often sleeping too little, eating the wrong foods, drinking too much coffee, smoking too many cigarettes, juggling too many responsibilities, facing impossible deadlines, and exposed to a lot of chemical and noise pollution.
Does this sound like your life?
In addition to the pressures of our daily lives, the constant barrage of terrible news coming at us from every corner of the world also adds to our sense of helplessness and anxiety. As a result of too many assaults on our mind and our body, we are often in a state of feeling acute stress much of the time.
What is stress exactly?
Your body has a wonderful internal program to deal with dangerous events that pose a threat to your survival.
When your brain decides you are facing a threat of some kind, it pours lots of chemicals into your bloodstream to make you feel instantly very alert, and very physically powerful to deal with potential danger, or to enable you to run away quickly.
This body system in response to a threat is meant to help you cope with real danger, such as a physical attack or an accident.
During an acutely dangerous situation you will breathe much more deeply and quickly, taking in far more oxygen than usual. Your heart will be pounding in your chest. Your blood pressure will rise. You will have much higher levels of glucose in your blood in order to fuel your muscles.
These changes happen so that in case of danger, the muscles in your body have the all the supplies they need to fight, to move heavy objects, or to swiftly run away.
For thousands of years this built-in physical response to danger has helped people overcome dangerous threats like marauding bears, and raging fires and floods. If your ancestors had to fight off a bear, or run from a forest fire, this stress response gave them a chance to survive the emergency.
This powerful bodily reaction to danger is sometimes called the "fight or flight response". The fight or flight response still operates in us today.
The trouble is however, that in modern times, most of the stressors we face are not physical, but are psychological in origin. Most of the things that cause us to be stressed are not short term dangers, but events that go on and on for months.
For example, you may have a boss who constantly criticizes you at work. Or you may face a mortgage payment when you have just lost your job.
A small amount of occasional short-term stress can actually be good for you. You will feel more alert, focused, and energized to take on a challenge.
If the stress seems to go on and on, such as in a war or a bad marriage, or when you face long term financial problems or illness, your brain perceives the threat as never-ending. Your brain then orders the release of a chemical called cortisol.
Cortisol locks in the stress response reaction, and it keeps your body systems in a constant state of high alert.
The problem is that the body was not designed to live in a state of high alert permanently. Sooner or later the body's internal systems will start to break down. Constant exposure to long term high level stress is very harmful to the body, mind and spirit.
What can we do to reduce the stress we feel? There are many things that are helpful, such as increasing the amount of exercise that we get, making a conscious decision to simplify our lives, and reaching out for help to others.
Many people find comfort in prayer and meditation, and in spending time with their loved ones when going through difficult times.
Sometimes we make our stress response much worse than it needs to be because of the way we think about events that bother us.
If we think about every event that is bothering us as if it is a huge catastrophe, we will be throwing our body systems into a state of high alert for trivial reasons. So be sure that you are not exaggerating to yourself how terrible an event really is.
Also be sure to remind yourself of your inner strengths that you have within you.
Remind yourself of your talents and resourcefulness, the wisdom you have gained over the years. If you can't easily see any solutions to your situation, be willing to ask for help from others.
Too many of us feel we must be strong in every situation, and we sometimes feel that asking for help is a sign of weakness.
Refusing to talk about your problems can keep you feeling overwhelmed.
When you are faced with a stressful situation, talking about it with a trusted friend or advisor can be one important first step to finding new solutions.
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Meditation rejuvenates the soulIBNLive.comFor the next five days, make this resolve when you meditate — I will respect and value the time and space that has been given to me. I will value time and cherish every single minute as a wonderful gift. I will structure my life on the foundation of ... |
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Live with a meditative attitudeTimes of IndiaMeditation is not an activity or a hobby. It is the attitude one has to life. If you think you are "doing" meditation by sitting alone and closing your eyes, think again. Meditation is not something you do. If you live with clarity, meditation will ...and more » |
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GPS to a Quiet Mind: 6 Meditative Steps to FreedomHuffington PostMeditation is simple and transformative, yet it is highly misunderstood. Some people think it is about controlling our mind or stopping our thinking, while others see it as both weird and wacky or boring and meaningless. Yet meditation really just ...and more » |
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