BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Stress Management Dealing with stress

Stress is simply a fact of nature�forces from the outside world affecting the individual. The individual responds to stress in ways that affect the individual as well as their environment. Hence, all living creatures are in a constant interchange with their surroundings (the ecosystem), both physically and behaviorally. This interplay of forces, or energy, is of course present in the relationships between all matter in the universe, whether it is living or not living.

However, there are critical differences in how different living creatures relate to their environment. These differences have far-reaching consequences for survival. Because of the overabundance of stress in our modern lives, we usually think of stress as a negative experience, but from a biological point of view, stress can be a neutral, negative, or positive


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Stress is simply a fact of nature�forces from the outside world affecting the individual.


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Newbies, welcome to the forum, we hope that you all enjoy your stay!
Rosie

Very well put!

I think, too, it's not just how much stress we're dealing with, but the particular kind of stress. The nature and role of society and the nature and role of the individual have changed so much in the last few centuries that the sort of stress we deal with now is still very new.

It's not just the scale of things...the people...the governments...the technology...the buildings...That stuff is challenging, but people have historically had to deal with overcrowding, new technology, and a zillion other stressful forces in their lives for a very long time, so we're SOMEWHAT adapted to these things.

Things much more basic have changed, and very quickly. The structure of the family has moved from extended to nuclear and even subnuclear...secularism has effectively trumped religion...the belief about an individual's purpose in life has changed...wildly conflicting ideologies are now accepted within a single society...these types of things do a real number on our psyches. And we haven't yet got the trick of adapting to them. There hasn't been time for a shakedown to sort it all out.

So I think we find our lives so stressful because we're operating under new paradigms--and because we don't have access to the cultural resources of before.

Like breastfeeding...it's now awfully difficult to breastfeed. If our moms and grandmothers and aunts and cousins all still knew the "wisdom" of breastfeeding, if our role as women were not so conflicted, we'd have the intellectual and emotional framework to deal with it. But until we adapt to our changing roles...which will take generations...stress! Of the modern kind!

Karen
Nerd Writer Mom
How to Relax
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Hi,

I have found a lot of helpful information in this thread - so thank you!

I've battled stress and stress headaches for a good portion of my life. One thing that REALLY helps me is walking by myself. It doesn't have to be an hour walk. It could be for just fifteen minutes but it allows me to clear my mind and put things in proper perspective. I'm able to prioritize my problems and deal with them in a more orderly fashion instead of trying to solve them all at once. When you try to take care of everything all at the same time, even the slightest problem can seem overwhelming. The mere fact of being outside in the fresh air is also very relaxing. The other thing that really helps me is using an aromatherapy eye pillow. I keep the eye pillow in the freezer so it's always ready to use. I use one with peppermint leaves, peppermint oils and flax seed. The weight of the flax seed works like acupressure on my eyes and temples. The flax seed holds the cold in to help reduce swelling and stress around my eyes. The peppermint scent just opens my sinuses right up and helps me breathe so much better. That alone helps me to relax. The eye pillow itself blocks out any light which always helps! The company I purchased it from is A Touch Of Satin. They also make them in lavender and that is suppose to be very calming as well. They have a page on their site that talks about the benefits of the different scents. They use organic flax seed and organic peppermint leaves and that was important to me. If you think this will help you then you might want to google A Touch Of Satin and give them a look. I hope this helps everybody. It certainly helps me!

Cathy - I agree with you completely. It is amazing how much a walk can help, to just give yourself time to think about things. Great suggestion!

Newbies, welcome to the forum, We hope you all enjoy your stay!
Rosie