The Drip Drip Drip of Sustained Stress
I often quote Dr. Deepak Chopra’s example of sustained stress from his book, The Healing Self:
"A double cheeseburger with fries is known to cause inflammatory markers to appear in blood plasma…within a few minutes and lasts upward of six hours. During that time, your body experiences a disruption. In response, your liver will rev into gear to process the excessive load of fat, and your immune system will attempt to combat the surge of inflammation. The immediate outcome is likely to be very undramatic and seemingly innocuous. But the drip, drip, drip of such disruptions has long-range damaging effects."
Dr. Chopra is speaking nutritionally in this example, but we can extrapolate that drip, drip, drip effect of stress to the emotional, physical, spiritual and psychological arenas in our lives. At the highest stress point in my life, I was on three medications to treat high blood pressure, GERD and chronic headaches. My job was the biggest stressor, and my husband finally encouraged me to resign from my position. Within a month, my GERD was practically gone, my blood pressure was much more controlled and my headaches were fewer and far between. I was in healthcare, and still had not connected the dots! It wasn’t until I left the position that I realized my maladies were not genetically inherited, but truly a byproduct of sustained stress.
This was 10 years ago, before I found Reiki. My wellness journey took a favorable turn when I was introduced to Reiki. Now I practice self-Reiki each morning, which includes saying the five Reiki precepts:
Just for today, I will not be angry
Just for today, I will not worry
Just for today, I will be grateful and show gratitude
Just for today, I will work honestly at all that I do
Just for today, I will be kind to all living things
Not everyone can walk away from a stressful environment. We encourage you to recognize your stressors and create a "de-stressor toolkit." We encourage you to practice mindfulness and meditation, exercise and enjoy a healthy diet. You can try these things on your own to mitigate the sustained stress in your life. But, if you need added tools in your “de-stressor toolkit," we would love to introduce you to the benefits of Reiki.