The way in which we live nowadays invites stress into our lives. From the moment when the alarm-clock goes off, many families start to race against the clock, that doesn’t stop until they close their eyes at night. Eliminating stress from your life could be rather difficult, because it would probably imply changing your whole lifestyle, but there are some ways to keep it in check. The first step is to acknowledge it.  

What is stress?

Nowadays, being stressed is synonymous with feeling pressured, not being able to do it all and running from place to place. Stress is defined by the physical and emotional demands we experience as a consequence of the pressure of the external world on our lives.  

Stress has consequences we can clearly feel such as tension, irritability, headaches or anxiety. Taken to extremes, stress can have consequences for the heart and other internal organs.  

Humans, just as many other animals, use stress as a means for survival. When faced with a dangerous situation, your body reacts with stress in order to deal with the situation. This reaction includes the liberation of hormones that cause the heart to race, rapid breathing and a greater blood-flow to our limbs so we can run. The situations that cause stress in your daily life are not savage animals that you have to escape from, but your body reacts in the same way to the demands of an angry boss as to the vision of an attacking buffalo.  

The constant liberation of stress hormones can cause harm that ranges from stomach disorders to a weakened immune system and higher blood pressure, which increases the likelihood of a heart attack.  

Know your limits

Not everyone reacts to stress in the same way. Some people feel very anxious when in a traffic jam, others feel overwhelmed when their work piles up and some can feel at their wits end when the kids are running around the house rambunctiously after a long day at work.

In order to prevent stress, the best thing is to know how you react to it. Know which situations make your heart race or your adrenal glands go into overdrive. Then plan to act on this. If driving in traffic makes you start off your day in a bad mood, try to have a routine in place to avoid this. You may try leaving the house early and do a pleasant activity before work.  

Look at how stress is affecting your life and what activities are being hazardous to your health. Although there are other stressful chores you can’t avoid doing, at least eliminate or modify those that you just can’t live without. In the long run, you’ll be better off for it.  

Inevitable stress

There will occasionally be situations in which you can’t prevent stress. For example, if you cannot avoid the traffic jam, no matter at what time you leave your house. The best thing to do in these situations is to consciously counteract the information you are sending to your body in order for it to be on guard. Breathe deeply several times, listen to relaxing music on the radio and take your mind off of worrisome thoughts. This approach will tell your body all is fine, so that it will stop secreting stress-related hormones.  

If you are in fact in a situation in which you have no other option other to do what you are doing, it is an unnecessary waste of energy to consume yourself by thinking about how you don’t like to do that or how much better off you’d be doing something else. Relax, concentrate on the task at hand or try to think of something else, depending on the case, and you will be preserving your health.