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Why Stress Management? 
 
Stress is a part of life and not necessarily always a bad thing. 
 
     Sometimes stress kicks us out of our inertia and gets us going.  For example,  how many times have you written a  presentation for your job or studied for an exam the night before the due date and  been amazed at how well you have done? These all nighters or last minute projects get done with amazing energy , speed and efficiency.  Not to promote procrastinating, but the reason you produced so successfully was because your body reacted to stress and was in a fight or flight mode- ready to protect you from failure. 
 
 
 
Chronic stress impairs health.
 
However, do recall what happens after the presentation or exam- you experience fatigue and are ready to crash.  This fatigue sets in with a vengeance after a prolonged period of stress- when you have a week or long period of time where you need to produce and your stress is high. Or perhaps you experience stress on a daily basis where there is no real endpoint where it might dissipate.
 
    80% of chronic illness attribute stress as one of the factors. Stress without a buffer can be a deterrant to good health and results in poor health outcome.
 
   Stress is associated with increased blood pressure, cholesterol and heart disease.  Stress impacts our immune, respiratory and digestive systems.  Stress insinuates its impact on all aspects of our lives resulting in depression, anxiety, frustration and anger.
 
 
Can we get rid of  all of our stressors? 
 
 
   So, the first goal is to rid ourselves of our stressors. This might work for some cases- perhaps we can  get ourselves more organized or we can improve our time management.
 
 
 
Some stressors cannot be removed- so what can we do?
 
But some stressors, such as the worry behind an ill child, or the tension of working in an unfriendly workplace, unfortunately cannot be readily changed.  Instead we have to create buffers for ourselves so that we can withstand the hammering of the stress with minimum impact upon ourselves.  These buffers include practicing relaxation, meditation and visualization.  Studies have shown that practicing these therapies reduce the stress hormone significantly.  In addition these therapies improve health outcome, healing and provide a sense of well-being. 
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