Okay, let's talk about the problem with stress. Stress kills. That's the problem in a nutshell. Stress can annihilate your immune system to the point that instead of defending yourself against invaders, like cancer or inflammation, it responds with barely a whimper. Is this a wimpy response that you want from your one and only immune system? Really?
But isn't everyone stress these days? Everyone does experience a certain degree of stress because life by its very nature is full of challenges, worries and obstacles. However, not everyone experiences stress on a daily or ongoing basis. The body is designed to cope with the ravages of stress for brief or acute periods. It's when the stress becomes ongoing or chronic, that the effects on the body can become damaging How does this happen? When you perceive a threatening situation, which can be activated by a conscious or unconscious trigger, your body immediately responds by releasing a cascade of chemicals.
It's as if the general has called out the cavalry. Basically, your autonomic nervous system has two divisions, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. You can think of the sympathetic nervous system as the gas pedal, which provides the energetic juice to respond to any threat. The parasympathetic, which is more like the brake pedal, turns off the G's and restores you to a sense of calm. If you're constantly revving your car engine, you'll eventually flood the engine and render it useless. Similarly, if you're constantly putting your sympathetic nervous system in the on position, you're unwittingly setting up a chain of potentially negative reactions.
So let's talk about cortisol. When your sympathetic nervous system is activated, it releases the stress hormone called cortisol. Cortisol, which is made by the adrenal glands suppresses the immune cells ability to activate telomerase, a cell enzyme that keeps cells young. translation, cortisol in this corner, fountain of youth in this corner. Aside from premature aging, when your adrenal glands become fatigued from releasing too much cortisol, you can also experience fatigue. Another damaging side effect of cortisol is seen in its effect on the good prostaglandins, they're important in decreasing inflammation and boosting your immune system.
These protective functions are hampered when you have too much cortisol coursing through your body. So let's see. Cortisol can hamper both your good looks and your immune system. Not exactly the hormone you want to invite for dinner. By the time you realize you're stressed, the process is well underway. Your face may be flushed, you're breathing shallow, your muscles tense, your heartbeat racing, your hands and feet cold, your digestive system running amok and your sweat glands activated.
At this point, you not only feel stressed, you probably look stressed. Not only that, but when you're stressed your blood sugar levels rise. stress hormones, like epinephrine and cortisol kick in since one of their major functions is to raise blood sugar to help boost energy when you need it the most. So you see, keeping your stress levels down is an excellent way of keeping your blood sugar levels down or in balance, and that's a good thing. Not only are you happier, but your health here. I'll talk about how to deal with stress.
In the next lesson, but for now let's look at your action steps for today. One of the biggest precursors distress is your reaction to your thoughts. So begin to notice what you've been thinking about. When you find yourself stressed, then find a way to substitute those thoughts with something more positive. Talking about your feelings is also therapeutic. So you might want to call up positive, helpful friend that you trust.
These are both great ways to lower both your stress and your blood sugar. We've talked about how stress affects the body. But let's talk now about what you can do about the stress. You can take your foot off the gas and turn off the sympathetic nervous system by doing what you do naturally, by breathing when you take a deep diaphragmatic breath. This action has the power to turn off the sympathetic nervous system or stress response in turn on The calming parasympathetic nervous system. Most people, however, breathe in a shallow manner from the chest.
After all, haven't we all been taught to sit up straight and suck in our stomachs, great for posture, bad for stress. In fact, try taking a deep breath from the belly while holding in your stomach impossible. diaphragmatic breathing is easier to learn if you are lying on a flat surface on your back. If you place your hand upon your belly button and visualize your belly as a big balloon, you can more easily allow your belly to expand with air. When you breathe from your belly, you can feel the difference. This type of breathing is extremely relaxing.
When you become proficient at this type of breathing, try it standing up. Soon you'll be able to do the diaphragmatic breathing no matter where you are and what you're doing. If your anxiety takes the form of a panic Attack, you'll need to practice this skill, as well as distract yourself by moving into a different room if possible. Although breathing alone may not stop a panic attack, it can minimize the discomfort. Don't take the healing power of your breath for granted. The breath is a powerful weapon against stress, it doesn't cost a dime.
There are other efficient ways to manage stress also, something as simple as listening to music or getting a massage. Music has a powerful effect on the emotions and the immune system. Yoga is also an effective stress reducer. My experience of yoga is that I usually begin the session with a certain degree of tension built up from the day and leave feeling like a wet noodle. Starting a regular yoga practice. Even if you practice only 15 minutes a day can have a calming effect that carries you out throughout the rest of the day.
Finally, meditation calms both the body and the mind. Meditation means being so deeply absorbed in one thought or activity, that your mind tunes out everything else. Some people meditate by focusing on their breath. Others find spiritual readings or a certain word that resonates the feeling of peace. Then they focus on that gently pushing away any intrusive thoughts. Trust me, this can be a mental challenge.
Have you ever tried focusing on just one thing for longer than a minute? This is why they call it a discipline. And this is why they call meditation a practice. However, the practice results in increased peace of mind and mental focus, especially when continued over time. Okay, here are your action steps. Notice when you're feeling stressed, then notice what you've been thinking about for the last phone minutes.
This is likely the source of your stress. And at this point, take three deep diaphragmatic breath. Then make a plan for dealing with the stressful situation. Once you have a plan in place, no matter how simple the plan, you usually feel better and less stress. It's important to practice your belly breathing on a daily basis. So you remember how to do it when you really need it.
In fact, take a deep breath with me right now to a count of 31230. You know, many things can trigger our emotions. And a lot of times those things are either people or situations. So can you think of the people or situations that trigger your negative emotions. If this is hard for you, then one suggestion I have is to carry some kind of a little notebook around with You or at the end of the day before you go to bed at night, just in that little notebook jot down what triggered you during the day. And, you know, you can pretty much remember what's happened during the day, especially if they triggered a negative emotion in you.
And just jot that down. And in that way, you'll figure out pretty quickly if you don't already know who triggers your emotions. Now, one thing that can really trigger emotions is if you are around critical people, because you can be in a very good mood and feeling good about life and run into a critical person that makes a critical remark towards you. And all of a sudden, the color drains out of your spirit. It can really have an impact. So what you can do is you can find someone who is a friend, a trusted friend and ask that person to make a short list of the things that they like about you the things that they admire.
About You, and then take that list, put it on a little card, laminate it so that it will stay in good shape, put it in your purse or your pocket and carry it with you. Because then when you run into a critical person, which you will, you can call that out and remind yourself of the good things, because we all need to hear the good things. And part of your job and going through this program is trying to stay uplifted, and there are a lot of negative forces around but you know what, there are a lot of positive forces around. So try to put yourself in the company of the positive people and try to limit your time with the negative people. Now a lot of times situations can come up that are stressful. And here's where I like to do the breathing, the meditation, deep breathing because you're paracelsus nervous system needs to stay on.
And when you get stressed and start having all those stressful thoughts, then you turn on your pair, excuse me, your sympathetic nervous system. So when your sympathetic nervous system gets activated, your stress goes up. Indeed, deep breathing or meditation can really help with that. So these are just a few strategies that you can try to put in place because you want to stay positive. You want to be surrounded by the people in situations that are uplifting, but let's face it, life is life. And it doesn't always work out exactly the way you want it.
So, when you do run into someone, that's a Debbie Downer. You will be prepared