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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How to be more mindful
So if mindfulness is doesn't requires lots of effort, and its really beneficial, why aren't we all doing it? While exploring a new city is naturally interesting, we rarely have the same enthusiasm for brushing our teeth, loading the washing machine or my commute. So if you are like me, these are just some of the activities that I do on a regular basis that I have labelled "boring" and I go into autopilot (mindlessness). So the simplest way to practice mindfulness is to bring awareness to the daily activities you consider "boring". Another great way time to practice mindfulness is while you wait. We are all so short of time that waiting is a huge source of frustration, whether its waiting for a train to turn up, waiting in line or being stuck in traffic. These are all ideal times to just be mindful. You can do this by focusing on your breathing and left everything else just be. Start by breathing in and out slowly - one cycle should last for approximately 6 seconds. Breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Letting your breath flow effortlessly in and out of your body. Our brains respond to short burst of mindfulness, so its ok to keep it short, a few minutes per day.
More Mindfulness Exercises
In my previous post, How to be mindful, I described a mindful breathing exercise. Now I want to share with you more mindfulness exercises. 1. Mindful Observation Choose a natural object, plant, flower or cloud in the sky. Simply focus solely on it for a minute or two. Visually explore it and allow yourself to be consumed by its presence. 2. Mindful Listening Listen to a piece of music you have never heard before. You could re-turn your radio to a new station or download a new track to your ipod. The idea is to listen, to become fully entwined within the composition without preconception or judgement of the genre, artist, lyrics or instrumentation. 3. Mindful Appreciation The point of this exercise is to simply give thanks and appreciate the seemingly insignificant things in life; the things that support your existence but rarely get a second thought in our desire for bigger and better things. All you have to do is notice 5 things in your daily life that go unappreciated. Once you have your 5 things, then consider
- the benefit they bring to your life and the lives of others
- what life would be like without these things
Procrastination
In general in life I am very self-motivated, which is essential when you are self-employed. However this is the time of year of my annual bout of procrastination kicks in. Each year I promise myself its going to be different, I will fill out my tax form early and every year, like ground hog day, I leave it as late as possible. So this year I decided to research options for helping me tackle my procrastination around doing my accounts and filling out my tax form. I read the reason most people procrastinate is that they consider the task unpleasant or boring or they associate unpleasant feelings with the task. To me this is blatantly obvious as no on every puts of anything they enjoy. For me tax forms manage to be both unpleasant and boring. So I decided that this year I would try a new approach to tackle my procrastination. Firstly I decided to focus on the end goal. As filling out a tax form leaves me cold, I decided that focusing on the fine for not doing it on time would motivate me, after all my money is on line. As in life I tend to prefer more positive options, I decided to pencil in a treat for myself when I finished, so I am going to arrange a girlie lunch for a specific date so I have something positive to look forward to. In the past I have dedicate one sold lump of time to doing my accounts and tax form and plodded through it. This year I decide that I would split it down into little chunks as this should help me do it with a smile on her face. In addition some experts recommend roping a friend so that you have a buddy to help motivate you and also making a public commitment to completing something helps motivate you. So this is my public commitment. So now its just a case of taking the first step and staring.
