Its Entirely Natural – Blog

The upcoming holidays are a time where people need to relax and enjoy themselves. This is a time for family and fun. So, why do so many people get so stressed-out on a holiday that comes around once a year?

Holidays can be a real strain on people that feel everything has to be perfect. What are people going to think? This often happens to people with low self-esteem problems. The holidays are a time to relax, get together with friends and family in a casual way. Don’t worry about appearances and enjoy the time with the people around you.

For a culture that is supposed to be celebrating the holiday season, it can be a nightmare for many people. A lot of people are faced with stress, depression, sleepless nights, poor nutrition, overeating and irritability. The holidays are a time to, what my son would say, “Chill Out.” Remember what the holidays were initially all about – religion and philosophy.

One way that our family enjoys the holidays by chilling is watching holiday movies. Now our favorite classic Christmas move is National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. It may not be your favorite, but it will make you laugh and reduces stress. If you don’t own it maybe give it to yourself as an early Christmas present.

chron.com

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Well it’s that time of year again, and I’m not talking about Christmas. Students all across the country are preparing for finals. They are under a lot of stress and this can hinder their test taking performance. Not only does stress effect their testing, it can also cause anxiety, insomnia, irritability, memory loss and depression. So what should your student do?

You may not be surprised, but it is recommended that they take a break from studying and clear their minds with some activities such as a casual game or exercise. It will help them relax and be a little less stressed during their tests.

Here are some additional tips to help cope with stress during finals:

Laugh – Laughter has been proven to reduce stress and also release endorphins. So go out and take a mental break by watching a funny movie or video.

Breathe – When people are stressed they have a tendency to take shallow breaths. It is important to take deep breaths especially before taking a test. It will help bring more oxygen to feed your body as well as your brain.

Exercise – will make you feel better and is a great stress reliever. When you have a nice walk or a great workout, your body will produce endorphins to help reduce the stress hormones. So take a break and have a nice walk or do some yoga.

Eat Well – There is almost nothing better you can do for yourself than to to have proper nutrition. You can fight stress and depression by eating more foods rich in Omega 3 fatty acids. Try eating fish three times a week or take Omega 3 supplements to help your moods. To help produce serotonin for your brain eat foods rich in B-6 vitamins. Foods like Sweet potatoes, rice and tuna are a great source as well as supplements.

Students have enough stress in their lives and it doesn’t help when parents put high expectations on performance. Be sure to not add more pressure than they already have. Do however encourage them to do their best.

reuters.com

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• Holliday Stress

When we talk about stress and how to manage it, the conversation usually revolves around the adult. We have financial issues, relationship issues, work related issues, etc. Have you ever thought of what our junior or senior high school students are up against?

College is more difficult to get into as the number applications continue to grow. The competition for financial aid and scholarships rise as cost of tuition increases and the number of applicants for financial aid increases. Then there is the pressure of doing well on the PSAT, SAT, and other college entrance exams. There is also getting all the applications done on time, getting letters of recommendation, etc. The list goes on and on.

On top of all this your child has to concentrate on the regular school coursework. No wonder our high school children are also getting stressed out. Dr. Philip Morse has developed a Kick Out Stress program that is designed to help your teenager cope with all the stresses of high school and beyond. They learn to calm themselves down before tests so they can perform better, and many other helpful stress management techniques.

If you have a junior or senior you may want to take a look inside.

prweb.com

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Most everybody I know is stressed about something. Stress seems to be a constant issue in life. Once you get over one stressful situation another one seems around the corner. A study by the American Medical Association reported that stress was a factor in 75% of all diseases. So what can we do? Have you ever thought about reflexology?

Studies have shown that stress, anger, and depression have been linked to weakening of the heart muscle. The more a person had any of these conditions the less their hearts were able to respond effectively. The constant emotional ups and downs showed that it would stretch the heart beyond its capacity and would have trouble bouncing back to normal.

Who doesn’t like a good foot massage? Reflexology can be a natural treatment to offset the effects of stress on the heart. It reduces stress and tension throughout the body. Reflexology treats your body, mind and spirit as a cohesive system. It is also believed to encourage the release of endorphins – you know that natural feel-good hormone. Try it you might like it.

about.com

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In order to manage stress, you need to be able to manage yourself. Why worry about things you can’t control. Learn to control what you can in your own life with self management and combat negative or excess stress. Self management is a process of learning and applying new knowledge.

You may be a person that has been diagnosed with pre-diabetes, type 2 diabetes, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). You need to achieve good self management. You will need to change your lifestyle, take medications, and do regular self testing. Self-management primarily consists of educating yourself, monitoring your medical condition, and working with your health-care provider to adopt lifestyle changes.

A program of good self management will help you feel physically and emotionally better in the short run and improve the overall quality of your life. Joseph Califano, former secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, observed, “You, the individual, can do more for your health and well-being than any doctor, any hospital, any drug, and any exotic medical device.” How true this is.

Being diagnosed with diabetes will cause changes in your life and you will need to learn self management. Making self management work for you is a matter of learning something new and them applying that knowledge in your life. I find it helpful to deal with stress one day at a time, even one task at a time, and only worry about things I can control.

diet-diabetes.net

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Managing stress is becoming more important as our environment becomes more tension-inducing every year.  From traffic jams to work-related stress, there are more stimuli that can make the heart race and the adrenaline flow than at any time in the past. Many stress related issues are with our children.

A major cause of stress is related to the wellbeing of our families, especially our children. We are always worried about their safety, but what happens when they get an illness or into an accident? Even worse what if they are hospitalized or have a chronic health condition?

Our Middle child was born premature and was diagnosed to be allergic to milk protein of all things. Can you imagine not being able to feed your infant breast milk or use off the shelf formula? When things like this happen, you must seek the help from professionals. Luckily we had some of the best help around, and a subscription formula, and today we have a healthy 10 year old with no allergies. He can even have a milkshake now.

As your children grow there’s plenty to be anxious about. It’s Entirely Natural (pun intended) to want to protect your children from harm and heartache. Stress can go too far when you worry too much that it gets in the way of your own life. Do you lose sleep or do you fear controlling and managing your child is hurting your relationship?

Realize that you can’t control if they get sick, do well in school, or make friends easily. If you’re concerned, that is a good sign of parenting. You must learn that you have limitations on controlling things. Recognize that your kids are resilient and they have to learn how fall down in order to learn how to get back up.

A really good tip is not to stress over things you can’t control. You need to differentiate between fact and your fears. Grounding yourself in day-to-day reality is a good way to avoid stressing. What is the reality of the moment and deal with only that moment only. If you can say to yourself “I have done everything I can now I’m ready to move on.” Great – you are on your way to controlling your stress. If not – you may want to seek help with stress management.

CNN.com

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In an earlier topic we discussed how anger can cause heart disease. Well there is another emotional condition that affects heart disease, and that is depression. Studies have shown that depression and heart disease walk hand-in-hand with each other. What’s worse is heart disease can lead to depression and depression can lead to heart disease. Researchers in Montreal found that patients who were depressed were four times as likely to die in the next 6 months as those who were not depressed.

Yet again many people get depressed because of everyday stresses to their body and mind. Enjoy life and what it brings. Think less about stressful situations and more about what makes life worth living.

NIMH

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The link between your mind and heart is very strong. Some new research has been done to show a correlation between angry men and heart disease. Studies showed that angry men showed a higher rate of heart disease.

Researchers examined inflammation in the body. Inflammation is though to be a healthy reaction of a functioning immune system; however chronic low-grade inflammation caused by anger can be a sign of an adverse condition. This low-grade inflammation is believed to be a contributor to heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Men throughout the years seem to get angrier as time goes on. A major cause of this anger is stress. With everything that can kill you now days at least stress can be managed as well as anger. So chill and enjoy life.

MSNBC.com

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One of the biggest problems we have today is dealing with stress.  Everyone gets stressed from time to time. Stress is actually a normal function of the body. However people who are chronically stressed often develop metabolic syndrome, also known as syndrom X. This is a condition that causes a person to gain more weight than they should, based on the calories they consume. A study funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimated there were 60 million people, in 2000, to be effected by metabolic syndrome.

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have determined a neurotransmitter (NPY) and the receptor (Y2R) are activated during stress leading to obesity and metabolic syndrome. They were able to block weight gain and metabolic syndrome in mice with a Y2R blocker injected directly into the abdominal fat. The result was a decrease in fat in the abdomen and reduced fat in the liver. It also helped control insulin resistance, and blood pressure.

Researchers are hopeful that this will work the same way in humans. This would lead to better control of metabolic syndrome and reduce chances of a person developing heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

FOXNews.com

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