Family & Holistic Health

A Challenge to De-Stress your Life
Carol Barnes, MD

We are living in one of the most stressful times in history, where we are pulled in many different directions, and are expected to wear many “hats”. Both spouses work, have children in sports, music lessons, dance lessons, and scouts, have a household to maintain, and in some cases an elderly parent, or spouse to care for. Is it any wonder that chronic illnesses and psychological disorders are prevalent and on the increase? Stress is recognized as the number one killer today. The AMA stated that stress was the cause of 80-85 % of all human illness and disease, or at the very least has a detrimental effect on our health. The American Institute of Stress in New York estimates that 90 % of all visits to doctors are for stress-related disorders. Stress increases heart rate and blood pressure. It changes the inner lining of our blood vessels, making our blood more likely to clot. Stress may change the way cholesterol is handled by our blood vessels, and in doing so, may increase plaque formation. Physical health problems caused or worsened by stress include:

High blood pressure
Cardiovascular disease
Migraine & tension headaches
Cancer
Arthritis
Respiratory disease
Ulcers
Colitis
Muscle tension problems

Emotional disorders causes or worsened by stress:

Anxiety
Panic attacks
Depression
Adjustment disorders

Most of the chronic health problems that I see in my medical practice have at least a psychological component, and many have a psychological cause at the root of the problem. One of the first suggestions that I give to my patients when we realize that a major part of their health problem is psychological and /or stress related are methods to reduce stress in their lives.
Ways to stay fit and de-stress:

Exercise

Exercise is one of the most important things that we can do to de-stress. You don’t necessarily have to go to the gym to exercise, and if you have a loved one at home, you may not be able to get out of the house daily. You can have a treadmill or other exercise equipment at home that you can use, when your loved one is asleep or occupied with something else. There are inexpensive exercise video tapes, and audio tapes that lead you through a very good workout. There are personal trainers that will come to your home and help you train. Yoga classes are on TV every morning on the Oxygen channel.

Relaxation

Time to relax is very important in order to stay healthy, and give your body time to rebuild cells and rejuvenate the body. Relaxing helps you reduce stress and ltimately improve your health. There are several relaxation techniques which can be used to help you relax; i.e. meditation, self hypnosis and guided imagery.

Breathing is the first step to many relaxation techniques.

Take a slow, deep breath for 3 seconds, and inhale through your nose. Allow the air to expand your stomach and chest.
Hold the air for another 3 seconds.
Slowly exhale through your mouth for 6 seconds. Begin again, paying attention to the rhythm. Imagine the tension and stress flowing out of your body as you exhale. Tense a group of muscles, then release as you exhale or, you can simply lie down or sit and imagine the stress escaping from your body.

Meditation

Meditation is a state of relaxation and introspection and an easy way to relax andrejuvenate your body. The physical benefits of meditation are many. It can lower blood pressure, lower heart rate, help you sleep, reduce stress and stress related problems. Buddhist use meditation as a training tool to cleanse the mind. They use it to replace negative ideas in the mind with positive ones. You can replace jealousy, anger and hatred, with compassion, love and kindness. With meditation the goal is simply to become aware of yourself, concentrate on the present, and let things happen without attempting to alter them.

Mediation Steps:

Find an quiet location
Prepare the area, music candles, whatever helps you to relax
Sit in a comfortable spot, keeping your back straight.
Close your eyes and begin the previously described breathing exercises.
Concentrate on the rhythm of breathing.
Clear your mind of all thoughts, then slowly let them enter.
Contemplate each thought one at a time.

Self Hypnosis

Self-hypnosis is a method of relaxation and introspection similar to meditation. The methods begin in the same manner, but self-hypnosis reaches deeper to make changes in your life and find solutions to your problems. You are able to receive information from your subconscious about yourself, and discover your true needs. You can instruct your sub conscious on changes you wish to make and behavior patterns you would like to change through positive, constructive suggestions. Being in the peaceful “trance” induced by hypnosis allows you to examine and change areas of yourself that your conscious mind can’t normally reach. Self-hypnosis targets and channels your natural inner resources for problem solving and healing. People have actually been able to make chemical, physical, and psychological changes through self-hypnosis.

Guided Imagery

Imagery provides a way to communicate with your subconscious mind. When you “ see” an image in your mind its a collaboration between your conscious and subconscious mind. The image you see will always be different from others, because it is formed from your own memories and experiences. Imagery is like a personalized, guided dream with emotions. We are all capable of imagery, but it must be practiced. Imagery is more than visualization, it involves all 5 senses. Follow the steps for meditation then envision things that are familiar to you everyday to see how they change.

There are two main ways to use imagery:

Visualize the steps of the process necessary to achieve your goal.

Visualize that the goal has already been achieved.

By using guided imagery, you can help to control and heal your body physically and psychologically. Your conscious mind communicates with your subconscious mind with a visual image, and the subconscious sends back “imagery” and helps to shape what you see. Although still being researched, scientists are discovering that the mind actually helps maintain balance by controlling the immune system. We get sick when our normal balance is disturbed. Imagery helps create and maintain this balance while reducing stress.

Prayer

People of different faiths from around the world find comfort and healing in prayer. Prayer brings us hope, comfort, and inner peace. All of the major religions around the globe believe in the healing power of prayer. Prayer is similar to meditation, self-hypnosis, and guided imagery. Prayer helps to relax your body, create a positive, environment, and relieve stress and tension. Researchers at Harvard found evidence that prayer can positively influence your health. People suffering from cancer, heart disease, and other ailments often improve the quality of their life with prayer. Science has proven that there are medical and psychological benefits to be gained from spiritual experiences. Spiritual people consistently have greater life and marital satisfaction, well-being, altruism, and self esteem than do non-spiritual people. Prayer helps reduce alcohol and drug use, anxiety, depression, anger and blood pressure.

Music

Music is another way to help you relax. Music does wonders to alleviate stress. When you listen to music your heart rate decreases, deep breathing begins, and your body temperature increases, all signs of relaxation. Serotonin production is increased. Music reduces pain that is experienced during dental procedures, and subdued background music has been found to reduce stress in the workplace. Stock up on your favorite type of music, classical, mood music, whatever you need to take you away on a mental vacation for ten minutes.

Maximizing with Music Therapy

Choose music with a slow rhythm, slower than the natural heart beat which is about 72 beats per minute. Music that has repeating or cyclical pattern is found to be effective in most people.

As the music plays, allow it to wash over you, rinsing off the stress from the day. Focus on your breathing, letting it deepen, slow and become regular. Concentrate on the silence between the notes in the music, this keeps you from analyzing the music and makes relaxation more complete.

When things are tough, choose a piece of music that you are familiar with, a favorite from childhood, or and oldie. Familiarity often leads to calmness.

Take walks with your favorite music playing in your headphones. Inhale and exhale in tune with the music. Let the music guide your subconscious mind. This is a great stress reliever, exercise imagery, and music. Listening to the sounds of nature, such as ocean waves or the sounds of a deep forest can reduce stress. Take a quiet walk in a forest, or near the shore. If you cannot do that, buy tapes of these sounds and listen at home.

Music has always been a great healer. In the bible, we can read about David playing the harp to King Saul, to help his severe depression.

Aroma Therapy

Smell is the sense that reaches deeply and quickly into our emotional center toevoke feelings and memories of our past. Aroma therapy is a wonderful means of soothing anxiety, relieve insomnia, and spicing up your social interactions. There are available bath salts, candles, and oils which help through aroma to revitalize the mind body and spirit. Remember how good it smelled in the kitchen when you came home from school and Mom had bread or a pie in the oven? Not only did it smell good, but those aromas made you FEEL good also. Research has been done on aromas and it has been shown that certain smells stimulate various areas in the brain, producing different feelings depending upon which area was stimulated.

Massage

Massage is a fantastic technique for relaxation and caring for sore muscles. There are masseuse who come to your home with portable tables and can give you a wonderful massage to rejuvenate your mind body and spirit. This is a real treat for yourself and will help you to stay healthy and balanced. The art of touching is something extremely important to the human spirit in order to feel nourished and wanted. Our society does not touch one another enough, and we can all use a good hug now and then. In my office we hug every one who comes in the door!! Even the delivery man gets a hug! All my patients get hugs when they leave, from me, and my office staff. Try touching your loved one when they are upset, or perhaps showing some aggression, and see what happens. I can almost guarantee that they will calm down, acknowledge, and perhaps even enjoy your simple touch.

All of these methods to de-stress work, and work very well. You must experiment to find the techniques that work best for you on an individual basis. If you try some of these methods, you might discover that you don’t need that second or third high blood pressure medication or that sleeping pill at night. Take up the challenge to de-stress your life, live longer and discover more joy and satisfaction than ever before!