Physical Impact of Stress on the body – Part 1
Stress is a natural human response that enables the body to cope during certain situations.
There are three phases to our stress response:
- Phase 1 – The Alarm Phase
- Phase 2 – The Resistance Phase
- Phase 3 – Exhaustion
Phase 1 – The Alarm Phase
This phase is short lived and initiated by the hormones released by the adrenal medulla. It is triggered by excitement, exercise, emergency and embarrassment – what are commonly called the “E” situations.
During this phase the sympathetic nervous system will dominate and favour body functions that support vigorous physical activity. Once the situation is resolved the body either the parasympathetic nervous system will dominate allowing the body to relax and digestion food or the sympathetic nervous system will continue to dominate and the body will move into phase 2.
Phase 2 – The Resistance Reaction
This is a long term stress reaction or chronic stress and it initiated by the hypothalamic releasing hormones:
- Corticotropin
- Growth hormone
- Thyroptropin
During phase 1 stress response the heart rate is increased to increase the rate of blood flow as blood is directed away from the digestive system and digestive organs towards the skeletal muscles of the body. Drawing blood away from the blood away from the stomach for too long can lead to indigestion or IBS. In addition, corticotropin is the body’s hormone alarm bell telling it to release steroids and adrenaline, increased exposure can lead to IBS, stomach aches, nausea, diarrhea and heartburn.
All the body functions are impacted as the body’s pH is increased. The body’s sodium levels are increased increasing water retention by the kidneys and maintaining the increase in blood pressure during the alarm phase. This increase in blood pressure and blood flow helps the body cope with the demands placed upon it but in the long term can lead to hypertension.
The stress hormones cause the blood to become thicker and stickier increasing its ability to clot to help the body cope with injury. Chronic stress where there is thicker blood and no injury can lead to blood clots and therefore affect the blood flow causing damage to the heart. The increase in the heart rate and force of the contractions of the heart in chronic stress can lead to an abnormal heart rhythm causing heart muscle damage.
Adrenaline and cortisol trigger the release of fatty acids into the blood stream for the body to use as energy. Prolonged release by cortisol can potentially increase cholesterol levels leading to a thickening of the lumen and hence a narrowing of the arteries. Continued exposure to cortisol can increase abdominal fat, therefore increasing the risk of heart disease.
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Spiritual Connection
The holistic approach has the view that we are spiritual beings in physical bodies; that we take on our physical form at our birth and return to the spiritual dimension after out death. It is important to get ourselves out of the hurly-burly of everyday life and to expand our state of awareness and consciousness by becoming more away or our own spiritual nature. People often suffer without realising it, from longing to connect to their own spiritual nature. Religious belief, prayer and meditation are the most well-known way to expand out awareness, consciousness and reconnect with our spiritual nature. Often it is an intense shock of a diagnosis of a life threatening disease e.g. cancer that awakens people to the reality of their spiritual connection. For the rest of us, there are often fleeting moment of spiritual connection when we are in nature, when we meditate, when we pray or experience moment of intense joy, beauty or pain. Others feel the reality of the spiritual dimension through experiencing the loving presence of a loved one who has passed away, spirit guides or divine beings. The purpose of mediums is try to contact this spiritual dimension to provide evidence of life after death. For the skeptics amongst you Michael Newton's books the Journey of Souls and the Destiny of Souls may provide more evidence to support the idea of life after death and a the concept that we are spiritual beings in physical bodies. Buddhists and Yogis believe that the material world and even our emotions are the illusion and that the spiritual dimension is the only reality. They maintain that our preoccupation with the material world stops us from experiencing the bliss and freedom of the spiritual dimension. For myself, I believe we very much live in this material world with jobs to do, children to parent and bills to pay so I always try to have my feet firmly routed here on earth. While I am not religious, I find being aware of my spiritual self and actively trying to increase my spiritual connection as it nourishes me and give me a sense of perspective and peach of mind which I find reassuring in my everyday life. So while my feet are firmly routed here on earth my head is in heaven.
Mindfulness versus Meditation
Mindfulness is gaining popularity as is meditation. Advocates recommend both as tools to assist us with our modern 24/7 non-stop busy lives that are packed with conflicting demands and uncertainty. But Mindfulness and Meditation are not synonymous. Meditation is one technique for practicing mindfulness but not the only one. I know many people, including myself, find meditation difficult as it requires dedication and practice. So I was very interested to read Ellen Langer, (of Harvard University) who is considered the mother of mindfulness, define mindfulness as the "simple process of noticing new things.". One of the things that puts busy people of Mindfulness is the misconception that is requires effort. So if you thought mindfulness was just as easy as mindlessness would you be more mindful?
