Stressing Out
A personal life filled with problems, someone being a pain at work, and bills just keep piling on. The stress is just too much to take. Overwhelmed, frustrated and just plain tired is the only way to describe what it feels like. We have all been there a couple times, drowning in problems and the stress weighing down on.
Bad stress can take over every aspect of life.
I start making unhealthy eating choices which leads to lack of energy, upset stomach, unhealthy weight change, and break outs. I’ve had so many nights spent worrying about the future. A bad mood, no focus or energy is all I get from not sleeping. Then, I push myself too hard giving me sore muscles and a bad head space. With in a couple weeks of this abuse, my body and brain can’t function in a healthy way anymore.
Physical Effects
I touch bodies for a living. There is a reason the saying is “the weight of the world on your shoulders”. I feel the stress living in the muscles around your neck and shoulders. Some clients joke and name each tight spot after one of their children. It is a funny joke with some truth behind it. Treating your stress could be the solution to a lot of physical problems.
The Mayo Clinic, on the physical side effect of stress says “Stress that's left unchecked can contribute to many health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. Common effects of stress on your body included headache, muscle tension, chest pain, fatigue, sleep problems.”
Mental effects
Common effects of stress on the mind include anxiety, restlessness, lack of focus, feeling overwhelmed, irritability or anger, sadness or depression. For people that already have anxiety or other mental health issues, stress adds on intensity to the situation. That why it’s important to see a mental health professional.
The mental effects of stress, effect your behavior. Without focus you can’t be the best at your job. Anger, sadness and depression can isolate you from your friends and family. And stress can cut your 8 glorious hours of sleep down to 4 hours of tossing and turning.
Overcoming stress
Out of control stress can literally being killing us. That is why self- care is so important. It’s more than a hashtag, it can save your life. You can read about my self- care routine here.
Massage Therapy is an important tool for combating stress. For thousand of years people have used massage to stay healthy and happy.
The Mayo Clinic article about massage therapy as a tool for stress reduction says: “Massage is generally considered part of complementary and integrative medicine. It's increasingly being offered along with standard treatment for a wide range of medical conditions and situations. Studies of the benefits of massage demonstrate that it is an effective treatment for reducing stress, pain and muscle tension.”
Stress can be part of our lives without it killing us. If we make self- care a priority and practice it daily, we won’t let it take over our lives. Like I have said many times before we deserve more from life than just surviving.