The more stress you have, the more you should adopt calming activities.

You've battled the morning traffic and downed the standard cup of brewed coffee. Compounding matters, a couple of colleagues have called in sick. With the computer system temporarily down your heart skips a beat; you've got a big presentation in an hour, and you've hardly had a chance to prepare. As you frantically scribble notes for the presentation, your heart races, your palms sweat and your head pounds. Physical reactions you experience when you're stressed are programmed in the primitive part of the brain. They are fight-or-flight defence mechanisms to deal with the occasional and short-lived threat of predators and aggressors. And modern life is full of threats.

Instead of protecting you, your body's response to stress, if constantly activated, may make you more vulnerable to life-threatening health problems. Modern stressful circumstances, unlike most physical threats, tend to be prolonged. Consequently, you may be running on the fight-or-flight reaction longer than it's intended to operate. What's good for your body in a short-term crisis can be very harmful over long periods.
Prolonged activation of the stress-response system can disrupt almost all your body's processes, increasing your risk of obesity, insomnia, digestive problems, heart disease, depression, memory impairment, physical illnesses and other ailments.
Stressful events are a fact of life, but you can manage the impact these events have on you by learning to identify what stresses you out, how to take control of stressful circumstances and how to take care of yourself physically and emotionally when you face events you can't control.

Early warning signs of prolonged stress include tension in your shoulders and neck, or clenching your hands into fists. To deal with stress you can either avoid whatever it is that leads to your stress or change how you view stressful situations and how you react. Develop strategies to control stressful circumstances by experimenting with the actions and attitudes that you use when faced with stressful events. Here are some tips: prepare, be positive, take a cooperative approach, utilize offers of assistance from friends, family and colleagues and set realistic goals.

Often forgotten but very important in managing the impact of stress is to care for yourself both physically and emotionally. Good health is promoted by balance. The more impact that stress has on your life, the more you should partake in relaxation and calming activities. You will also find the benefits of these activities twofold. For example, your yoga or meditation class will not only relax body and mind, but teach breathing and postural techniques that can be applied in stressful situations.
Preventative steps are an investment for future health and longevity. Good health means you are better able to recover from those fight-or-flight defence mechanisms invoked by stressful situations. To attain and retain good health eat balanced meals, get enough sleep, relax in the way that suits you best, have regular de-stressing sessions (such as massage) and exercise regularly (take the stairs, get off the bus a stop early, play with the kids or take a walk). And schedule that health commitment just as you schedule those other necessary activities in your life! Although the here-and-now may be stressful, tomorrow need not be so.