Stress - and Its Effects on You
I used to be stressed out. Really stressed out. Most of the time. Okay, almost all of the time.
Working in Corporate America in high stress positions for most of my career, having to be a single mom for a number of years, finishing my college degree (while working full time and being a single mom), the death of my beloved grandparents, and being a Type A perfectionist all led to a pretty unhealthy and sometimes unhappy existence. And I didn't even really realize it until it had gotten bad and my health was suffering. I had plenty of sleepless nights, I gained weight, I was uptight a lot, I couldn't multi-task as well anymore, I had aches and pains, I was getting headaches frequently, my blood pressure rose, and I had high cholesterol. And my life wasn't even as difficult or as stressful as others....
I have met many people who are really stressed out too - co-workers suffering from workplace stress, caregivers for elderly or sick parents or family members, parents with special needs children, single parents, people working multiple jobs just to make ends meet, folks without jobs...almost all of these people are truly stressed out and are feeling the effects of it on their well-being - maybe they don't really realize it either. Like me, they just keep doing more of the same. We all struggle with meeting the multiple demands of our lives, and these stressful influences (called 'stressors') don't make it any easier.
Stress can be crippling, both physically and emotionally. It can hit us at once, like with a death in the family, or it can slowly grow over time and then linger for an indefinite amount of time. It does not discriminate- we see it in all geographies, industries, job roles, genders, ethnicities, and age groups. And it is almost a guarantee that stress will affect our physical and mental health before we even know that it has. It can lead to greater susceptibility to colds and flus, ulcers, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)... it can contribute to insomnia, anxiety, and depression...and it can weaken us so much that we develop big-ticket health issues such as heart disease, auto-immune disorders, and even cancer.
Lots of health practitioners advise us: "You need to reduce the stress in your life". Way easier said than done.
The reality is that some of these stressors are of our own making, but many are not - and when they are not, it is not practical to expect that we can just get rid of something that we don't control. We don't always have the ability to reduce or eliminate the stressors, but we do have the ability to determine how - or if - they affect us and how we adapt so that we can better deal with the stressors in our lives. Herbs, a good diet, and appropriate lifestyle techniques can go a long way in helping us better cope with what life tosses our way.
I have actually reduced some of the stress in my life (I'm a Type A - I'll never be without stress), but even better than that, I have learned and applied herbal, dietary, and lifestyle self-care protocols to lessen the impact of stress on my physical, mental, and emotional well-being. I feel so much better as a result, and I am thrilled to be working with clients to help them achieve a more stress-less existence too!
Please fee free to check out my paper Stress in the Workplace . I hope that it provides you with some great context and understanding about what stress can do to us and what the Western Herbalism approach to healing offers. And check back often, as I will be expanding the website and adding lots of information!
Any and all information available on this website is for educational purposes only. We are not doctors and this information should not be considered medical advice. It is not meant to diagnose or treat disease, and it does not replace the relationship that you have with your physicians or their treatment protocols and advice.