Stress Relief - Refreshment

Stress Relief - No Laughing Matter
Stress Relief? It's no laughing matter, but it has become something of a joke to the thousands of men, women, and children who are living in today's world and experiencing the frantic pace of both work and play. Stress can take many forms. It isn't just the negative experiences of life that can create stress. Being too busy, even though participating in a multitude of fun-filled activities, can result in excessive surges of adrenaline in the body that leave us fatigued and emotionally drained. Like a driver merging from the onramp onto a multilane freeway during rush hour traffic, we find ourselves struggling to get up to speed and go with the flow of today's fast paced family.
Stress Relief - Is It In Sight?

Today's post-modern culture lures family members away from one another, while encouraging each individual to pursue his or her own search for self-fulfillment. Already fragmented families take vacations to entertainment capitals of the world, and come home exhausted from the effort to see all and do all. People are working harder than ever before, to afford expensive vacations that advertise the "something for everyone" enticement. Underneath it all, there is often the pervasive longing to return to a time when life was simpler and relaxing. The typical post-modern family rarely eats a meal together. Mom and dad may both work out of the home. Ballet lessons, club activities, and school sports fill up the after school schedules of many children. By the time everyone gets home, eats, and takes a bath, it's bedtime. Exhausted moms and dads tumble into bed so that they can get up and do it all over again, tomorrow. They wonder to themselves, "Is there stress relief in sight?" Weekends, which used to be a time for resting and spending time as a family, are now packed full of even more activities and busyness. Fast food is gobbled and nutritional needs are sacrificed, while rushed parents fly out the door on Saturday morning to drop off and pick up their sons and daughters, from parks, gymnastics academies, and local hockey rinks. There's the weekly grocery shopping to be done and a host of other errands to complete. "Home" is no long valued as a place to reconnect and refresh. Instead, it has become a barracks to crash in, before reentering the world of work or play. By the time Sunday rolls around, the temptation to just sleep in is too great for many families to ignore and family worship becomes the only nonevent of the week.
Stress Relief - How Do I Get It?

How can today's family function in a world where there is so much to do, and not enough time to do it all? Where is the stress relief? Counselors and others involved in helping professions are realizing that there are two important characteristics of a family that determine how well it will cope in the face of the stresses and anxieties of everyday life. A healthy family stays connected and shares in the positive experience of both giving and receiving love among its family members. Stress relief comes as a family purposefully sets time aside to just be a family, to spend time together. Vacations that are jam-packed with all the diversions that can be offered by today's entertainment industry are no substitute for a family camping trip or a day at the beach together. Refreshment is also a very necessary ingredient for stress relief. The Creator of the Universe recognized that His creation needed to rest from the busyness of life, and so He created a day for both spiritual and physical rest. God also knew that human beings could not handle all of the pressures and stresses of life all by themselves. That is why God's Word tells us in 1 Peter 5:7 to cast all of our anxieties on Him, because He truly cares about us and wants what is best for us. Prayer is perhaps the best source of stress relief that you can experience. The next time you are really feeling overwhelmed with life and in need of relief, try these three things:
Regroup as a family and spend a day together. Take time away from all the busyness to reconnect and to experience the sense of belonging that comes from giving and receiving love within your own family.
Coping With Anxiety - Stress Response

Coping with anxiety begins with an understanding of the body's stress response. The body undergoes three stages of stress. These stages are as follows: Fight or Flight: During this stage, the body perceives threatened danger. A surge of energy overtakes the body, enabling a person to fight off the threat or flee from the danger at hand.

Resistance: This stage occurs when danger remains beyond the fight or flight period. The body secretes several hormones in order to mobilize the body during long-term stress. Exhaustion: If the body successfully completes the first two stages, it will enter a third stage, exhaustion. This is a time when the fatigued body replenishes itself.
Coping With Anxiety - When Does Stress Become a Problem?Coping with anxiety is a necessity in our modern fast-paced world. Busy schedules, intensified by traffic jams, money problems, and relational difficulties keep many people in chronic states of stress. Stress becomes a problem when a person undergoes a sense of prolonged danger. During the fight or flight and resistance stages, the body produces many helpful hormones. However, excessive amounts of these same substances can cause damaging effects to the body. For instance, adrenaline helps with energy production during stressful periods. Prolonged use of adrenaline by the body, however, leads to a weakening of the heart. Cortisol and vasopressin, both released during the resistance stage, raise blood pressure and blood sugar levels and may narrow artery walls by increasing blood platelets. During prolonged stress, the body rarely has time to replenish itself. The body remains in a cycle of fighting, fleeing, and resisting, with little or no time to rest. This affects the body's sleep cycle, only increasing the body's fatigue and decreasing full restoration.
Coping With Anxiety - SymptomsCoping with anxiety begins with the understanding of the symptoms of excess stress. These symptoms include: exhaustion, sleep problems, tension headaches, constant worry, dark circles under the eyes, bowel disturbances, lowered immune function, irritability or angry outbursts, lack of concentration, and so on. If you think you are experiencing the symptoms of anxiety, check with your health professional. He or she can diagnose anxiety by evaluating your medical and personal history. Dealing with anxiety is easier when you have help.
Coping With Anxiety - Steps to a Worry-free Existence Coping with anxiety entails that a person actively engage in positive changes. There are steps that one can take to encounter safety from a worrisome world. Coping with stress and anxiety includes the following steps:
Laugh: Don't take your life so seriously. A sense of humor helps overcome worry by distracting the mind. Laughter may also produce endorphins, which help ease pain and offer a sense of relaxation and joy. Tell a joke, watch a comedy, and laugh when disaster strikes. You'll feel better with a smile on your face.
Make plans: Worrying solves nothing. It cannot change situations or outcomes. The only way change comes about is through action. Instead of worrying, empower yourself by acting toward change. Worried about money? Create and implement a budget or seek professional financial counsel. Productivity creates an atmosphere of positive change that worry cannot achieve and makes overcoming anxiety possible.
Herbs: There are several herbs one may use to help alleviate feelings of stress. Among them, Kava stands out. Kava enables the body to relax physically and mentally. Those with liver problems or Parkinson's disease should not use Kava. Adaptogenic herbs, such as the ginsengs and milk thistle are good herbs to consider. Adaptogens, or nerve tonics, help strengthen the body's resistance to stress. As always, follow the directions on the bottle and check with your doctor before beginning any herbal routine.
Seek professional help: Having someone with whom you can discuss your worries may help lessen anxiety. A good counselor will listen attentively, enabling you to discover your underlying concerns. Together, you can create productive means of handling stress, so that you may heal emotionally and physically.
Make refreshment a priority. Set aside a day of the week for worship and for rest. Attend church as a family.
Pray. Talk to God about the stresses in your life and remember to turn over your cares to the One who truly cares for you.