Stress; We have it, we hate it, and the people around us also suffer when we have it. Where do we draw the line to stress? Deep inside, we know that we were never meant to live day by day with constant stress as a daily standard. Nevertheless, this is most certainly the way many of us experience life. In a state of stress, neurobiological reactions of our body pursue a purpose to act in the best intention for our survival. Our body goes into a state called fight-or-flight mode that comes with many consequences.
By understanding how to manage stress and its detrimental physical effects, we can learn to be more aware and sensitive to our bodies’ red flags and take immediate action.
Stress, if experienced over an extended period, can increase your risk for various health issues like premature aging, drained energy, brain fog, increased risk of heart attack and stroke, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal problems, reduced immune system response, and much more.
Did you know that 60% to 80% of primary care visits have a stress-related component.1? Yet only 3% of patients receive stress management understanding. Whether repetitive, prolonged, or minor, stress, if ignored, affects us mentally, emotionally, and physically. Coping with stress for too long can also easily lead to addictions, depression, burnout, and dysfunctional relationships. So what to do about it?
Listen to Your Heart. It’s more intelligent than you think. Literally!
For decades, scientists believed the brain communicated through a one-way street to the heart and that the brain was in charge of causing the heart to react to the signals sent by the brain and the nervous system. This belief changed thanks to over 20 years of intensive research conducted by acclaimed scientists such as John and Beatrice Lacey. They revealed that brain-heart communication is a two-way street, meaning that this constant biological conversation between the two organs profoundly affects how we perceive life, process our emotions, and decode our inner intuition. Our heart plays a central role in reducing the internal conflict of thoughts that causes stress levels to peak.
The heart’s rhythm is irregular when we are impacted by stress and uncomfortable emotions. According to Doc Childre, founder of the HeartMath Institute, the resulting disorder or incoherence in the nervous system creates noise or static that, in essence, causes the neurons in the brain to get out of sync, driving impaired mental functioning or cortical inhibition. We can feel the energy draining, making it difficult to focus and keep a cool head. When we don’t get in touch with the guiding influence of the heart, we quickly become victims of our reactive emotions, reaction patterns, and behaviors that might manifest as dysfunctional.
There is a little brain in the heart with brain-like cells that can think, learn, remember, and communicate separately from the brain. When searching for answers or needing information from within, we can also access our hearts for insight. The heart is where we find the deepest part of our empathy, compassion, intuitive guidance, passions, and authentic answers, free from the fears and self-doubt that the brain’s thoughts alone contribute. Pioneering neuro-cardiologist Andrew Armour introduced the term “heart-brain” to describe the communication between the heart and the brain.
Scientists at the nonprofit HeartMath Institute, who have been studying heart intelligence and emotions for over three decades, further theorized the following: “Heart and brain intelligence is actually the source of emotional intelligence.” They have concluded throughout their numerous research and worldwide publications that intelligence and intuition increase as we listen more closely to our hearts. If we learn to decode the messages we receive from our hearts, we strengthen our perceptive faculty. In turn, we need this to manage our emotions and effectively manage ourselves in everyday challenges.
Eliminating stress is about making the way you feel the priority of your life.
Since negative emotions are perceived by a factor times three on average compared to positive ones, we can benefit by intentionally balancing our emotional state by experiencing more positive emotions. You can subjectively improve your life by cultivating, for example, hope and optimism, compassion, forgiveness, and pride.
It’s best to manage stress as soon as we are aware of the first warning signs. A typical approach to dealing with stress is to remain in a stressful situation until we have time to go to the gym or yoga class, take a hot bath, watch TV, meet friends, or some other pattern we have acquired. We shouldn’t wait to deal with stress! According to Gregg Braden, a quick and sustainable technique is to bring our brain and heart into coherence. He demonstrates how this can be achieved through simple breathing techniques that join the brain, heart, and body to work together, creating a state of harmony that allows you to be more present and aware.
Trying out these techniques, you may discover that consciously getting in tune with your heart can become an essential tool for grasping great strength when you feel helpless, overwhelmed, stressed, powerless, and lost. We can’t change the situations that knock on our door, but we can definitely change how we feel and respond to those situations.
Quellen: 1.Avey H, Matheny KB, Robbins A, Jacobson TA. Health care providers’ training, perceptions, and practices regarding stress and health outcomes. J Natl Med Assoc. 2003;95(9):833, 836-84514527051 PubMed Google Scholar
