Dear Future Centenarian,
Last week, I showed you how to avoid
chronic stress… or at least how to
reduce it. The truth is, as long as you’re in action, you will always have some
stress in your life. In fact, we simply don’t grow without stress. Some stress
is good for you. It evolved as a survival mechanism. You get a rush of adrenalin
when you’re faced with a sudden life threatening situation. You react faster,
often without even thinking. Your strength can suddenly double for an instant.
But now that we’re civilized (at
least technologically) we seldom face life threatening events (unless you live
in Detroit).
However, modern day life puts other pressures on you. Instead of being attacked
by a wild animal, escaping and then relaxing for a week, we get stressed by the
multiple processes of living in a complex world that I listed last week. And
this stress isn’t over as fast as it occurred. Stressful situations may stay
with us for days, weeks and even years. Or they maypop up one after another.
They can make us feel helpless as babies. Sometimes they spin our lives out of
control. This chronic stress is what
kills us instead of saving us.
This week, I’m going to show you
how to manage chronic stress without dropping out and
meditating in a cave.
All you need
to do is stop and get off the horse once in a while. Relaxation is not only fun
and easy to do, but it will extend your life and help keep you from getting
sick. Focus and intentional practice are much more effective than passive
relaxation though. You might try meditation, yoga, prayer, self-hypnosis, deep
breathing exercises, creative visualization, biofeedback and tai chi. Stress
management can measurably reverse much of your stress-induced damage very
quickly. You can even restore over taxed immune systems in ninety days or less.
Best of all, your benefits accumulate. The longer you practice stress management
techniques, the healthier you become.
Next week,
I’m going to show you two basic simple techniques that work like crazy with
minimal time and effort. In fact, they are fun. They’ll take you from a
dysfunctional, tied-up-in-a bundle-of-knots condition to the relaxed, happy and
productive super star you are meant to be in a matter of minutes. For now, here
are some simple tips from Lifehack.org.
1. Make quiet
time: Whether you meditate
daily or just spend an hour a night with a book, you need to
create a space where you can clear your mind.
2. Eat better: A good diet
can help your body better deal with the effects of stress.
3. Make family time: Try to eat at least one meal a day
with your family (or with friends if you’re single).
4. Talk it out: Bottling
up your frustrations, even the little ones, leads to stress.
5. Prioritize: Figure out what in your life
actually needs attention and what doesn’t.
6. Accept interruptions gracefully: Leave
enough wiggle room so you can adapt to changes in your day.
7. Pay attention to yourself: Notice when
you feel stressed, and determine the cause.
8. Love: Build relationships. Share
yourself. Feel human warmth.
9. Learn
How to Relax and Center. We’ll cover this next
week.
Long Life
David A.
Kekich
Maximum Life
Foundation
714-641-0700/Fax
714-464-4135
kekich@maxlife.org
www.MaxLife.org