Stress

A reader asked the following: 

The problem I'm having with the messaging I'm hearing (in the greater world view) about perfectionism is that it is singled out as being negative. How can it be negative when God calls us to a life of perfection? 

After contemplation, here is my response. Tell me what YOU think.

Did you know that reports of anxiety are up 25% over the past couple of years?

I personally think this number is low since anxiety shows up in different ways for different people … and it’s not always easy to recognize it as anxiety.

A few ways it can show up: feeling restless or agitated, having headaches and/or unexplained pains, trouble focusing, feeling tired, disrupted sleep, worrying, or rolling the same-old, same-old thoughts over and over in your head.

One of the best natural ways to …

If you've ever had a stressful day (or year) that affected your eating habits, you are NOT alone.

In a study, more than 75% of adults said that stress played a role in their eating during the past month.

This included overeating eating junk foods, or not eating. Many of them said it happened weekly.

They also said it made them feel sluggish, lazy, disappointed in themselves, and/or irritable.

The good news is that I have a few tips below to stop stress from getting in the way of your results…

A study by Healthline found that when it comes to health and finances, not only do 44% of people think the holidays are “somewhat stressful”...

18% of them classified them as “very stressful”!

The holidays can be the "most wonderful time of the year"...but they can also be the most stressful. 

I have to confess...I used to hate the holiday season. Holidays meant I had to DO more and thus, was under MORE STRESS.

I wanted to make everything absolutely PERFECT for EVERYONE.

I was overwhelmed w…

Do you realize that your brain is designed to help you survive? This sounds like a good thing doesn’t it? And it is, but it can sometimes also cause some problems.

Your Brain is Rigged for Survival

Our brains provide us rewards when we do things that perpetuate our survival. These things include:

• Eating
• Seeking Shelter
• Sex

When we first do these things, the brain releases a little dopamine and this feels great! We get a reward, so to speak. Our brains use that as a feedback loop. When …

Did you know that wild animals don't have the same stress-related illnesses that we humans have? Why is that? 

It's mostly due to the nature of the human brain. We can ruminate about our past and fret about the future. Psychoneuroimmunology (the study of how the mind influences the immune system), has shown that what we think IS our reality - whether it's real or not!

We were designed to experience acute stress - stressors that are short in nature and infrequent. When we are in danger, our ama…

From worldwide pandemics to difficult relationships, our world is filled with circumstances that cause stress. 

A study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that dealing with persistent, long-term stress (like that from a toxic work environment or from caring for an elderly parent) can actually change the expression of your genes, leading to an increase in inflammation that can bring on a variety of health issues.

Learning how to cope with stress in a …

Over time, having too many stress hormones in your system is linked with increased inflammation - this is not a good thing!

What can you do about it?

Most of us have never learned how to cope with stress. Many of us just try to ignore it, but that's one of the worst ways to deal with it. Ignoring your feelings of stress can keep your stress hormones elevated, and soon, feeling stressed can become your body's new normal.

The good news is you can take back control by learning some techniques th…

Stress is sneaky. Sometimes you don’t even know that you’re feeling it until you turn your head and your neck hurts, or you feel a tension headache coming on. 

The truth is, some stress is normal (and even good) … but chronic stress can do a real number on your body. 

It can wreak havoc on your hormones, making you gain weight (especially unhealthy belly fat). 

And it can also take a major toll on your health, paving the way for illness and disease.

It's never been a big secret that stress c…

Hope your day got off to a smooth start – especially because I want to talk to you about STRESS. We’re heading into a busy time of year with new schedules, etc. and I know a lot of you are feeling some pressure …

… and I also know a lot of you think you should just toughen up and “push through it”.

Spoiler alert: You can’t do it. That’s because stress isn’t all “in your mind.” It’s also in your body.

Your stress response system is a primal reaction... it’s hardwired into your system to …