Why Stress is Really Bad for You

You’ve probably been told before that stress is really bad for you. It’s something that is constantly rammed down our throats and we’re constantly being reminded how stress can cause heart problems, cause weight gain and generally cause all manner of problems.

 

This is not news then. But what we don’t get told so often is precisely why stress is so bad for us or what it actually does to negatively impact on our health. Read on then and we’ll look at the reasons why stress is actually such a problem and what you can do to prevent it, or at least to limit the negative consequences.

 

Stress and Your Physiology

 

The first thing to note is that stress has a profound and direct effect on your physiology. That is to say that it increases your heart rate, it increases muscle tension and it causes your blood to actually thicken. All of this is intended to make us more efficient at combat and better able to run away in order to escape danger. This is all controlled by the body releasing specific hormones, and those include dopamine, adrenaline, cortisol and glutamate among others. These are our ‘stress hormones’ (though some of them are more accurately described as neurotransmitters).

 

As the heart rate increases and the blood vessels dilate, more blood is sent specifically to the muscles and to the brain with the intention of enhancing focus and physical performance.

 

This is great news again for fighting and for getting away from danger. But what it also means is that blood is being directed away from your other systems, away from your immune system for example and away from your digestion. When you’re being chased by a lion, or falling off a mountain, those things just don’t really matter quite so much!

 

The Long-Term Problem

 

The problem then comes when this is allowed to continue over a longer period of time. In the wild, chronic stress didn’t really exist: we wouldn’t have to worry about things like debt or having a mean boss! 

 

And when stress doesn’t go away, that means that your immune system and your digestion never get the attention they need. This is why you can end up getting heartburn or becoming ill when you’re constantly stressed.

 

Meanwhile, your body is consistently releasing adrenaline and your heartrate is consistently beating hard. Eventually this can become a problem as well as you become more and more likely to suffer a heart attack. And remember, your blood pressure has also gone up, making you significantly more likely to experience very high blood pressure.

 

Likewise, this prolonged state of arousal can lead to a number of other issues. For instance, the heart working this hard for this long can potentially put a lot of strain on you and maybe even lead to a heart attack. Likewise, the constant secretion of adrenaline can eventually lead to ‘adrenal fatigue’. At this point, the body has exhausted its supply of adrenaline, leaving you exhausted and potentially even depressed.

 

Why Stress Isn’t Always a Bad Thing, and How to Tap Into a Flow State

Your brain releases a large number of hormones and neurotransmitters in response to your cognition. When you are in danger, this leads to the release of dopamine, adrenaline and serotonin to help make you more alert, stronger and faster.

 

This is the fight or flight response and it’s you at your most powerful.

 

The problem is that many of us are stressed a lot of the time now and we don’t know how to turn off that fight or flight response. Thus, we try to eliminate stress and think we would be a lot happier if we could.

 

But the reality is that stress isn’t a ‘bad thing’. Rather, stress is a valuable tool that we should tap into when necessary. The key is not to eliminate stress but rather to control it. In this post, we will look at some ways you can do that.

 

What is a Flow State?

 

A great example of stress as a positive thing is the flow state. Flow states are states of heightened concentration, increased focus and lightning reflexes. Often, they are engaged when we partake in extreme sports, or when we’re completely focused on our work or a conversation.

 

But essentially, the neurotransmitters associated with flow states are very similar to those associated with stress. The only real difference is that you are producing more anandamide (the ‘bliss’ hormone) and more serotonin. In other words, the only real difference is that you are enjoying the experience rather than being afraid of it.

 

So, if you can tap into that when you’re next stressed, then in theory you can experience those same heightened reflexes and attention whenever you need them.

 

The key is simply to try and see the stressful situation not as something scary but rather as an opportunity to learn and to develop yourself further. View it as a challenge and your body will adapt accordingly.

 

Eustress

 

Another example of ‘positive stress’ is what’s known as eustress.

 

Eustress is the type of stress that motivates us to do things when we need to. For example, eustress is the type of stress you experience when you have an exam coming up. This may not feel very nice, but that stress is actually what stops you from spending all day sleeping and motivates you to get up and revise. Studies show that people with no stress response don’t succeed as well in life and end up letting their talents go to waste.

 

This is something to note next time you need a kick up the rear, just remind yourself why what you’re doing is important and why you need to focus on it. If you can do this, then you can tap into the positive power of stress and stop seeing it as your enemy.

 

The rest of the time? Just try to distance yourself from that stress response and tell your body ‘Thanks but no thanks’. If you remind yourself why you don’t need to be stressed, often this is enough to do it!

 

5 Reasons You Need to Stop Stressing NOW

If you’re currently feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and burned out, then you are certainly not alone. This is pretty much the status quo for countless millions of people around the globe.

 

But that doesn’t make it okay! In fact, it makes it even more important that we explore the reasons for this stress and work out ways to stop it.

 

Here are five reasons why you shouldn’t just ‘put up’ with serious stress.

 

It Makes You Unhappy

 

Not only does stress make you extremely unhappy in the moment – kind of by definition – but it can also lead to longer term issues with your mental health such as depression, anxiety, and mental fatigue.

 

When you feel low, anxious, and depressed, the world will feel as though it has no color. In order to really enjoy the things you’re doing – you need to allow yourself to.

 

It Damages Your Immune System

 

Stress forces the body to redirect blood and oxygen away from the organs and toward the muscles. Your body assumes that if you’re very stressed, you must be in danger. Hence you are more likely to need your biceps than your spleen!

 

Problem is, that this then means that your immune system stops working as well as it should – leaving you open to attacks from harmful bacteria and germs. The result is that you’ll get sick more often, the longer you are highly stressed.

 

In the long term, stress can actually be dangerous and even cause fatal illnesses.

 

It Prevents Nutrient Absorption

 

Likewise, stress causes blood to be directed away from your digestive system (hence the feeling of getting ‘butterflies’). That then means you absorb nutrients less effectively.

Over time, this can result in serious malnutrition and nutrient deficiencies, resulting in a host of other issues.

 

It Causes You to Make Mistakes

 

When you are stressed, you will struggle to focus on the task in hand. Simply, whatever it is you’re worried about is going to seem more important.

 

The more you stress, the more mistakes you’re likely to make and this can lead to all kinds of complications and issues. 

 

It Damages Relationships

 

Stress can make you short tempered, it can rob you of the energy you need for socializing, and it can result in you being less pleasant to be around. This has knock on effects and can place strain on your relationships.

 

If you don’t fix your stress for yourself, think about the impact it’s having on your children or other loved ones.

 

5 Way to Feel Calmer Instantly

Feeling panicked and overworked? Stressed out all the time and struggling to focus? You just described pretty much the majority of the population.

 

Unfortunately, being stressed and burned-out is rapidly becoming the ‘new normal’ in a world where we have too much to do and not enough time to do it in. The good news is that with the ubiquity of this issue, there is also a large array of options when it comes to treating and solving it. Here are five ways you can feel better almost instantly.

 

Tidy

 

You can go Marie Kondo on your home, or you can just do a little spring clean. Whichever you choose, you’ll find that having a more organized space can instantly help you to feel better about your current predicament.

 

If you only have five minutes, then just clear your immediate area. It’s often enough!

 

Eat

 

If you’re feeling very anxious, it might well be because you have allowed your blood sugar to drop. Something as simple as eating a meal can help to boost it back up and significantly improve your mood again. Our moods are tied extremely closely to what we eat, due to the link between our blood sugar and the release of cortisol and serotonin (the stress and feel-good hormones respectively!).

 

Go for Walk

 

Walking helps to engage the ‘default mode network’ – the network of brain regions that spring into action whenever we’re not doing something highly active. The result is that your mind wanders and you feel calm and creative. Fresh air and scenic views will do the rest. A five-minute spin around the block is all it takes!

 

Meditate

 

Just five minutes of meditation can be more than enough to help boost your mood and help you to feel better. The aim of meditation is to calm your brain by focussing on something other than the negative thoughts you’re currently experiencing – even if that ‘something else’ happens to be nothing at all!

 

Just set a timer for five minutes, and make an effort to push all concerns out your brain. It’s that easy!

 

Exercise

 

Another way that you can overcome stress and anxiety is to exercise. This stimulates the release of serotonin, not to mention being extremely good for distracting yourself!

Again, five minutes might well be enough. Just take a moment out and do 30 push ups. You’ll get the blood circulating and feel better in no time.

How Meditation Can Help Creativity

How do you encourage creativity?

 

The unfortunate irony, is that the more you try to ‘force’ your creativity, the less likely it is to come. The less likely you are to have that ‘aha’ moment.

 

The reason for this, is that when we try and force anything, we become stressed – physiologically aroused. We produce more adrenaline, cortisol, and other stress hormones. And as such, we narrow our focus onto the thing we think is most pressing.

 

Creativity on the other hand, happens when we are relaxed. This in turn allows the mind to wander – to explore different memories and knowledge and to make unique connections out of those disparate topics. They say that all new ideas are just recombination of old ones!

 

A 2000 study from Slovenia shows that ‘coherence’ in the brain is critical for creativity – that means disparate brain areas working in unison. 

 

Meditation can help greatly in encouraging this then. When you meditate, you will be able to encourage a state of calm, that will allow you to access novel ideas and connections.

 

What’s more, is that you can use specific types of meditation in order to encourage this. One example is Cal Newport’s ‘Productive Meditation’. This is a form of meditation where – rather than completely empty your mind – you focus on a particular problem or creative pursuit and then try to come to a solution.

 

When was the last time you just sat and thought about something that was important to you?

 

When you do this, you will be able to actually practice using the parts of the brain we use for imagination and creative thinking. These include the ‘default mode network’. This is the network of brain regions that fire when we are not engaged with a task.

 

Interestingly, studies seem to show that we need to utilize a combination of both the default mode network and the executive control network in order to come up with useful ideas. In other words, freeflowing nonsense that occurs when you’re falling asleep or drunk is not useful. But ‘mulling a topic over’ on the other hand can be extremely useful.

 

So, the next time you have a challenge, or you want to come up with a creative solution to a problem – take a moment out and ‘think on it’. Meditate on the subject, then let your mind just wander. 

 

A creative solution may just come to you.

 

How to Meditate ALL Day for Amazing Results

When we think of meditation, we tend to think of the most common form of the practice – or at least the one we see most commonly depicted. That is of course, the kind synonymous with the image of a sage guru sitting cross legged, hands perched on their knees, with their minds calm, chanting ‘OM’.

 

While this is one example of a form of meditation, it is far from the only one. Just as beneficial in fact – if not moreso – is practicing focussing the mind during your daily activities. 

 

Because what meditation is really, is nothing more than focus. Meditation is what happens when you choose to focus your mind on something, rather than letting it bounce from one thing to the next. And the result is that you stop feeling so panicked and forget all those unhelpful thoughts that may have been racing through your mind before.

 

Many of the activities we engage in daily can already be considered as ‘meditative’. A good example is reading a book, or even watching a good film. Have you ever been to an amazing film at the theatre, then been completely disoriented when you exit? Because you aren’t sure what time it should be, or how long you’ve been in there? That’s because you’ve been so transfixed on what you were doing, that everything else fell aside.

 

The same thing happens when you read a good book. Put it this way: you can’t be engaged in an enthralling read and worrying about what tomorrow might bring. These two activities are mutually exclusive.

 

Now your objective is to bring that same sense of calm focus into other parts of your life. 

Take ironing for example. While you might be ironing while you watch TV, you may also find that at times, you iron as you allow your mind to go blank. You focus purely on the activity itself – the ironing – and everything else seems to fall away.

 

There’s something about the repetitive motion of moving an iron back and forth that can be perfectly meditative. You just have to let it! So, calm your mind and choose to think about nothing else. If you can do this, then you will be able to turn ironing into meditation.

 

From there, the next step is to try becoming meditative while you’re washing the dishes. Then maybe while you’re walking.

 

How to Overcome Social Anxiety With Mindfulness

Social anxiety is something that can be crippling for some people. This prevents us from being able to talk in public, meet new people, or in some cases even go to the shops. It’s also one of the most common forms of anxiety there is.

 

In fact, almost all of us will experience it to some degree.

 

But while there’s no simple cure to this complex problem, using mindfulness can certainly make a huge difference. 

 

What is Mindfulness and How Can it Help?

 

When we think of mindfulness, we might think of mindful meditation. In fact, though, this is only one facet of a larger topic. 

 

Really, mindfulness just means being more mindful and aware of your own thoughts. It means being a little ‘self-reflective’. 

 

In the case of a phobia or an anxiety like social anxiety, that effectively means learning to better recognize the stress-inducing thoughts that are causing your anxiety.

 

An example might be that you think:

 

“I’m going to stutter, and everyone will laugh.”

 

Or perhaps:

 

“What if what I say is stupid?”

 

The first step is in identifying precisely what it is that you’re afraid of. And from there, you can go about tackling it head-on.

 

Cognitive Restructuring

 

That then, is when the next part comes in: cognitive restructuring. This is the process of understanding your negative thoughts, and so deciding that you’re going to get rid of them.

 

How do you do this? One way is by disproving them.

 

So for instance, if you’re afraid that if you stutter everyone will laugh, then you should try testing that theory. This is called ‘hypothesis testing’. Build up the courage to allow yourself to stutter, or just observe the next time it happens naturally. Do people laugh? Or are they kind?

 

You can also try something called ‘thought challenging’ to just pick apart the statement and see how accurate it’s likely to be.

 

Are your friends the sort of people to laugh at you?

 

Do you normally say stupid things?

 

Of course, this still takes a lot of time and practice. Actually, changing your beliefs is extremely hard. But using these tools it is possible to overcome your fear. 

 

And one last tip: try adding in new beliefs. For example: what does it matter if people laugh at you anyway? Are you that wrapped up in your own ability to speak? If you’re training to get better, then let a few idiots laugh!

 

How to Start Meditation in 3 Easy Steps

More and more people are now beginning to appreciate the amazing power of meditation. No longer does the average Joe or Josephine view meditation as being some kind of black magic – it’s now understood as a highly scientific and practical tool that anyone can and should use for better brain health.

 

But how do you start? It’s still a daunting and somewhat abstract concept. So, to help you overcome that notion, here’s how to start meditation in 3 easy steps.

 

Find a Quiet Place

 

Meditation can be done anywhere, but it’s certainly easier when you are free from distractions. And that’s especially true for beginners. So, find a quiet spot, and if you want to make this a regular practice, try to make it somewhere that you will be able to come too often.

 

Now sit down however is comfortable. Don’t lie down though – only because you risk falling asleep if you do!

 

Set Some Time

 

The next step is to set yourself some time out. You can do this by setting a timer – which means you won’t need to keep checking your watch, or worry about overshooting and missing some appointment.

 

If you’re starting out for the first time, then ten minutes is more than enough. But in all honesty, you can even get benefit from just five minutes. This is what many people don’t realize when they make excuses for not starting. We all should be able to find five minutes of quiet in our day. If you cannot, then the issue is deeper routed than perhaps you realized!

 

Focus

 

Finally, the next step is to focus. That means focussing on something like breathing or perhaps repeating a word or phrase. You can also try focussing on something in the environment around you. A popular practice for instance is to focus on a single flame.

 

Then there’s the option to focus on emptying your thoughts, or perhaps to focus on reflecting on those thoughts in a dispassionate manner. 

 

Whatever the case, all you are trying to do is to take conscious control over your attention and to direct it towards something that is non-stressful, and that will help you to recover a little energy and mood. That’s all there is to meditation and it’s really rather simple.

 

If you’re still struggling, then at this point you may wish to consider using a guided meditation – like something from Headspace. These guided meditations talk you through a script that will help to direct your attention for you. 

 

Meditation and Creativity – How One Helps the Other

Meditation is heralded by many as being a ‘cure all’ – a panacea that can prevent all of your woes and help you to find peace and enlightenment.

 

They’re not wrong per say. Compared with many other strategies, meditation is certainly one of the most effective when it comes to overcoming anxiety and getting a better perspective on things. But unfortunately, nothing is perfect. That includes meditation.

 

Meditation is all about getting ‘out of your own head’ and focussing. It’s about being in the moment and not reflecting on problems. 

 

But here’s the thing: reflecting on problems is useful. Even a little bit of stress is useful – it’s called eustress.

 

And the biggest potential casualty when it comes to meditation is creativity and the default mode network. The default mode network is the selection of brain areas that light up when you daydream, or think about your own future. People associate this part of the brain with a) being distracted from what’s happening, and b) being negative.

 

But the truth? The default mode network is also where many of us come up with our very best ideas – including Albert Einstein. Daydreaming about the future is how we learn more about who we are, and what we want to accomplish.

 

So, the risk is that we throw the baby out with the bathwater.

 

The good news is that meditation isn’t to blame. The problem is with the way it is sometimes pedalled – by people who claim we should always be in the moment.

The truth is that the brain has many different states and we perform best when we’re able to choose those states and jump between them as needed.

 

So we need to be ‘in the moment’ when delivering a speech or spending time with friends, but there’s no harm in letting our mind wander when we’re going for a stroll and thinking about writing a great story.

 

This is where something called ‘productive meditation’ comes in. Suggested by author Cal Newport in his book ‘Deep Work’, this form of meditation means you are focussing on a problem or a creative endeavour. Instead of thinking about nothing, you are thinking about something you want to work on. 

 

And in fact, this kind of meditation agrees with what some new research suggests: that we are most creative when we active both the ‘daydreamy’ default mode network and the focussed ‘executive control network’. When you focus on being unfocussed, amazing things happen.

 

The Power of Awe for Life Changing Mental Transformations

Meditation is a tool that anyone can use to tap into a sense of calm as and when they need it. You can think of meditation almost as a ‘place’ that you can go to in order to get away from it all. The only difference is that this ‘place’ is always there, and you don’t have to leave your house!

 

But meditation is just one example of a tool we can use to ‘reset’ our mental state as it were. Another that is just effective – though slightly less convenient – is to seek out moments of ‘awe’.

 

What do we mean by awe?

 

Essentially, any moment where you feel overwhelmed by the scale and beauty of what you’re seeing. Perhaps the most classic example is when you emerge at the top of a mountain hike to discover a beautiful vista unfolding beneath you. That moment where your breath is taken away – is a moment of awe.

 

So, what exactly is going on here? What’s the brain chemistry? Why is it good for us? And what is the evolutionary function of such a mood? 

 

As far as the best guesses go, we now believe that this sense of awe is triggered by the release of hormones in response to massive restructuring of the brain’s neural networks. In short, you suddenly feel ‘small’, and what you’re seeing is forcing you to rethink your position.

 

That’s why we can equally feel the same way when looking at something of supreme beauty, or when gazing at the stars. At this moment, the bar has been reset and we are forced to look at things differently. The need for such restructuring will come with a cascade of neurotransmitters and hormones that will support this change. And that’s what makes us feel good in that moment.

 

But in the long term, this is extremely good for us, because it helps us to restructure neural connections that might otherwise have been negative – and to get out of our own heads for a moment. 

 

To put it another way, it’s a great way to get your life in perspective and to remember the grand scale of the world and universe around you. It’s harder to think that the interview you have tomorrow is the worst thing in the world when you’re forced to remember that you are not even a speck on the cosmic canvas.

 

So, head out for a walk. And if you can’t do that, then just spend some time thinking deeply about a topic that amazes you.

 

The Power of Nature Walks

Here’s something that many of us simply don’t do enough of: walking in nature.

Going for a nature walk is one of THE most effective ways to feel calmer, to help improve your overall health, and even to stimulate creativity.

 

Walking of any kind is in fact extremely good for stimulating creativity and encouraging calmness. The reason for this, is that when we go for a long walk, we are engaging in a form of low-level activity. We need to think a little about where we’re going and how to coordinate our feet, but nothing too strenuous. This in turn prevents us from getting bored and frustrated, while freeing our minds up to explore other diverse topics.

 

And more specifically, it triggers what is known as the ‘default mode network’. That in turn, means that you’re going to find yourself daydreaming and thinking more creatively about the future.

 

This is why many people had their best ideas while going for long walks – countless famous authors, scientists, and others have expressed the same.

 

What’s even more potent though, is to take a walk-in nature. Why? Because the natural surrounds of a forest walk or seaside stroll can help to make us more relaxed, which in turn stimulates further creativity. 

 

The reason is evolutionary: in the wild, the sight of lush green trees meant that we were approaching shelter, supplies, and resources – nourishment. Today, even looking at the color green on its own has been shown to lower the heart rate and to help improve calmness.

 

There’s more to this as well. For example, walking outdoors is also a brilliant way to boost your health. Walking outside not only means getting some exercise and burning some calories/fat, but also increasing your production of vitamin D. Vitamin D acts like a ‘master hormone’ and can help to boost other hormones that improve mood and encourage a more ideal physique.

 

The fresh air likewise will help in all kinds of ways: it will increase your energy at the time, and going forward. It will also help you to sleep better the following night, significantly improving your stress levels the next day.

 

So, make time for walking – not just as a way to get from point a to point b. Walk for the sake of walking, and take some time to breathe deeply, drink in the sights, and listen to the birds. It’s good for the soul and even better for your brain.

 

Top Types of Meditation

Did you know there is more than one type of meditation? In fact, there are countless forms of meditation – each of which has different goals and methods. 

 

The question then, is which type of meditation is right for you – and how do you get started with the one you choose? This guide will help you to understand more and decide.

 

Mindfulness Meditation

 

We’ll start with this one, only because it has become so popular recently that it’s the type many people may be familiar with. 

 

Mindfulness meditation comes from cognitive behavioural therapy – a psychotherapeutic approach in psychology. The idea here is not to empty your mind of thoughts – as it is in many other forms – but rather to try and detach yourself from those thoughts and not be affected by them. Note which thoughts float by, but don’t try to change them.

 

Body Scan Meditation

 

Closely linked to mindfulness meditation is body scan meditation – this is a form of meditation that involves focussing on each part of your body and progressively relaxing. It’s great for refreshing the brain and chilling after a hard day.

 

Transcendental Meditation

 

This is another of the more popular and well-known forms of meditation. The goal here is to clear your mind and to do so usually by focussing on a mantra or perhaps an imaginary point in space. Doing this can help you to eventually close down areas of your brain while retaining consciousness.

 

Loving Kindness Meditation

 

Loving kindness meditation is a form of meditation that involves focussing your mind on a specific feeling – in this case love and kindness! By doing this, you will feel happier and you will become better at forgiving people. It also feels fantastic in the moment. 

 

Kundalini Yoga Meditation

 

Kundalini yoga meditation is a form of moving meditation. The idea here is to move gently into different positions while focussing on controlling your breathing and staying calm and focussed. The result can be highly relaxing while also improving your overall health and wellness.

 

Religious Meditation

 

Religious practitioners can engage in meditation by focussing deeply on a passage of text from their scripture, or on a prayer. 

 

Zazen

 

Zazen is a form of meditation associated with Zen Buddhism. It must be taught under the leadership of an instructor and involves a number of specific steps. However, the objective is once again to focus primarily on detaching yourself from your thoughts and letting go of judgement.