School of Simplicity

WHAT IS STRESS

Stress is usually thought of as a negative and destructive force in our lives, which can eventually lead to our physical or mental breakdown. The word is itself ambiguous as it is neither bad nor good. We need it for our normal daily activity, but if stress or the stress response becomes prolonged, real problems can occur. We all react to stress in different ways. Some people have mental, physical, emotional or behavioural symptoms or a combination of these.

WHAT HAPPENS IN OUR BODIES WHEN WE GET STRESSED?

Fight/flight mode – stress

Rest and digest – relaxed

Sympathetic nervous system dominance Heart rate increases Mouth dries up Forehead tenses Eyes strain Jaws and teeth are clenched Distresses facial complexion Anger/hostility Perspiration increases Breathing becomes shallow and fast Blood vessels close Skin tightens Increased white blood cells Blood sugar increases Blood pressure increases Bladder relaxes Stomach butterflies/digestive system suspended If you stay in this state for a prolonged period it will lead to exhaustion and depression.

Parasympathetic nervous system dominance Heart rates decreases Breathing deepens and slows Salivation returns to normal Facial muscles relax Pupils return to normal Muscles relax Blood vessels return to normal Blood pressure reduces Blood sugar reduces Production of white blood cells inhibited Sweat glands close Digestion returns to normal Bladder contracts Restful and calm feelings

The stress response is healthy in itself. A completely stress-free life would be mind-numbing and tedious. Too little stress is unhealthy, but too much stress is very bad for our physical and psychological health. The key issue is to learn the difference between the healthy pressure of a challenge, and excessive stress which causes distress and eventually, disease. Everyone’s stress level is different – what is challenging and motivating for one might be overwhelming for another.

You can learn to be aware of your own stress response and then to neutralise it.
Through Autogenic Training, you can learn to reduce the intensity of the body’s stress response,
and replace it with a calmer physiological state in which self- healing naturally begins to occur.

BENEFITS OF PRACTICING RELAXATION REGULARLY

During the practice we enter a state of consciousness – somewhere between dreaming and wakefulness – where we are able to decode the messages of our subconscious mind. By practising regularly, we are able to create our own harmonious internal and external environment. This leaves us more receptive to internal and external signals . Pictures, memories, sounds, and even unexpected solutions to problems can appear.

A relaxed mind and body will also lead to increased creativity and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations. This is particularly helpful in the case of panic attacks, when being able to control your stress response can mean the difference between coping and being incapacitated.

Helping our body and mind achieve a more balanced state also means that our immune system is strengthened, so that when we get ill we can recover more quickly. Other stress-based conditions such as high blood pressure and sleeping problems will also improve.

Practicing relaxation regularly can help you discover that you needed to invest much less energy into doing things than before, and can also get more things done. The way you carry out tasks can change for the better, too.  Other benefits might be that your cognitive function develops even further, which can come in handy in every day life.

Email or phone me for your free 15-minute stress management consultation.

WHAT IS ILLNESS

Medicine has progressed at an astonishing speed in the 21st Century, but many of us feel ambivalent and distrustful towards the ‘omnipotence’ of medical science. When we are ill emotional problems can turn into real, bodily illnesses. The symptoms are physical manifestations of psychological conflicts. The body is never ill or healthy – it is only the information of the mind being expressed in the body.

The congruence of mind and body is called ‘health’. There is a disturbance in harmony on the information level when we are ill and it is expressed in the body. The symptom is an information carrier that calls us to pay attention to it. If we feel unwell, we might want to ask ourselves two questions: what do we need? And what is wrong? An ill person’s mind always needs something.

If we do not view our symptoms as an enemy that needs to be destroyed but instead as a partner that might be able to help in finding what we need, then we can communicate with ourselves in an honest way.