HeartMath

What is stress?

Stress is a term used to describe the wear and tear the body experiences in reaction to everyday tensions and pressures. Change, illness, injury or career and lifestyle changes, are common causes of stress. However, it's the emotional pressure and tension we feel in response to the little everyday hassles—rush hour traffic, waiting in line, and too many emails—that do the most damage.

How does stress affect Health?

Stress affects people physically, mentally and emotionally. According to the American Institute of Stress, up to 90% of all health problems are related to stress. Too much stress can contribute to and agitate many health problems including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, depression and sleep disorders.

How stressed are you?

Everyone responds to stress differently. Take this quick test to see the areas you are experiencing stress:

    * I fell overly tired or fatigued.

    * I often am nervous, anxious or depressed.

    * I have sleep problems.

    * I have repeated headaches or minor aches and pains.

    * I worry about job security, financial obligations or relationships.

What can I do about it?

The first step is to understand how stress works. It's not the events or situations that do the harm; it's how you respond to those events. More precisely, it's how you feel about them that determines whether you are stressed or not.

Emotions, or feelings, have a powerful impact on the human body. Positive emotions like appreciation, care, and love not only feel good, they are good for you. They help your body's systems synchronize and work better, like a well-tuned car.

HeartMath's research has shown when you intentionally shift to a positive emotion, heart rhythms immediately change. This shift in heart rhythms creates a favorable cascade of neural, hormonal and biochemical events that benefit the entire body. The effects are both immediate and long lasting.

How does it work?

When you're stressed, your body is out of sync. Typical negative emotions we feel stressed—like anger, frustration, anxiety and worry—lead to increased disorder in the heart's rhythyms and in the nervous system. In contrast, positive emotions like joy, appreciation, care and kindness create harmony in the heart's rhythms and the nervous system. Other bodily systems sync up to this rhythm, which scientists call coherence. Because coherence leads to more mental clarity, creativity and better problem --solving abilities, it's easier to find solutions and better ways of handling the stressful situation.

Continued

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