Stress is a natural response to life experience. It's the fight or flight instinct that increases your heart and breathing rate and readies your muscles to respond to potentially serious situations. However, if your stress response is constantly activated it can lead to chronic stress and health problems. 

In this blog post, we will dive into how chronic stress impacts our body and brain health, and we'll take a look at mindfulness as one way of taking care of ourselves.

High levels of stress can have a serious impact on our bodies and our brain. Here is a breakdown of some of the key areas affected:

Respiratory and Cardiovascular Systems

Stress hormones tighten your blood vessels. This can lead to a rise in blood pressure. The muscles that help you breathe tense up when you're stressed. This can leave you short of breath. Stress hormones make your heart pump faster so that blood can reach your vital organs and limbs more quickly which is appropriate when running from a predator, but becomes toxic when these hormones are chronically elevated from stress. Over time, an increased heart rate and high blood pressure will damage your arteries which can negatively impact your health and even lead to a heart attack. 

Weakened Immune System and Gastrointestinal System

Many of the same chemicals which act in the brain, also act on the gastrointestinal or GI system. When anxious or stressed, these hormones have effects on your digestive system. This can lead to stomach aches, nausea, and other stomach issues. Long-term stress can also weaken your immune system which can leave you more vulnerable to infections and other illnesses. 

Muscular System

Stress causes muscles to tense up and chronic stress can lead to tension-related headaches, backaches, shoulder pain, and other body aches. This is an extremely common cause of chronic headaches and chronic pain. Certain chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia are very closely linked to stress and mental health.

SEX DRIVE AND REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

The fatigue that comes with chronic stress can also take a toll on your libido. For women, fluctuating hormones can throw your menstrual cycle off balance. In severe cases, stress can stop it altogether. For men, our brain plays a very important role in the process of getting an erection. Stress can interfere with this process. If stress levels continue for a long period of time, a man’s testosterone levels can begin to drop. This can interfere with the production of sperm and cause erectile dysfunction or even impotence.

SO, HOW DO I MANAGE STRESS?

Mindfulness through meditation can help reduce stress and benefit your health and well-being. Taking 10-15 minutes of your day to practice mindfulness can help trigger creativity, allow your muscles to relax, and take your mind off the daily stresses of life. There are many guided meditations that are accessible through apps like Insight Timer that can help you get started. 

There is no denying the impact stress has on our bodies and brain. Over time, chronic stress can negatively impact our health and well-being so it's important we take care of ourselves!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

• Mindfulness apps: Aura, Breethe, Buddhify, Calm, Headspace, Insight Timer, Youtube
• Nine Ways Mindfulness Helps With Stress
• Lisa Greenbaum's Meditation for Concussion Patients