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Eu-stress or Me-stress

Laughter is good for the heart, the mind, and the body.

Eustress, an involuntary response to amusement, lends a little relief to the effects of distress. It is natural to experience stress, and the body has its own built-in defense system. Stress is merely a natural response to our environment and it cannot be avoided. There are, however, ways to manage stress or reduce the effects of stress.

Eustress is a natural benefit to the body's emotional, mental and physical state. It can be an enthusiastic, energizing feeling or a peaceful, delightful, and pleasurable feeling of some type. It is commonly referred to as "good stress". Eustress is the type of stress that gives most people the freedom of clear thought. This allows the mind to take a break from random busy thoughts and refocus. Because of the involuntary response that the nervous system has to stress, when the mind is relaxed, the body also relaxes. By relaxing the mind, it becomes possible for most people to boost and strengthen mental ability, which also energizes the physical body.

When we talk of stress, we normally talk of distress. This is what most people are familiar with. Distress, simply put, is discomfort. It is the discomfort of pressure and tension. This is an involuntary response by the nervous system. When the body's nervous system detects danger, it goes into the "Fight or Flight" response. This is how the body protects itself against what it identifies as a threat. In other words, this is an early warning system. This early warning system affects the body on a sensory level. The body's heart rate increases, perspiration increases, and breathing becomes rapid and shallow. We may also feel anxious or nervous. For most people, their jobs or careers are the major source of the stress they encounter. In fact, a Gallup poll found that 90% of the participants were stressed at work at least once a week. At least 25% said they were stressed at work on a daily basis. More than 44% of employees indicated that their workload was excessive and more than 46% of employees are worried about getting laid-off. With this being the fact, there is a tremendous amount of stress in the workplace. This, of course, carries over into other activities, thus contributing to more tension, more headaches, backaches, and neck-aches. The human body is not designed to withstand the "Fight or Flight" response for very long periods of time. If the body's response to the pressures and tensions of daily demands are not addressed, things can then lead to more serious mental and or physical problems.

By learning to recognize the early warning signs of stress, we can then identify the need for changes in our daily activities. The questions to answer are...
Are you feeling more tired than usual?
Are you feeling irritable or short tempered?
Are you feeling restless or unable to sleep?
Are you enjoying things less or are you feeling depressed?
Understand that we cannot completely eliminate stress, but by recognizing its effects we can certainly minimize quite a bit of it. In recognizing what we are experiencing, we need to understand where the stress is coming from.
We apply the 4W-H factor by simply asking ourselves...Who, What, When, Where, and How?

· Who or what's creating the discomfort?

· When are we experiencing the discomfort?

· Where are we when we are experiencing the discomfort?

· How are we dealing with the discomfort?

By doing this, we are identifying stressors. Stressors are the things that create distress or discomfort.

Sometimes just a simple smile can calm things down. Laughter can stimulate a pleasurable feeling for most people. A natural response to pleasant feelings is Eustress. Eustress relaxes the "Fight or Flight" response because the nervous system is not on alert of a threat.

· Getting out of the office or taking a walk in the middle of the day may be all that's needed to break the "Fight or Flight" response.

· It may be difficult to believe, but a good laugh can stimulate a more productive mind and contribute to a healthier, more energized body.

· Eustress provides chemicals in the body that stimulate the brain to relax the neck and back muscles. Also, Eustress allows the mind to relax, thus so does the body. This is good for mental stimulation. It is also good for the physical state of the body. It helps to reduce blood pressure, strengthens the body's immune system, and helps maintain a healthy digestive system.

Because Eustress contributes to mental refocusing, some people are more creative and pro - active with solutions or problem solving. For the millions of people who enjoy a good laugh, laugh on. Those who don't laugh as much, laugh more, because laughter is good for the heart, the mind, and the body and Eustress is certainly a natural benefit to laughter.

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© Arnita Jones-Gerlitz, Your Stress Management and Personal Development Coach.
Life Coach - Life Coaching - Personal Development at www.MyPrivateCoach.com
Arnita Jones-Gerlitz is the Stress Management and Personal Development Coach at MyPrivateCoach: Life Coach. She can be contacted at info@myprivatecoach.com.
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