Stress, a common word which is easily used by many of us while talking about our day to day life situations, which includes our work pressures, relationship issues, health challenges or managing the family chaos. It is so common to hear "I am really stressed about ...." as like they mean " I am going to have dinner tonight". We have kind of accepted stress as a part of our lives.
But, do we really know acute stress can affect our lives in a major way. Stress is detrimental to our health and our peace of mind which is the building block of a good and happy life. I am writing this blog since I myself used to get worried about my struggles and challenges and give in to stressful feelings without even being aware of them, which caused me a great deal of health issues in the past.
Let's talk about few key signs that can let you know if you are enslaved by stress and have not been aware of it.
- Are you sleeping well?
If you are not able to get 7-8 hours of deep sleep or having intermittent sleep, then one of the reasons could be overwhelming stress. I completely understand the whole irritation and pain attached to not having a good deep sleep since i myself went through sleepless and disturbing nights in the past. If you are going through insomnia or are popping up pills every night before you go to bed, it is the time to check your stress levels and take an action now rather than letting it fully enslaved you. Good sleep is extremely important for healthy functioning of your brain to execute big to smaller tasks.
- Are you craving more food than usual?
So, you are getting hungry every two hours and want to binge on a piece of cookie or have a slice of pizza, not due to high metabolism (which happens due to intense work out) but simply a craving that seems irresistible, surely is a sign of being stressed mentally. When you accumulate stress, you brain increases more cortisol in the brain that in turns activate the glands to produce more hunger signals in the body, which is basically not a true food requirement but a way for brain to satiate the imbalance. Keep a check if your food habits have changed recently or you have been craving for sugary stuff lately.
- Are you feeling you are getting more wrinkled or seeing more grey hair?
Chronic stress can lead to faster aging of the skin and hair. Specially, if you are having more job related stress, it can really affect the DNA cells of the hair. Over exhaustion at work can lead to damaging of these DNA cells and eventually cells might die. So, if you are feeling some more dryness and wrinkles in your skin or your hair have started to greyed out prematurely or falling out more than usual, could be due to absorbing acute stress over a period of time.
- Are you experiencing low immunity and digestive issues?
So, you seem to be getting sick more often and not able to fulfill your professional and personal obligations that well and people around you have been pointing at you being a "No show up" but you really have been going through a phase of low health which you can't really explain. Sometimes, due to low immunity led by over stressing can cause multiple ailments such as virus infections, flu and joint aches. Many people experience heat burn, gastric issues and unregulated appetite while they have increased stress chemicals in their brain. If you have any of these symptoms, try to find the root cause of the problem rather than simply taking pills and get dependent on them
- Are you getting addicted to alcohol, smoking or other sadatives lately?
People usually wants to release stress by taking sedatives that reduces the worrisome or anxious thoughts and make them feel at ease. Slowly body starts to build up dependence on alcohol or smoking or any other types of sedative substance available to use. Unfortunately, these are the bad choices and it creates compulsive behavior where one reduces self control and eventually harm himself more than providing any comfort. If you are somehow getting on the same path of having a drink everyday or smoking at every little break at work place, please rethink on your choices. There are better ways to manage stress like regular exercising, participating in sports activities, meditating and deep breathing. Make better choices and don't let stress linger on and effect your mental and physical health.
If any of the above mentioned points have resonated with your current situation related to your physical or mental health, please don't leave the thought here but accept the current situation and try to find the best choices to fix it so you can lead a truly enriching and powerful life. I have made a great change in my life by making right choices and can't be more happier.
You deserve a great life which is stress free, joyful and full of abundance and miracles of Universe.
PS- In case, you want to know how i can help you heal your stress and anxiety naturally, leave me a note at my website www.powerpacklife.com and i will get back to you.
Stay Powerful !