Last Updated on 18th August 2021 by Charlie Walsh
Stress is a product of your body’s response to threat. This is how your body protects you. We are not saying that every kind of stress is bad. Sometimes we have a positive stress that makes us focused on the task or activity and makes us even more productive. In dangerous situations, stress boosts your confidence and because of that you can think straight and it helps us to survive. Unfortunately, stress has also lots of negative effects that can literally destroy our life. Especially when you feel stressed constantly, that kind of stress is called chronic.
The more stressed you are the quicker you react and the more damage can happen to you. Work, home life, bills, car problems, friends – you name it, anything can cause stress in our life. Literally, everything can stress you nowadays. Chronic stress damages every single system in your body. Starting with the immune system, digestive and reproductive systems, going through possibility of heart attacks and stroke, ending with speeding up the ageing process. Stress can also affect your brain and leave you with anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems.
What kind of health problems I can get because of stress?
It can damage your body, brain and relations with others. Stress affects your self-control and you can easily make bad decisions. Chronic stress can affect your brain and give you mental problems.
Also: you can suffer from different pains, problems with sleep, skin conditions like eczema or acne, your sex drive is low, you can also suffer from diarrhoea, catch colds all the time, weight problems, you probably feel like you eat little or eat too much, neglect your responsibilities, use alcohol or even drugs. Those are mostly physical problems but here we have some more potential effects that aren’t necessarily physical – like Memory problems: you cannot concentrate and you cannot judge things objectively, you are anxious and worry all the time, you are sad and depressed, irritated or even aggressive, you feel like you have too much on your plate, you feel lonely and isolated.
How can I solve it?
Exercise is a great way to combat stress, a healthy option with far reaching benefits. Exercise releases feel good chemicals into the body, it also keeps your body in tip top condition. Being in shape can work wonders for self-esteem and overall confidence.
Top 4 exercises to beat stress
Yoga
Bathmate recommends yoga. Yoga is one of the best exercises to help you with stress. It is not only work out for your body but also for your mind. It makes you feel relaxed and your body becomes flexible. One of the most important advantages of yoga is the fact that it teaches you how to breathe properly and how to control it. How does it help you with stress? It lowers your blood pressure and helps your heart. Yoga is for everybody no matter how old you are. Anyone of any age or fitness level can practice and benefit from yoga. Yoga has many different styles and forms. Even if you haven’t ever worked out you can easily start by doing a yoga exercise for beginners.
Tai Chi
What is it? Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese martial art where people train but do not compete with each other so do not worry – you don’t have to fight! Tai Chi started to be popular because it has incredible health benefits and your body and soul feels a lot of better. The same as yoga – this sport focuses on breathing and body control. What is worth mentioning, Tai Chi can help you with getting rid of stress and pain.
Gardening
Really, and you won’t even feel like you are exercising! Gardening makes you feel happy, connected with nature and you can burn hundreds of calories doing it. It’s a really effective workout. Gardening helps you with chronic stress too. You can do it in your own garden and another advantage is that you can do something not only for yourself but also for your immediate surroundings. Remember that gardening is not as easy as it seems so try to warm up a bit before you start.
Have a walk
A simple walk can help you with stress. It is all about spending time outside the house or office, with no distractions. Nowadays, we usually get into car on a morning, or bus, go to work, sit at work for 8 hours and then get into your car and go home. People say “I don’t have time for It”. We know it is just easier to excuse yourself and do nothing. But chronic stress can affect your life too much. Just try to free up 10 minutes or so to have a nice walk, don’t use your smartphone, go to the park, walk around the trees and focus on the green colour that can also kill stress. Nature makes your brain happy and melts the stress away. What are the other outdoors activities? Jogging, playing football with friends, play with your dog outside in the park. Activities that help you to turn off your mind and focus on nothing is why you get rid of stress and feel relaxed.
