Stress is a natural human response that is in our system to help us respond to challenges and threats. Stress is a natural occurrence in everyday modern life. We all have aspects of stress, everyday, in varying degrees and varying amounts. Our responses to the stress also vary greatly. Some people carry a significant stress load and this load may impacts them negatively and weigh them down. Some people cry, others scream and yell about their stresses, others turn to the medical system to seek support and at times medication. While others seeming act like a swan, on a lake calm on the surface, but busy below. Some report feeling little or no stress at all. But is that true? Or is there a lack of awareness to the stress? Stress is an individual thing and the experiences of the stress and impact vary greatly.

Negative stress:

Some stressors in life, such as death of a spouse or loved one, significant illnesses or injuries, incarceration, marriage and retirement rank highly in the list of top stressors. Financial stress and relationship stresses are also significantly challenging for many people. Significant changes, like moving countries or houses can also be markers for stress.

Positive Stress:

Some people are driven by their stress and when its managed successfully, it can be positive. Positive motivating stress is known as eustress. This type of stress helps you to achieve your goals and keeps you moving forward towards your life’s dreams and ambitions. It may drive you and keep you going. It can also be the catalyst of making positive changes in your life.

Impact of stress Physically and Mentally:

The impact of long-term stress on individuals can cause activation of the “fight or flight response”. 

Common symptoms of stress include: 

• Rapid breathing
• Increased heart rate, 
• Muscle tension,
• Jaw clenching and or grinding of teeth, 
• Headaches or even migraines,
• Sweating. 

Ongoing stress can impact a person’s physical and mental health in the following ways:

• Hormonal Imbalances: Spiked cortisol ( cortisol is the primary stress hormone) levels impact the physical body thought a variety to ways including: the body holding onto fat which can link to diabetes, heart issues, defined below, such as high blood pressure, reduced bone density. Also high cholesterol is linked to high levels of stress.
• Cardiovascular disease: Heart disease, hypertension, heart disease, and stroke can be linked to stress. 
• Weakened Immunity: Ongoing stress weakens the immune system. A weakened immune system may impact the body and make it susceptible to infections and increased inflammation.
• Digestive system: Increased levels of stress can harm the digestive system. There are a multitude of gut issues that can be linked to stress including: irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease, leaky gut syndrome, (ulcerative) colitis, gut paresis.
• Skin Problems: skin issues, such as eczema, rashes and itchy skin has also been linked to stress. A study of over 3,400 workers by Norway’s National Institute of Occupational Health shows that psychological hazards in the workplace links stress and the aforementioned skin problems. 
• Sleep disturbances: Stress often disrupts normal sleep patterns, reducing the body’s ability to repair and restore.
• Nervous system: the nervous system, a network of nerves in your body, can go into overdrive. When the nervous system goes into overdrive, this can be linked to heart ailments and to the body shutting down. For example, going blank and forgetting what to say next and or, numbness and tingling in the body.
• Food intake: Increase or decreased appetite.
• Substance abuse: increased use of drugs, alcohol, smoking, often as a coping mechanism to numb the stress and pain.
• Social impact: withdrawal from social activities and avoidance of relationship responsibilities.
• A multitude of mental disorders and impacts: Prolonged unmanaged severe stress can turn into distress and can lead to mental strain and injury. Some injuries may include: anxiety, depression, suicidal tendencies and difficulty making decisions, making it difficult to move forward, these disorders have all been reported impacts of too much stress for too long.

Too much stress for too long can lead to “emotional and mental depletion – there’s just too much going on to manage effectively” Atlas of the Heart, Brene Brown.

What can you do to reduce your stress? How can you respond to stress, so it impact you less?

What are some of the techniques I used to overcome stress. It all links to, how do we activate our parasympathetic nervous system?

The parasympathetic nervous system is what helps the body create a feeling of calm and relax in the body and the mind. Activating the parasympathetic nervous system can help you manage and reduce your stress. How do you activate your parasympathetic nervous system?

Breathing: Deep slow abdominal breaths, like a sleeping baby takes, activates your parasympathetic nervous system. This deep breathing stimulates the vagus system, which is apart of the parasympathetic system. This stimulation may help to slow down the heart rate, to lower blood pressure and promotes feelings of calm and relaxation.

Exercise: Mild exercise, such as Pilates, yoga and walking can also activate your parasympathetic nervous system. 

Massage: Having a deep tissue massage can also aid in activating your parasympathetic nervous system. The head and neck area when massaged can activate the vagal sensory neurons that activate the parasympathetic nervous system. I recommend Calma Spa and Skin Clinic as our local go-to for highly effective and relaxing massages.

Nature: Spend time in the beautiful energies of nature, be it the green fields with basking big trees or at the seaside, near the salt-water, is such a gift and deeply healing.

Meditation: The other recommendation is to attend your local Twin Hearts Meditation, you can find my local one here: www.phwn.com.au

The Twin Hearts Meditation has a flushing out effect, so it will remove some negative thoughts and feelings and to a certain extent disintegrate some of those negative thoughts and feelings. This is helpful in removing stress and other negative thoughts and feelings and energies.

Prayer and Mantras: Prayer and or the use of mantras, such as Om or Aum, involves a calm state, it involves concentration and mental focus. According to, the International Journal of Science and Research Archive, there is a neurological link between prayer, breath control and serotonin (the happiness hormone) release. This paper indicates, “studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have shown that prayer activates brain regions involved in emotional regulation, such as the prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex [27]. These regions are also implicated in the modulation of serotonin, suggesting that prayer might enhance serotonin production and release by promoting neuroplasticity and emotional regulation’.

Spend time in Nature: the link to spending time in green spaces has been linked to lowering stress, depression, anxiety and other such mental health issues. 

Animal therapy: forming bonds with friendly animals may assist people in producing a calm state for that person. This doesn’t mean you need to own an animal for the effect to take place. My sister has a beautiful dog that she takes to the elderly persons homes, and they all enjoy patting the dog, giving him treats and taking time to connect with the dog. He loves the attention and the people have that time to have animal therapy and connection.

Singing: Using deep breathing to sing is also very good for your parasympathetic system. This is a personal one, not everyone is going to love singing, however, if you enjoy singing, this can also be a great way of producing calm, using your creativity and using sound healing for yourself. You can find a local choir as an option to get involved in your local community and foster positive local friendships too.

Support: Having a network of friends and family who support you and are there for you, also activates you relax and calm. If you want to expand your circle of support, look at the ap, meetup, it has lots of free and low cost options to connect with your local community. I have three groups listed there: Sound Healing, Meditation on Twin Hearts and Free Pranic Healing Clinics, whereby I offer free Pranic Healing to local community. Pop along to the next event to try something new and meet great likeminded people.

Pranic Healing:

If you would like some additional support in reducing your stress Pranic Healing may assist you. 

Did you know that on average each day we create over 50,000+ thoughts, most of which we aren’t even aware of those thoughts and what they are. Do you want to have more control of your thoughts or at least to have more positive thoughts and less stress? Pranic Healing works by removing unwanted energies, thoughts and emotions, such as stress and allowing for positive thoughts and energies to circulate.

Pranic Healing was created by Master Choa Kok Sui and is a revolutionary breakthrough in energy healing. Prana which means life-force in Sanskrit works by using fresh energy from the ground, the air and sun, along with divine healing energies to help you feel happier and healthier. 

Pranic Healing has proven results to assist you improve your physical, mental and emotional health, your life, your positive thinking. There are simple and highly effective methods designed to help you and alleviate your symptoms. Book a treatment today, visit: www.phwn.com.au

I have helped many clients improve their calm and relaxation. One client I supported had extreme eczema on her face and body and felt overwhelmed with her  life. Her overwhelm and stress steamed from, being solely responsible for her two aging parents and trying to arrange their long-term care, being unemployed and in-between jobs, not having a loving relationship and other stressors. I did one treatment for her eczema and it was removed. She then came in for a few more healings to help get to the core issue and reduce and remove her stress. At the end of the healings she felt better and she had ways forward to support her parents. A few months later, she started a new relationship which has been bringing her much joy. She also joined our local Pranic Healing course and now loves providing Pranic Healing treatments to herself and her loved ones. You can join our next pranic healing course too, anyone can learn Pranic Healing as it is highly effective, simple, safe and easy to use.

Can we escape stress?

Stress is everywhere in life. How we respond to stress can be the difference between feeling overwhelmed and stuck, to looking at the stress as an opportunity to move forward and to make changes. We can use many of the techniques outlined above to assist and support us in managing our individual stressors. I hope this article inspires you to enjoy and live your best life, even the stressors and challenges we face. If we can view stress as opportunities to learn, to grow and move forward, then we are better able to flow and succeed. It is ultimately not the result of the success that counts, it’s the journey that also matters. If you would like any support, please do reach out: info@phwn.com.au