Published:
10/24/2011 05:17pm
Anti-Aging through Stress Reduction
Anti-Aging through Stress Reduction
By Debbie Johnson, Author of Think Yourself Young
When Oprah interviewed supermodels who’d just turned fifty, Cheryl Tiegs was very clear about why she still looks and feels so young. She said that she never worries. She also said that everything always works out anyway, so why worry?
Stress and worry literally create not only poor health, but wrinkles as well. According to the AMA (American Medical Association), stress is responsible for 89-85% of all human illness! But there’s more, it can also wreak havoc on our outward appearance.
Think about it for just a moment. If stress affects the health of the body, and the skin is the largest organ in the body, doesn’t it stand to reason that our skin may be affected the most?
Here’s what Dr. Dale Healy of Northwestern Health Sciences University has to say about the body and stress; “When you allow stress to affect your life, you are allowing it to influence every organ and every cell in your body.”
And Now, For the Good News
You can lead a full and active life; a busy and even high-pressure life at times; still have problems; and believe it or not, still find ways to sail through it all with a strong, yet calm nervous system. There are ways to cope with the challenges that threaten your youthful appearance and energy.
I’ve listed ten tips below from which to choose in order to help you de-stress. Please keep in mind that everyone’s body is different, so what you need to feel less stressed will be different than what your best friend needs, or even what your sister needs. However, a few key techniques and tools seem to be universal.
Try just one of these a week, you don’t want to get stressed about de-stressing!
The Top Ten Tips to Take You Back in Time
1. Mark your calendar for one day a week to rest, relax, recuperate and play!
It’s actually been proven in scientific studies that people who take a “Sabbath day” or recuperative rest day are actually healthier, happier and more efficient. They get more done because they have more energy.
Do you find yourself dragging yourself through your work-day or week?
The reason may be partly that your subconscious knows you are never going to get a rest or reward, so it will fight you for it.
Choose one day and mark your day planner for that day off. Put a big X on the page, or simply write R& R in big letters to fill the entire page. I take Sunday, myself, plus Saturday afternoon all the way through Sunday night.
Figure out what works best for you to have twenty-four hours completely un-interrupted rest. Some Sundays I am busy with church (just once a month) or other volunteer work, but that’s just part of the day and it feels like playing to me, because I enjoy it so much.
2. See a chiropractor regularly to keep your spine, and thus your nervous system, aligned as perfectly as possible. You’ll be amazed at how not just backaches, but headaches and even heartaches are improved because you are more calm, relaxed and comfortable in your body.
With an aligned spine, you are more easily able to flow with the bombardments of the day. It’s one of the simplest things you can do to change and support your body’s ability to flow with the stress. Your body will thank you a million times over, and long-standing health issues (that age you, by the way) may disappear.
In choosing a chiropractor, make sure he or she is dedicated to long-term care and believes the principle that they simply remove the obstructions in your spine so that the power that made the body can heal it.
When they ask you if you want immediate relief or long-term health, go for the long-term health every time. And don’t expect overnight results without some minor pain, as the muscles which have been pulled out of place are now going back to unfamiliar territory. Go to your local health food store for natural pain relief, like Arnica gel, to help your through the few weeks of that.
3. Choose an hour every day to de-stress with exercise. Mark your day-p
