Reducing stress, one life-hack at a time, so you can live your truest most wonderful life.
*Note that in no way I am a health professional, doctor or therapist of any kind. Everything expressed below is based on my experiences, learnings, readings, trainings and desire to truly help humans to live their best life.
Stress. You know, this awful dark insect who haunts our brain and our whole body too when we anticipate an intense event?
Stress. You know, this sort of volatile dementor (yup, there is a Harry Potter reference...) who creeps in every sphere of our life and makes us react in some sad ways (hello to you, insomnia, irritable bowel, migraines and uncontrollable tears)?
Stress. You know, this self building barrier that prevents us from living fully and happily and from expressing our true and authentically beautiful self?
Stress, is not just some dark character. It is, in fact a firstly physical reaction of our humanoid organism to a factor that is threatening to it. Think, encounter with a lion and you need to run. Fast. Stress is the preparation of the body to be able to react and run away from the stressor or literally fight it, if necessary! Fight or flight. Though, have you notice that, living in the XXIst century, we are confronted by stress in many (many, MANY) more ways than during just a “ simple ” life threatening experience? I think that, these days, everything has become an unfortunate and inexhaustible source of stress, because of the way society thinks and shows us to think. We need to be better, faster, skinnier, smarter, stronger, richer or else…
...Or else what?
In my experience, most of the stress us, occidental humans are feeling is either related to an over-amplified past event feeding (stuffing!) on our negative feelings or to a future event that has not come yet and might very well never come. Isn’t it crazy? And I am one who knows a thing or two in that sad area, having struggled (and still sometimes is) with irritable Bowden syndrome for years and years, to finally understand that never a pill will exterminate my terrible, physical and very real pain. I had to work on myself, get to know and love my whole quirky self and work with it! I am pretty sure that I am not alone living with the very awful side effects of a prolonged period of stress, often showing up as physical or mental problems such as digestive troubles, migraines, heart deficiencies, depression and so on.
The Merriam-Webster defines stress as “ a physical, chemical or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation ”. A FACTOR IN DISEASE CAUSATION. I truly think that stress is the number one origin of most of the illnesses that we, over-analyzing modern-western humans are affected by (yes, cancers included). Think about it ; our poor body is efficiently preparing itself to fight or run from a dangerous situation, but instead, we stay still, behind our screens, not spending that extra energy. How can this not cause illnesses, right?
This widely alarming reflection I’ve had for 2-3 years lead me to develop the need to share my experiences, trick and life hacks to, very hopefully, help others. This is what I intend to do every two or three weeks with the Anti-stress chronicle ; to share one way to diminish your stress level so that you can live a lighter-happier-sparklier life.
See you soon for the first life-changing (I swear it kinda is!!) trick!
Hugs,
Andy L.
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