Of all of the 9 steps to Living your DREAM, Stress management is probably the most important. Why?  Because no matter what diet you follow, how much you exercise and what supplements you take, if you’re not managing your stress you will almost certainly be at risk for chronic disease, dysfunctional metabolism, decreased immune system, and unregulated hormonal system.

 

The truth is it’s easier to make changes to our diets or take some pills (whether drugs or supplements) than it is to mange stress.  Stress puts us against core patterns of belief and behavior that can be difficult to change.  This can also be difficult because it forces us to slow down and take a step back and we live in a society that praises the idea more is always better.  But I think we need to ask ourselves at what cost?  If you don’t have your health everything else becomes a struggle.  

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Stress is defined as the nonspecific response of the body to the demand made upon it.  Now I think it’s very important to note that we need stress in our lives to stay healthy. If nothing stressed us out how would we grow as humans? It’s when we are chronically stressed 24/7 that oxidative damage begins to happen at the cellular level.  Unfortunately this is the stress most of us face and few of us manage. So what are all the different types of stress?

 

There are 6 different types of stress we face and each of them having both positive and negative effects. There is Physical stress (proper exercise good, too much exercise bad), Chemical stress (organic food good, GMO’s bad), Electromagnetic  (sunlight good, EMF’s bad), Mental stress (positive outlook, good, negative thinking bad), Nutritional (eating right for your metabolic type good, eating too much, too little or poor quality foods bad) Thermal (maintaining body temperature good, too hot or too cold bad). 

 

An imbalance in these stressors can cause energy and mood swings, digestive problems, fatigue, anxiety and depression, decreased immune system, brain Fog, accelerated aging, weight gain and constipation.  

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So how do we manage the stressors in our life?  Below is my top ten list of ways to reduce the amount of stress we experience.

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1. Identify your primary stressors

2. Eat and Drink right for yourself (Organic Food and Clean water)

3. Move your body according to your lifestyle demands

4. Get outside and walk or Earth

5. Allow yourself at least 20 minutes a day to be ALL ALONE

6. Learn how to say NO to people 

7. Avoid People that stress you out 

8. Turn off the News

9. Cultivate empathy

10. Allow yourself to Play