Some anthropologists suggest that we, with all of our modern-day conveniences, are more stressed than were our early ancestors, whose days centered around finding enough food to eat and not becoming food for the local sabre-tooth tigers.

This may sound ridiculous, until you take into account the actual, real-deal effects of our workaholism and stress-aholism, and their attendant hyperactive mental chatter, frantic pace, and technology 'trons' we pickle ourselves in daily.

Our mind-body-spirit wellbeing affects our ability to think clearly, listen closely, speak resourcefully, and respond appropriately.

Think of the last time your were stressed out:

• Were you more sensitive to perceived insults?

• Did you listen well?

• Did you feel more self-conscious and/or preoccupied?

• Were you curt or short-tempered with others?

• Did you lash out or make rash decisions?

• Did you feel more judgmental or intolerant, and more sensitive to perceived insults?

• Were you thinking clearly or feeling muddled?

• Did you get things done more efficiently, or were you more prone to mistakes or carelessness?

• Did you feel more fatigued or 'zapped' at the end of the day, and find yourself awake or restless during your sleep time?

Unhealthy, unchecked stress inhibits our ability to be creative, resourceful, skillful, tolerant, kind, and well.

A five-year study of the American workforce conducted by the Families and Work Institute showed that 30% of employees often or very often feel burned out or stressed by their jobs, 27% feel emotionally drained from their work, and 42% feel used up at the end of the work day.

What's more, Harvard's Mind/Body Institute reported that 60 to 90-percent of physician-visits are stress-related. Pair these statistics with climbing worker's compensation claims, burgeoning use of anti-depressant prescription drugs and escalating incivility, among other things, and stress management seems well worth our attention.

"Men, for the sake of making a living, forget to live."
— Margaret Fuller

Stress: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Stress is the wear and tear our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment — such as work.

As a positive influence, stress can compel us to action; precede creativity, or result in a new awareness and an exciting new perspective.

As a negative influence, we find ourselves too frequently in 'fight, flight or freeze' survival-mode, with heightened levels of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenalin. This level of prolonged chronic stress has been identified as a major health issue and linked to a wide variety of illnesses.

Stress also means that blood pressure is often heightened, muscles constrict, breathing becomes more shallow, and our capacity for higher thinking, intuition, and creativity is reduced significantly.

Chronic stress can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger or depression, which in turn can lead to incivility in the workplace, illness, lower productivity, clouded thinking, poor decision-making skills, and other less-than-desirable effects.

Just as there are many sources of stress, there are many options for managing it.

However, all require focused intention and shifts from our habitual routines and default coping mechanisms — changing the source of stress or changing your reaction to it.

Here are a few things that help to reduce stress.

"For fast-acting relief, try slowing down."
— Lily Tomlin

How Can You Unravel the Frazzle and Reduce Your Stress?

• Become aware of your stressors and your emotional and physical reactions. Notice your distress. Don’t ignore it. What events distress you? Are you being realistic? Can you see patterns? Once you have more awareness, you can make better choices.

"I've experienced many horrible things in my life,"
and a few of them actually happened."
— Mark Twain

• Recognize what you can change. Can you change your stressors by avoiding or eliminating them? Can you reduce their intensity (manage them over a period of time instead of on a daily or weekly basis)? Can you shorten your exposure to stress (by taking a break, for example)?

Are there ways to identify the core beliefs and triggers, and make the changes to shift or 'take the charge off of' them? Modalities such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), the Tapas Acupressure Technique (TAT), HeartMath exercises, meditation and guided visualizations, flower essences and essential oils, and quite a few others can support enormous and truly healthful (and helpful) shifts.

Devote the time and energy necessary to making a change -- there are so many good resources available to us now, there is little excuse for being chronically stressed and worn down. Your body and mind will thank you.

• Reduce the intensity of your emotional reactions to stress. Stress is triggered by your perception of danger and fear. It usually boils down to perceived survival issues at the level of the limbic brain (our ancient brain, which was focused on surviving, and avoiding or dealing with actual threats to survival).

Our neo-cortex, or 'higher brain', allows us a higher capacity of thinking, creativity, intuition, and creative problem-solving. It requires that we be out of that 'fight or flight' survival mode.

As you read above, it's helpful to 'pattern track' and identify your stressors and triggers, and then add tools to your toolbox -- such as communication approaches, breathing techniques, EFT, TAT, or other modalities -- that allow you to gain access to your higher-brain capacity, which allows you to be more skillful and make better choices.

"Is everything as urgent as your stress would imply?"
— Carrie Latet

• Practice relaxation. Slow, deep breathing will bring your heart rate back to normal. The HeartMath 'heart lock' exercise is helpful in reducing your stress hormone levels, amongst other things. Relaxation techniques can reduce muscle tension.

Aromatherapy can serve as a continual relaxer throughout the day. Meditation and exercise help to support and relax the mind and body. Yoga, massage or other holistic practices may also be worthy of consideration.

Moore and more people swear by things like color therapy, relaxation music, Bach or other flower essences, essential oils, and other holistic wellness resources.

• Maintain your physical and emotional reserves. Exercise and eat well; some people trank up on caffeine, sugar, and pastries, and then wonder why they're having energy plummets and feeling stressed out.

Maintain supportive relationships rather than surrounding yourself with chronically negative, critical people. Pursue realistic goals that are meaningful to you, rather than goals others have for you. View frustrations, failures, and sorrows as opportunities for learning and deepened awareness.

Again, these are things that sound easy, yet we need to be compassionate with ourselves and others as we/they set out to make changes in long-established patterns and habits. With each day, we dissolve the old habits and strengthen new ones. Step by step, day by day.

• Look out the window or take a walk outside. A survey of 4,500 workers in the Department of Energy found that people who sit near a window have 23% fewer complaints of stress-related illnesses such as headache, back pain, and exhaustion.

Many others — experts and lay persons alike — know that being out in nature is soothing to body, mind and spirit.

And walking is both relaxing and a good form of exercise -- it's been one of my own life-savers and quality of life savers!

• Practice stress-neutralizers. If you’re stuck in the office and can’t get outside, try three stress-busting exercises: 1) Close your hands in a tight fist for 10 seconds and slowly open them. 2) Slowly roll your head from side to side. 3) Tighten your toes, hold them for 10 seconds, and release. Breathe. Repeat each step five times.

You can also do some simple deep-breathing exercises, and even include mini-visualizations, to refresh yourself even in just a few minutes.

• Change your mind-set. People become stressed when they dwell relentlessly on the problem instead of finding a solution. Again, think of these as inherited and culturally ingrained habits of thought and belief that require time and practice to 're-route'. Yes, you're actually rewriing neuropathways and biochemical habits.

One quick exercise is to allow yourself no more than 5 minutes to stress out about something, all the while noticing what triggered the stress. When 5 minutes are up, take a few deep, cleansing breaths, try a heart-centering technique, and re-route your thinking -- there are more than a few ways to do this. Each time you notice a stress-habit and then do practices to shift it, you're creating a 'new normal' or 'new default'.

• Forgive and forget. Recent research, including a multitude of studies, shows that eons of spiritual teachings were right after all: The art of forgiveness has some very practical rewards. Holding grudges and hanging on to old hurts or resentments, research shows, is like marinating in dis-ease.

The result? Illness, stress, depression, and lack of hope, among other negative consequences. And it is guaranteed to keep you anchored in the past, which prevents you from moving into greater experiences of joy, wellbeing, and possibility. Forgiveness, on the other hand, lends itself to much more positive outcomes — healing, wellness, increased confidence, fewer trips to the doctor, and more.

"Slow down, and everything you're chasing
will come around and catch you."
— John De Paola

• Be in the present. Anxiety often stems from our worrying over the past or the future. Reality — and stress-relief — can be found in our perspective and actions in the present. Think about it. Most of the time you feel stressed out, fearful, or angry, what are you thinking about? Where is your mind? Chances are, you're in the past or out into the future, rather than focusing on what's in front of you at the moment.

• Practice Gratitude. Yes, we've all heard it. And we can also find evidence that we've been ingrained and trained in more critical, negative, 'mishap anticipating' thought habits. (Check out Sociologist, Brene Brown's TED talks on this!).

With a gratitude practice, we're helping to rewire those neuropathways, and replace old habits with new ones. Particularly when we FEEL as well as think during our gratitude practice, we truly create a new normal.

You might start and end the day by thinking-feeling about 5 or 10 things you're grateful for. You can make a commitment to find 10 things to say thank-you for during the day -- to express your gratitude and appreciation to someone else (or heck, go for it -- go beyond 10!).

And you can even use EFT to 'tap in' appreciation and gratitude! The gist is that it's a higher vibration, it's healthier, and it really feels a whole lot better.

• Don't go it alone. A circle of kindreds or a good friend can be a great help in lending a compassionate ear and a good hug. And if you need or prefer help from a more objective professional, seek out a qualified health professional, a coach or advisor who is experienced in mind-body-spirit approaches woven into 'real life', or spiritual mentor.

You'll find a lot of other wonderful resources right here at Ivy Sea Online -- take a look at the VIP resources and the Feminine Mojo Mystery School, or schedule your own Mojo Sessions. Take a look...