by HHC Practitioner Marnel Hesterman, Emotional Wellness Specialist for Women (Tapping Practitioner and Certified Life Coach)
What is Stress?
There are three different types of stress: traumatic stress, daily routine stress, and sudden stress.
Unless we have lived our lives in a bubble, we have all experienced stress and/or trauma in our lifetimes.
Traumatic Stress - can result from things like assault, environmental disasters, wars, severe accidents, or illnesses.
Daily Routine Stress - can be a result of school/work stress, child care/rearing stress, day to day responsibilities, or financial responsibilities.
Sudden Stress - can be a result of unexpected change, job loss, transfers, death, or changes in life as we know it.
How each of us responds and is affected by stress is unique.
Why is Stress Management Important?
When we are stressed for short periods of time, our bodies can usually overcome and regain our calm in a relatively quickly. However, if these short term stresses repeat over a long period of time, they can become what we call chronic stress.
If we have underlying traumatic stress from earlier on in our lives, then even the short term stresses can feel overwhelming, because our stress threshold is very low. If we keep piling one stress on top of another without releasing the emotional attachments to the previous stressful events and experiences, we become overloaded. That is when we may start to experience the physical, mental, and emotional issues that can be related to chronic stress. A state of chronic stress makes it difficult for the body to return to a normal level of stress hormone activity.
Chronic Stress Can Contribute to or Increase the Risk of:
Heart disease,
Respiratory issues
Sleep issues
Reproductive issues
High blood pressure
Type 2 Diabetes
Depression
Anxiety
PTSD
Some people get used to feeling agitated, stressed or hopeless, and think it's normal.
Are You Experiencing Physical Signs of Stress?
Headaches
Tension in the body
Pins and needles sensations
Sweating
Muscle cramps
Are You Experiencing Emotional Signs of Stress?
Anger
Trouble concentrating
Fatigue
Forgetfulness
Restlessness
Sadness
Are You Trying to Avoid Your Stress?
Eating too much or too little
Abusing alcohol or drugs
Smoking more
Withdrawing
Excessive working, exercising, gambling
Binge watching TV
**The American Psychological Association released new statistics in regards to the growing percentages of stress. To see more check out; https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2022/march-2022-survival-mode
Tips and Reminders for Stress Relief
Focus on what you have control over: your thoughts, feelings, actions, and reactions. Let the rest go.
Breathe - very often when we are stressed we forget to breathe
Release the stress and the emotional attachments to past traumas through Tapping and Emotional Wellness
Sleep
Proper Nutrition
Share a smile whenever possible
It is possible to let go of emotional and physical stress, with Tapping and Emotional Wellness. This process actually calms the stress response center of our brain and allows us to release the emotional attachments to past/present stress and trauma, so that we can be clear, calm and confident again.
Once we can regain our clarity, we are able to see new perspectives and other options for life moving forward. Through the process of Tapping and Emotional Wellness I have experienced stress relief personally and I can attest to the successes and life changing results I have witnessed with clients, using these tools as well.
If you would like to read more of my blogs, you can find more at: https://inciteinspirations.com/incites