Stress Relief: When things get to be too much, there are things you can do

Everyone knows that stress is a silent killer. But what to do about it? In addition to ridding yourself of the underlying causes of stress, experts advise Exercise, Sleep, and Mindful Relaxation all top the list. Below is a description of each and why it works taken from a recent LA Times Health section article.

Exercise:

Evolution has conditioned us to respond to stress as a physical threat, which is why our bodies produce hormones that prepare us to flee from trouble or fight back physically. However, running or punching usually isn't appropriate in our daily routines, so those hormones accumulate. This is where exercise comes in.

Initially, an intense workout is a stressor, boosting the heart rate, blood pressure and adrenaline. But regular exercise leads to lower baseline heart rates, lower blood pressure and lower stress hormone levels when at rest. This makes occasional surges of stress easier to handle.

Exercise can also reduce resting adrenaline rates as well as reduce depression.

Sleep:

Getting enough sleep is one of the most difficult things to do when one is stressed out. But getting sufficient sleep is critical to fight stress.

Even one night of tossing and turning raises the level of inflammatory cytokines, says Michael Irwin, director of the UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology. Cytokines are chemical messengers, or proteins, that send messages between immune cells, and nerve and brain cells. Some promote inflammation; others are anti-inflammatory. A wide spectrum of conditions, including cardiovascular disease, arthritis, diabetes, certain cancers, obesity and functional decline, are linked to an increase in inflammatory cytokines. Experimental sleep deprivation has been found to alter immune responses and increase inflammation.

Chronic inflammation is associated with a variety of medical risks and should be avoided at all costs.

Mindful Relaxation:

Deliberate relaxation -- also mitigates stress.

"Stress often causes problems because you let it," says Winner, also the author of "Take the Stress Out of Your Life." "You control your thoughts. But too many of us let our thoughts control us."

Mindfulness is the ability to deliberately focus on the present moment and to appreciate it. When people are mindful, they feel less urgency.

Practicing mindfulness and meditation trains the brain to focus -- whether on a mantra or a moment, says Irwin. That conscious activity improves the brain's attention span. People who know how to rein in distracting thoughts, which are often worries, and concentrate on the task at hand have a powerful defense against stress.

Studies have shown that during meditation, heart rates, blood pressure and stress hormones drop, and that people who meditate regularly have lower baselines of stress.

"Breathing is underrated," says Speck. People who do breathing exercises religiously produce fewer stress hormones, trigger fewer inflammatory cytokines and lower their blood pressure and heart rates. When we get stressed, we use only the upper third of our lungs, and breathing gets shallow. We don't give our bodies enough oxygen, which causes it to produce more stress hormones and makes the heart beat faster to circulate what little oxygen there is.

Other suggestions include being social, having a positive attitude and eating properly. Follow the link below for the full article.

Source: LA Times