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One of the things he mentions is to not stress. How do you do this? I'm not a worry wart or anything, but sometimes it seems like I can't help my body's natural

by gxs 15y ago

One of the things he mentions is to not stress. How do you do this? I'm not a worry wart or anything, but sometimes it seems like I can't help my body's natural response to certain situations.

erikpukinskis 15y ago
Breathe.
zachcb 15y ago
I think he means to just try to avoid stress. The way I do this is-- A) Avoid situations which I know will be stressful. Not all situations that are stressful are harmful in the long run, though. For me, meeting people is stressful, but it pays itself off as if you're lucky enough to come off as likable you may have new friends, which will reduce your stress. People who socialize have been shown to live longer and be happier, according to Richard Restak in his book "Think Smart." B) If you're troubled by something stressful (which has already occurred), I find it best to locate the exact thing that is stressing you and why it's stressing you. If it's an exam coming up, I try talking it over with people and venting. This has helped me a lot. I'll recant Think Smart again, where Dr. Restak recommends asking yourself these questions: "Am I going to allow this experience to determine the course of the rest of my life? Or am I going to take control of my life? What can I learn from this experience?" He goes on to say: "Mentally reformulating things in this way will increase your feeling of control and protect your brain from stress-induced damage. This is important, since loss of a sense of control is the main contributor to the stress response. No matter how stressful the situation, if you retain control of your attitudes and responses this along will lessen your stress--even if you can't affect the situation responsible for the stress." Couple quotes: "Not being able to govern events, I govern myself." -Michel de Montaigne (useful for stressful situations) "If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it. This you have the power to revoke." -Marcus Aurelius (had to remind myself of this today) Hope this helps.
tom_b 15y ago
For a nice read about stress and the body's stress mechanisms you should have a look at Why Zebra's Don't Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky. The book is more about the effects of stress than how to avoid it, but the author suggests: 1 - Exercise (pick something you enjoy, preferably aerobic) 2 - Meditation (seems to help while you're doing it, less clear on persistence of effects) 3 - Control - it's nice if you have (and feel) some control in your life. 4 - Have a system of social support. 5 - Religion and spirituality. Very loose ground here. 6 - Cognitive flexibility (different coping strategies for different stressors) Personally, I've found that regular exercise is a big stress reducer. Particularly heart rate interval training, alternating periods of over 90% max heart rate with recovery periods below 70% max heart rate.
jameyc 15y ago
A lot of the problem isn't so much the stress in particular, as it is your endocrine system's response to it. You go into fight or flight mode and start pumping out cortisol, and most of the rest of your system goes into standby. Serious research into it is pretty young, but things like regular exercise can help control the process a bit more. We're starting to find compounds that can reduce cortisol response as well (eg. a couple of cups of black tea a day seems to noticeably reduce it.) As research progresses, we should see more advancement. In the meantime, most of the 'good for you' stuff tends to reduce the problem. Eat well, exercise, get enough sleep, and so forth. They all work to minimize your body's response to stress. Avoiding stressful situations is ideal, but they aren't the root of the problem as much as cortisol is.

by gxs 15y ago

One of the things he mentions is to not stress. How do you do this? I'm not a worry wart or anything, but sometimes it seems like I can't help my body's natural response to certain situations.

erikpukinskis 15y ago

Breathe.

zachcb 15y ago

I think he means to just try to avoid stress. The way I do this is-- A) Avoid situations which I know will be stressful. Not all situations that are stressful are harmful in the long run, though. For me, meeting people is stressful, but it pays itself off as if you're lucky enough to come off as likable you may have new friends, which will reduce your stress. People who socialize have been shown to live longer and be happier, according to Richard Restak in his book "Think Smart." B) If you're troubled by something stressful (which has already occurred), I find it best to locate the exact thing that is stressing you and why it's stressing you. If it's an exam coming up, I try talking it over with people and venting. This has helped me a lot. I'll recant Think Smart again, where Dr. Restak recommends asking yourself these questions: "Am I going to allow this experience to determine the course of the rest of my life? Or am I going to take control of my life? What can I learn from this experience?" He goes on to say: "Mentally reformulating things in this way will increase your feeling of control and protect your brain from stress-induced damage. This is important, since loss of a sense of control is the main contributor to the stress response. No matter how stressful the situation, if you retain control of your attitudes and responses this along will lessen your stress--even if you can't affect the situation responsible for the stress." Couple quotes: "Not being able to govern events, I govern myself." -Michel de Montaigne (useful for stressful situations) "If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it. This you have the power to revoke." -Marcus Aurelius (had to remind myself of this today) Hope this helps.

tom_b 15y ago

For a nice read about stress and the body's stress mechanisms you should have a look at Why Zebra's Don't Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky. The book is more about the effects of stress than how to avoid it, but the author suggests: 1 - Exercise (pick something you enjoy, preferably aerobic) 2 - Meditation (seems to help while you're doing it, less clear on persistence of effects) 3 - Control - it's nice if you have (and feel) some control in your life. 4 - Have a system of social support. 5 - Religion and spirituality. Very loose ground here. 6 - Cognitive flexibility (different coping strategies for different stressors) Personally, I've found that regular exercise is a big stress reducer. Particularly heart rate interval training, alternating periods of over 90% max heart rate with recovery periods below 70% max heart rate.

jameyc 15y ago

A lot of the problem isn't so much the stress in particular, as it is your endocrine system's response to it. You go into fight or flight mode and start pumping out cortisol, and most of the rest of your system goes into standby. Serious research into it is pretty young, but things like regular exercise can help control the process a bit more. We're starting to find compounds that can reduce cortisol response as well (eg. a couple of cups of black tea a day seems to noticeably reduce it.) As research progresses, we should see more advancement. In the meantime, most of the 'good for you' stuff tends to reduce the problem. Eat well, exercise, get enough sleep, and so forth. They all work to minimize your body's response to stress. Avoiding stressful situations is ideal, but they aren't the root of the problem as much as cortisol is.