Has anyone ever told you to shake it off?
Maybe you were physically or emotionally hurt or angry or embarrassed.
These are emotions that trigger stress hormones to flow through our bodies.
Those stress hormones have an essential purpose.
They are there to trigger a fight or flight response.
Flight means run!
Fight means fight!
Both are very physical, life-saving reactions.
Your brain is telling your body to move to survive.
However, in our modern-day, we don’t have many reasons to run or fight physically, but our brain doesn’t know that.
So, when it perceives real or imagined threats, it still sends those stress hormones into your body.
The problem is, if you don’t run or fight, your body can’t healthily process the stress hormones, and over time it can lead to a variety of health issues such as:
Anxiety
Depression
Digestive problems
Headaches
Muscle tension and pain
Heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure, and stroke
Sleep problems
Weight gain
Thinking and memory problems
Skin conditions, such as eczema
Chronic stress also affects how we choose to live and experience our daily lives.
It affects the quality of our relationships and often leads to a lack of time and money, which creates more stress and a cycle that’s hard to break.
There are many ways to deal with chronic stress like;
Connecting and talking with a safe person
Meditation
Healthy food, exercise, and sleep
Journaling
Gratitude practice
Mindset work
But “shaking it off” is also a great way to complete the stress cycle.
You perceive danger. Your body releases stress hormones.
Your heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, muscles tighten, and blood flow moves into your limbs, ready for physical action.
Here’s how you can give your body and brain what it needs at that moment;
Take some slow, deep breaths.
Jump up and down or do a set of Jumping Jacks.
Shake your arms.
Stomp your feet.
Punch or scream into a pillow.
Go for a brisk walk or run.
Allow the energy of the emotion and the chemicals to move through and out of your body physically.
And once the calm returns, look at your thoughts.
Thoughts create stress.
Was that thought true? Is thinking that thought helpful?
Are those thoughts helping you live a life of peace, purpose, and prosperity?
Be curious; question everything.
All your thoughts are optional.
Choose them wisely.