|
Author: Tanja Gardner Article source: http://www.stress.org/. Used with author's permission.
NB: the information in this article is for educational purposes only, and should not be read as medical advice. If you have any concerns about your diet or a particular supplement, please consult your healthcare professional
Over the previous three articles in this series, we've looked at how supplementing can help us manage our stress. We've looked at how replacing vital nutrients that the stress response uses up and/or leaches can help our bodies recover quicker from the damage getting stressed inflicts on them. We've also looked at herbs that will help us to feel more relaxed (and therefore less stressed), so that our stress responses become less intense. And in each article, we've included a caution against relying on supplements as the be-all and end-all of a stress management programme.
This will be met with varying degrees of frustration by those who are used to the instant gratification method of managing their health. Our modern lives condition us to expect fast results from simple actions that we don't have to think about implementing. If it hurts, we take a painkiller. If we have a cold, we suck on an anaesthetic lozenge, inhale some decongestant, and try to carry on as normal as much as possible. After all, our symptoms aren't troubling us any longer, so the method works, right?
TREATING THE SYMPTOMS
The trouble with this method when it comes to healthcare is that there's a reason we became sick in the first place - we let our immune systems get run down enough that when there's a cold going around, our systems aren't strong enough to fight it off. We can treat the cold symptoms, but if we don't do something to build our immune systems back up again, we'll simply come down with the next cold we're exposed to after that - and the one after that.
Stress is much the same. Taking a stress supplement to help us manage our stress is much like taking cold medication to manage a cold. It will usually relieve the symptoms of stress - but as we mentioned in Part 3 of this series, unless the cause is treated, the stress will only end up manifesting in other ways. The question, of course, is how to treat stress. If you have a cold, you know that the best ways to build your immune system back up are to eat healthily and rest enough. But what about stress?
THE STRESS PROCESS REVISITED
Perhaps unsurprisingly, resting and eating well go a long way in helping you to manage your stress too! But because stress is partly mental and emotional, there are far more options available. It's helpful here to go back to the 3-part stress process we mentioned back in Issue 1 of Optimum Stress News. Stress, you'll remember, happens when someone:
1. Becomes aware of being exposed to a specific situation (past, present or future),
2. Believes the situation is beyond their current ability to cope with, and then
3. Has a number of physical, mental and emotional responses triggered
STRESS MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
Stress management strategies can be aimed at any of these points. For example, we can:
• avoid the stressful situation altogether, or reduce our exposure to it
• work on our ability to deal with the situation - learn new skills to help us manage it better
• work on our beliefs about the situation
• learn to consciously manage the responses that are triggered
• increase our resiliency to stress damage by ensuring we have full resource banks (most supplements are a part of this approach)
The best method to use to manage your individual stress response will depend completely on your situation. Sometimes avoiding the situation is the quickest and easiest way to manage it - other times it will be completely inappropriate. Research suggests that taking a combination approach will often get far better results than any one approach on its own. If you're not sure which method (or combination) will work best for you, consider speaking to a stress management coach - that's what they're trained to help with!
SUPPLEMENTING AS PART OF A STRATEGY
None of which is to say that stress supplements don't work. There's a fair amount of evidence - research and anecdotal - to show that they can. But if you want to manage your stress instead of simply pushing it down, you need to see supplements as part of an overall stress strategy, rather than as an alternative to one. It may take more time, effort and energy - but the end results in your life will be worth it. If you have any questions about anything in this article, please don't hesitate to contact me. Otherwise, until next issue, may every day bring you closer to your optimum life. This article © Tanja Gardner, Optimum Life Ltd.
For more information on how we can help you start living your optimum life, please check out http://optimumlife.co.nz.
For a copy of our free Stress Audit Questionnaire, please e-mail tanja@optimumlife.co.nz with 'Stress Audit Questionnaire' in the subject line.
Correct Your Acid / Akaline Balance by the Water You Drink: What the Experts Say
Discover what the experts say: how you can correct your body's acid / alkaline imbalance through the water you drink.
Wedding Videography - When Getting it Right on the 1st Take Counts, Hire a Professional
Are you considering having uncle Charlie or aunt Mary shoot the video for your wedding? After reading this article you may have second thoughts.
Physical Fitness - Is Your Workout Missing Something?
When most people think of physical fitness, they think of strength and cardiovascular fitness. If they are really thinking about it, they'll add flexibility to ...
Golf Fitness DVD: Improve Your Game In Your Living Room
Plugging in a golf fitness dvd is a great alternative to relying on yourself for motivation and consistency. The dvd craze has caught on with golfers of all ag...
Bedroom Furniture
Some ideas on choosing and buying bedroom furniture...
How to Secure Instant Messaging and Improve Communication
Instant messaging (IM) has triumphed in the past 2-3 years among personal Internet users as well as within companies. Instant messaging is used today in 70% of ...
Introduction to Performance Coaching
Leaders must learn effective performance coaching techniques and know how to convince workers to change their behavior in order to achieve organizational object...
The Types of Skip Trace Accounts
Finally, a definition of the different kinds of skip trace accounts.
Cultivating Belief in Your Goals
The Belief That You Can Do It and more importantly, That You Will! First, You must choose one goal and commit to it's achievement. It seems that this is always ...
Power of Prayer With Emotions
The Power of Prayer has been known and experienced by billions of people for thousands of years. Through prayers, people have been seeking the guidance of a hig...
How To Be the Ultimate American Consumer
Feel like a lemming lately? Ready to follow the crowd into the great plunge of Ultimate American Consumerism? Just in case you need a little help, here is a ton...
Write Your Ezine Article in 15 Minutes or Less!
Gasp! I can hear it from the purists now: Matt is advocating that writers really dumb down their writing styles to crank out more articles in less time. No, not...
10 Steps To Improve Your Financial Situation
Follow these 10 steps to improve your financial situation and lower your overall debt. These steps are straightforward, and ready to be implemented into your da...
Finding An Affiliate Online Opportunity Program
Never before has it been easier to find an affiliate online opportunity program. From years ago when franchising was new the whole county turned
Stop Buying Email Lists
The saying "Quality, not Quantity" is applicable even to the world of email marketing. So many organizations are purchasing large databases of email addresses, ...
Glittering Gold: A Rare Opportunity
There isn't much gold left to be mined. What is being mined is coming from the world's poorest countries at a huge environmental cost. Also, demand is soaring -...
Dont Just Concentrate on Web Site Traffic - Focus on Sales Conversion
Increasing your web site sales does not always mean increasing your traffic, focus on your sales conversion and maximise the profit from the traffic you already...
Six Ways to Save on Your Baby Shower
It's time to celebrate the baby! As Keepsake Favors' resident baby shower expert, I've learned how to plan a great party without draining your bank account. Her...
Debt Handling Solutions
Sometimes debt can seem overwhelming. In those instances, or even before things get that far out of hand, get back to basics and try some of these debt handling...
Home Equity Loan Risks
Just like any other financial tool, home equity loans can prove to be a double-edged sword and can have extremely adverse results if used unwisely.
Your Most Important Appointment
An appointment is simply a mutual agreement to meet with someone at a specific time. You set appointments with doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, contrac...
How Can You Find Out The Salary Of A Freelance Proofreader?
If you are looking for the salary of a freelance editor, how will you find this information?
Product Positioning for Enterprise Software and Information Technology Companies
Good marketing positioning is like good lying. No, we're not suggesting that you lie when creating your company and product positioning. Quite the opposite, in ...
What Does the Public Relations Client REALLY Want, and Why?
Truth is, in public relations, it's quality planning, and the degree of behavioral change it produces, that eventually captures client attention, not tactics li...
|
Print this page