Stress and the Teenage Years

Are You Stressed?

So, are you stressed? Are you able to relax and experience stress relief? Do you have time to play? Do you sleep well? These are some essential questions, because if you’re overly stressed, not able to relax, not taking the time to play, and not managing stress well, you’re also most probably not sleeping well.

And if you’re stressed and not sleeping well, you know what that means? You’re living life in the fast lane, the lane in which you’re burning your candle at both ends and the candle is just about flamed out. You know what you call this: that’s right, that’s living the High Density Lifestyle, a lifestyle that is not conducive to healthy living and health and wellness.

So where do I start when talking about stress?

Teenagers and Stress

How about this? I’ll tell you that if you’re stressed out when you’re younger, you’re setting yourself up for a High Density Lifestyle adult life. Habits that we learn when we’re younger follow us into adulthood.

And getting stressed out when you’re younger is a nasty habit that if you don’t change, will affect you adversely when you’re an adult, because you’ll have a harder time managing stress and experiencing stress relief.

Teenage Stress and Heart Disease

A recent study found that teenage stress can lead to physical problems in adulthood and put adults at risk for cardiovascular disease. Researchers found that a greater frequency of stress in teens was associated with higher levels of an inflammatory marker called C-reactive protein, or CRP. CRP has been identified as an indicator for the later development of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

When you’re a teen, there are a lot of stressors that come at you, and most teens are ill-equipped to deal with them. And just think, if you’re ill-equipped to deal with them when you’re younger, then the adverse reactions your body has to stress will follow you all the way to when you’re grown-up.

Peter Panning It

Now you can take the Peter Pan approach to growing up, and basically refuse to grow up, but, and I hate to be the one to deliver the bad news, until science develops a cure for growing up, it ain’t gonna happen.

What researchers found was that daily interpersonal stress experienced during the high school years was associated with elevated levels of inflammation, as measured by higher levels of CRP, even among normal, healthy teens.

“Our findings are consistent with the emerging body of evidence that points to the link between stress and increased inflammation, which places individuals at risk for the later development of cardiovascular disease and could have a significant impact upon long-term physical health during adulthood,” was the summary of the research.

Develop Self-Awareness

So the bottom line is, getting immersed in living a High Density Lifestyle can start in your younger years and follow you along when you become an adult.

This is no way to live, so the best bet, if you’re not a teen anymore, is to develop the self-awareness of what stress is doing to you, so that you can be better at stress management and get yourself onto a Low Density Lifestyle.

And that’s when you really start living. The good news is that healthy living will be a beneficial byproduct of this.

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Stress: Life in the Fast Lane

For the next few days I will talk about stress and relaxation. Stress is both a symptom and by-product of living a High Density Lifestyle, while being relaxed and calm is something easy to do when you’re living a Low Density Lifestyle.

Relaxation is one of the ingredients in the acronym FREE, which if you remember, stands for Flow/Relaxation/Effortless Effort. Living FREE means living a Low Density Lifestyle.

Life in the Fast Lane

When you are living life in the fast lane, you are putting your body under a lot of stress. There is only so long the body is capable of operating at a maxed out level—you can only burn your candle at both ends for so long, and then the inner flame starts to be extinguished.

Stress is all-pervasive in our modern fast-paced culture. I will return to this category time and time again, and I will also return to the category of relaxation many times over. Why, you may ask? Because it can’t be talked about enough. Stress puts you smack in the middle of living a High Density Lifestyle, and the longer you live that way, the worse things become.

So let’s look a little more in-depth at what stress is.

A Brief History of Stress

The term stress was coined by scientist Hans Selye in the 1930s based on his careful observation of physiological responses in laboratory animals. Selye later broadened his findings to include the human response mechanism to a perceived threat, or “stressor.”

Selye found that when he exposed various lab animals to unpleasant or harmful stimuli, there were three general stages of reaction. He called these the General Adaptation Syndrome, or GAS. The three stages were Alarm, Resistance and Exhaustion.

By the end of the third stage of GAS, Selye found the animals depleted of their body’s most important resources: their adrenal glands were fatigued, their autonomic nervous system was misfiring and their immune systems were burnt out.

Furthermore, it was found that this type of reaction played havoc on the feedback loop that constitutes the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, the system that controls reactions to stress and regulates many body processes, including digestion, the immune system, mood and emotions, sexuality, and energy storage and expenditure.

Not everyone reacts to stressors in such a detrimental fashion, and there are times when stress can have positive attributes (Selye called stress that enhanced function eustress). But most people don’t cope well to stressors because they are on system overload, bombarded by stimuli and overwhelmed by life’s demands. Living in this manner is truly a major impediment to a Low Density Lifestyle.

Longevity – Secrets to Living a Long and Healthy Life: Part II

Longevity, the ability to live a long and healthy life, is one of the things that a Low Density Lifestyle can do for you.

If you want to experience longevity and live a long and healthy life, there are nine secrets to doing so. And whatever your age, whether you’re young, middle or elderly, or young at heart, if you take these nine secrets into account, you will have found the Fountain of Youth.

In yesterday’s article, I gave you the first three secrets. Today I will give you the next three secrets to longevity.

The Secrets to Longevity

Secret #4:  Drink Red Wine (or Beer) in Moderation
Studies of cultures that are noted for longevity have found that they all have a daily drink – one or two at most – of wine, beer or sake.  Drinking this amount has been found to lower the risk of heart disease, reduce stress and can reduce chronic inflammation. The best type of wine is a good quality red wine, while the best type of beer is also good quality and unadulterated, such as those made from handcrafters.

Secret #5: Have a Sense of Purpose
If you have a goal, a reason for getting up in the morning and going through the day, you feel like you have a mission in life, something that spurs you on to achieve greater heights. Contrast that with someone who feels as if life is drudgery and has no purpose.

Someone like that won’t feel energized to wake up every morning and take on the day, whereas if you have a sense of purpose, everyday offers new challenges to achieve your vision and dream.

Your sense of purpose can be a grand vision, or it could be something as simple as providing for your children, family or other loved ones. It could also be to always keep learning and expanding your mind, and so you’re always taking on new activities or challenges.

One way or another, the trick is to have something to live for.

Secret #6: You Need Decompression Time
We’re all so good at accumulating lots of stress in our lives, but not as good at the opposite, of finding the time to destress. Decompression time, the ability to stop, unwind, relax and enjoy the simple things, is a fine art that seems to be a rare commodity for so many people.

Decompression time is also essential for living a Low Density Lifestyle.

How often do you stop and smell the roses? Or stop and watch a thunderstorm? Or do some other thing that is not about being busy and doing, but instead allows you to enjoy the passage of time?

So many people are busy with their lives, along with shepherding their kids off to one place or another. In the equation, we’ve become busier and busier.  But what is needed is down time, the decompression time.

Ok, that’s it for today’s secrets to longevity. I’ll be back next time with the next three secrets. Until then, as Mr. Spock always says, “Live long and prosper.”

Integrity and the Maintaining of the “Self”

Maintaining the integrity of the “Self” is an essential part of living, and we must be mindful to stand guard at the entry of the soul to keep our integrity intact.  To live a lifestyle that resembles that of a Low Density reality, we must be able to realize that we are in the world, but not of the world.

Maintaining integrity is so very important nowadays, especially within the context of the economic climate. Just last week a client  mentioned to me that in one day approximately seventy-five thousand people in the U.S. had lost their jobs. Now, I  particularly don’t listen to the news that intently, so I had to look that up before writing this article. Well, wouldn’t you  know it? It was true. This is the headline I read online:

Layoffs Spread to More Sectors of the Economy!

With this kind of news, there is no wonder the world in general is feeling the stress and strain of the present economic situation. The world has shrunk, as they say, so it’s not hard to believe that news like this seeps into the fabric of society and begins to affect our collective consciousness.  Well, in my opinion, and it is always only my opinion, the antidote to making it through this present negative reality is to remind yourself that “this too shall pass.”  In the meantime we need to also remember that we need to maintain the health and integrity of the “self.”

To maintain your integrity and authentic nature, you have to remember not to become the event, or to become your title. So in the unfortunate event that your position at work comes to an end, or you lose some material possessions during this time, remember, you don’t have to lose your self as well. Keep reminding yourself that you are greater and more resilient than the present situation, so that when this passes, and it will, you will be able to reinvent yourself and start all over again.

Integrity is an important aspect of a Low Density Lifestyle. When you move in this direction it means realizing that you are not who you think you are. You are actually much greater than that!

Spread the word, live a low density life.

Stress: A Major Impediment to a Low Density Lifestyle

Stress is a major impediment to living a Low Density Lifestyle. It will stop your ability to be in the flow and find your center of calm and stillness.

Stress can negatively impact your health, well-being, happiness, and ability to live a productive and successful life. Stress will keep you living a High Density Lifestyle.

One of the things about stress is that for a lot of people, because they’re not in touch with how they feel, they aren’t even aware that they are stressed out.

And so, with that in mind, I’d like to offer you some helpful advice to recognize some of the signs of when you are over the edge with too much stress:

1. You get sick often. Stress can depress the immune system, making you more susceptible to various upper respiratory ailments.

2. You have digestive problems. One of the places that stress is felt in the body is in the digestive tract. You may have trouble digesting food, you may get stomach pain, you may have acid reflux, or you may have irritable bowel sydrome.

3. You suffer from pain. It could be back pain, joint pain, or even headaches.

4. You easily get anxious. Stress can affect the nervous system and make you very wired, so that things can easily set you off and cause your heart to race, your chest to become tight, and your breathing to become shallow.

5. You are easily angered. Stress will cause you to have a short fuse and to unload on people, even loved ones, often times for reasons quite trivial.

6. You can’t sleep. You go to sleep, but your mind is still racing, still thinking about everything. Or you go to sleep, but then you wake up, and can’t fall back asleep.

7. You act erratically. You do things impulsively, or you do things that you normally wouldn’t do.

8. You are drinking or using recreational drugs a lot. You need a way to unwind, and so you turn to drinking or drugging as an outlet to help you release all that pent up energy.

9. You are using pharmaceutical drugs to enhance/stabilize your mood. Stress can negatively impact your mood, attitude and emotional health, and so if you are not aware of how stressed out you are, you will be turning to prescription drugs to help you.

10. You lack focus and clarity. You forget things easily, and can’t think clearly. You also can’t focus on any one thing and mentally flit around.

I strongly suggest using the above 10 signs to help you manage your stress. Your life will improve greatly for doing so.

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