What is Stress and How Do You Manage It?

 

We all face Stress problems in our lives. But, how do we manage stress and lead a happy life? Recent research reveals that the body has the capability of affecting the mind. Simple things like the way you carry yourself, the way you walk, the way you talk, and the way you project yourself physically, affects your attitude and mind to a much larger extent than we previously were aware of. We have learned more about how our mind works in the last 12 years than in our entire history of neuroscience.

 

This article will, in short, discuss the positives that should be developed in order to have effective stress management.

 

For several decades now, researches all over the world have asserted that what goes on in the mind affects the body, but not until around this last decade, give or take a few years, have we found undeniable proof. Negative thoughts and a negative attitude lead to our feeling low: our heads fall, our shoulders sag, and our breathing becomes shallow. In fact it has been conclusively proven that a negative mind will trigger off a whole chain of physical reactions, which lead to us feeling the way we do.

 

On the reverse, positive thoughts and positive attitudes make us feel good: our heads are held up, we tend to look up, stand taller, breathe deeper and fuller.

 

So you see, the body is directly affected by our mental state. But, consider this: recent research reveals that we can switch the current, so to speak. The body also has the capability of affecting the mind. The way you carry yourself, the way you walk, the way you talk, and the way you project your physical self, affects your attitude and mind to a fairly large extent. If you always stand straight, with your chest held out and breathe in deeply, chances are you will begin to have a better attitude. On the other hand, if your shoulders are dropped, and you have a crouched back, you are probably going to feel depressed.

 

The interesting and potentially very powerful corollary to all of this, on the slim chance that you didn’t catch it, is that we can control our emotions though our bodily actions and postures. That means if we want to feel good or positive all we have to do is change our body posture. Though it may vary only slightly from person to person, the overall precepts for a positive frame of mind are more or less the same: Head high, Shoulders pulled back, deep breathing, chest held out, and of course the all important smile. As Tony Robbins puts it, “Motion creates Emotion”. The way we move changes, the way we think, feel and behave. The rigorous workout to upbeat music down to the slightest movement of a facial muscle has the affect of changing our emotions.

 

Even the simple act of a smile can make an enormous difference to your state of mind. Extensive research in this area proves that the act of smiling sets of a biological reaction that affects all parts of the body. It stimulates the heart and the lungs. It increases the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain. The body's excretory organs function more smoothly, thus clearing the body of harmful toxins. Imagine such a simple act as smiling to have such a far-reaching effects; in fact many doctors are of the opinion that fifteen minutes of light laughter on a daily basis, can increase your life span by about 5-10 years.

 

The point is that nothing happens by chance. We have all been created in a very scientific manner. Every gesture, every moment in the body has some purpose – some of those moments cause us to feel miserable, to doubt our abilities, and to curse our luck, while others make us feel good, optimistic and positive about life. We have the ability to choose the ones we desire.