Reflexology For The Spirit

spirituality of one's health

How Stressed Are You Anyway? 6 Common Responses to Stress and What You Can Do About Them.

How does your stress add up for you?  Are you more stressed than usual?  Are you more stressed than your friends and family?

Does everything seem to be an emergency?  In other words, is your stress becoming  out of control?  Do you feel as if you need to see a professional for help controlling your stress response?

Is getting back and forth to work stressful for you?  Is your work situation stressful?  Many of our stress responses can be planned for and, hopefully, controlled.

If you develop the habit of staying tuned to your body, you can become aware of upcoming stress before things get out of control.   Your physical body will send you signals.  What are they?

DO YOU CLENCH YOUR MUSCLES?  This is easy to check out.  Begin by checking your body for clenched muscles.  Begin at the top of your head and work your way down to your toes.  Favorite stress spots for many people are jaws and teeth, neck and shoulders, fists, lower spine, and feet.

DO YOU GRIND YOUR TEETH?  Many people do this when they are stressed.  This habit carries over to your sleep for some.

DO YOUR HANDS GET COLD?  Generally speaking, your cold hands indicate a stressed body.  To test whether your hands are cold or not, hold one of your hands on your neck.  If it is cooler than your body, you are probably stressed.

ARE YOU SWEATING?  It can be that you are overheated.  But, sweating can also be an indication that you are stressed.  As humans, we sweat when we are in a protection mode.  If you find yourself sweating, ask yourself what is causing this situation.

IS YOUR PULSE RACING?  If you are not exerting yourself and your pulse is racing, you are most probably stressed.  What is happening?

DO YOU REWIND THE SAME THOUGHT ENDLESSLY?  This is a common human condition.  When we are upset about something, we rewind the same concern for minutes, hours, days.  Like a stuck record, we think about the same thing over and over and over.

A good thing to do is realize that you have a situation upsetting you.   Once you realize what the cause may be, you can seek a solution.

Can you brainstorm with a friend or colleague to find a solution.   For example, you may have a difficult commute to and from work.  Can you take a bus or train instead of driving?

It may be that your situation is too much for you to handle alone and you need to seek professional help to identify your stressor and then deal with it.   If that is the case, go for it!  You will be much better off when you find a solution to your problem.

Meanwhile, there are a couple of generic things you can do which will help until you begin your therapy.  These things include

MEDITATION – Spend a few minutes each day meditating .  This should help you cope with your situation while promoting a positive attitude.   You can take a meditation class or find or write  guided meditation focusing on your situation.

Either way, meditation promotes homeostasis which can only help because it promotes the balance of all your body systems.

TAKE INVENTORY DAILY.  A good thing to do is to take an inventory daily of the things in your life which might affect you today.  This inventory will help you prepare for all the little things which add up to stress.  This inventory will include things which are not necessarily major sources of stress.  But they are there – waiting to happen.  Being aware of them in advance helps.

With a little practice, this inventory can help reduce your stress levels daily.    More tips will follow in future blog posts.  Your goal is to try them out and choose the ones which work best for you.

Thank you for reading this article.  Please refer it to your preferred social media network.

 

 

 

 

Positive Longevity: 10 Tips You Can Use

Positive longevity habits  always help us if we  use them.

GET YOUR SHOTS   – Shots  can be a royal bore but they can save lives and much disease.  These are positive longevity habits. The problem is that we have a tendency to make sure the children and the pets get everything but we skip our own vaccinations.    These things should just be added into our schedules.

Vaccines and booster shots can help us avoid things like whooping cough, shingles, hepatitus.

Some people  are afraid to vaccinate and immunize themselves and their children.  I am not in that camp.

I lived in both Mexico and Venezuela for several years.  I am a great grandparent.  My life experiences have  permitted me to both experience and see other people I know  experience some of the planet’s dread diseases.  I have seen dengue fever first hand.  A friend of mine had  typhoid.  And on and on and on.  I lived through a polio epidemic.  Fortunately, no one in our family was struck.  But still.

There are some diseases I do not want to have.  There are some diseases I do not want anyone I know  to have.

My friend who had typhoid was extremely ill.  When he finally got over the disease, he was a tragedy to behold.  He looked like he was a prison camp survivor.

I have  a  friend  with shingles now.  Shingles  is a terrible disease I definitely never want to experience.

Vaccinations only take a few moments.  They save lives.

Join the prevention club.   Get vaccinated.

SCREENINGS ARE A GOOD WAY TO PREPARE FOR A LONG LIFE – Plan for the screenings now.  Screenings are positive longevity habits in action.  Know what screenings are good in your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, …..70’s?  In future posts, I’ll list the screenings  needed by agecategory.  For now, just know that you need to get these screenings periodically.

An easy beginning is an annual trip to your health care provider.

Plan to get your screenings every decade.  They are important longevity goals in action.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR TEETH  –  If you are interested in a long healthy life, your teeth are important in your life.  Positive longevity habits include attention to every tooth.

When your teeth deteriorate,  so does your life.  Without teeth, there are a lot of foods you cannot eat because you can’t chew them.  This  directly impacts  your health because you won’t be receiving the nutrients you need.  A visit to a dentist at least once a year is important.  Learn to brush your teeth properly.  Learn about which toothpaste is good for you.

DON’T FORGET YOUR FEET – Your feet move you forward in life so they are important too.  For one thing, 25% of the bones in your body are in your feet.   Neglected feet may result in painful bunions,  corns, warts, and other problems which   make walking painful to impossible.  Comfortable, well fitting shoes are important.

Regular foot reflexology sessions promote homeostasis, the balance of all body systems.  If you are interested in feeling your best, include these sessions regularly.

-DIET IS IMPORTANT IF YOU ARE TO LIVE LONG AND WELL – Eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily.  When you eat lots of veggies and fruits, you can help prevent chronic diseases and…prevent obesity!  Select  as many colors of produce as you can and go for the leafy greens.  These are positive longevity habits in action!

DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE SOAP AND WATER IN BATHROOMS.  Washing your hands five times a day is a good minimum goal.  When  you wash your hands often, you’ll be less likely to catch colds and  other germy diseases.

STRETCH!  Stretching regularly makes sure your daily life is easier as you get in and out of cars, buses, elevators.  Stretching regularly will help prevent falls because you’ll  have better coordination and balance.  Your joints will love you for it.  You’ll love your joints because your life will be easier.

KEEP A TO-DO LIST.  This will make your life easier day after day after day.  Year after year after year.  If you keep postponing your to-do list until you need it, it’ll be much harder to include in your life.

Besides, nobody wants someone to tell you that you need to keep a to-do list because you forgot an appointment and stood up some important friends or co-workers.

DO WHAT THE DOCTOR DAYS  – As we go through life, it’s a given that we’re going to come down with something.  Who knows what?  Diabetes, bifocals, a broken bone, high  blood pressure, whatever.

When the time comes to take medicine, get glasses, exercise regularly, eat properly, it’s important to do what should be done.

Unless you don’t really care whether you live a long, healthy life or not.

GET A DOG!  The happiest people I know are dog owners.  Your pet gives you  unconditioned love, something you can’t get anywhere else.   Dogs also need to be fed at certain times of the day and they need to be walked, communicated with, and enjoyed.  These are all activities that have positive outcomes.  Go for it!

WHAT DOES YOUR GOOD HEALTH MEAN TO YOU?  I hope you’ll take a few moments to define  your health care goals and what you hope to get out of longevity.

This is one of the last posts in the longevity articles.  It is my sincere hope that you found a few things that  resonated for you.  I hope you will be a healthier person because of these posts.  Thank you for reading this blog.

Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.

Thurman Greco

Woodstock, New York