Eustress or Distress- Which Will You Choose for 2013?

Believe it or not, the type of emotional life experience you encounter is all up to you.  You might ask, how is that true? Contentment starts from within and so does discontent.

Let’s look at the word stress.  There is eustress which is defined as a healthy cognitive response to stress that is considered positive and serves a useful purpose such as the increased sensitivity associated with athletics or other performance related activities.  Excitement that you experience at a theme park or a dramatic play such as the Phantom of the Opera that keeps you on the edge of your seat are examples of stressors that you have decided to accept as beneficial or enjoyable.  The stress associated with achieving a major goal such as climbing a mountain or making it successfully down a black diamond ski run creates a sense of achievement and well-being in spite of the anxiety you might experience.

Distress on the other hand is associated with negative feelings and emotions you find undesirable and can lead to a reduced level of performance and sometimes complete emotional shutdown or depression.  Scientific studies have shown that ongoing negative stress can adversely impact your health in a variety of ways ranging from high blood pressure, heart disease, a weaker immune system, headaches, inability to sleep, obesity and diabetes.  Financial problems, working on the wrong job or pursuing a career you don’t like, unfulfilling relationships are examples of common causes of ongoing stress.  Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) is known to linger for years after child abuse or military assignments to war zones.

So, how can the same brain sometimes enjoy stress and other times malfunction because of stress?  This is where your perception and conditioning play a major role.

We all can encounter things that have the potential to stress us out but we don’t have to let circumstances get the best of us. So, we have the capability to direct the stress related energy down a positive path or down a negative one instead.

One of the keys is to figure out where your stress is coming from and do something proactive to reduce it. The other important factor is to take time to de-stress. This could range from setting aside a regular time or maybe just a few minutes of meditation or deep breathing several times per day to give your body a recovery break.

Here are 7 ways you might want to consider as ways to eliminate or prevent negative stress”

1. Yoga is an excellent way to generate a state of relaxation which can be a great distress reliever as well as a eustress enhancer.
2. Take a break from the news and anxiety provoking stories on a daily basis.  Don’t get overly involved emotionally with those things that you have no control over.
3. Allocate regular time to listening to pleasant sounds, tones, and music.  The right musical experience can actually lower your blood pressure and put your mind at ease.
4. Exercise in a way that you enjoy such as swimming, jogging, biking, or walking briskly.  If you spend most of your work hours indoors, getting outside and enjoying fresh air and the sounds of birds, wind blowing through the trees, and smelling the flowers and vegetation can provide a relaxing experience
5. Just as the right sounds can be relaxing, so can quiet.  Silent meditation in a totally dark environment can take your mind to a place in your subconscious zone that
6. Daydream.  Children do this all the time and have a lot of fun in the process.  Use your imagination to experience the vacation you want to have or other enjoyable experiences.  You will be surprised to find that your body can respond in a way as if you were actually there.
7. Laugh.  Either get a joke book to read or watch comedy shows or as a last resort, get someone to tickle you.  It’s hard not to become upbeat and forget about stress if you are laughing.

So, here is your challenge for 2013.  Are you going to focus on increasing your capacity for eustress or distress?  Eustress will contribute to your health and distress will do the opposite.

Consider setting up a daily program of eustress related activities so that you will have a reserve of relaxation in place to buffer you from those unavoidable stressful situations that always have a way of showing up.  But when they do, you will be ahead of the game and can pass through them with a smile.

Eustress will be one of your keys to “Lifelong Health and Beauty”