STRESS

Stress is ugly. It will literally chew you up and spit you out. The best example of this that I have seen, other than myself, was a client preparing for a grueling mountain bike race. It was a hundred miler through the mountains of Colorado. She had the usual leg, shoulder and neck tightness and stress. Fast forward a couple of months. She had teenager issues. She came in a wreck! I had never seen her so stressed out in her whole body.

Recent research suggests that anywhere from 60-90% of illness is stress-related. The physical wear and tear of stress includes damage to the cardiovascular system and immune system suppression. Stress compromises your ability to fight off disease and infection, throws your digestive system off balance, makes it difficult to conceive a baby, and can even stunt growth in children.

Medical conditions caused or exacorbated by stress include:
chronic pain obesity
migraines infertility
ulcers autioimune disease
heartburn irritable bowel syndrome
high blood pressure skin problems
heart disease
diabetes
asthma
pms
Emotional effects:
Chronic stress grinds away at your mental health, causing emotional damage in addition to physical ailments. Long-term stress can even rewire the brain leaving you more vulnerable to everyday pressures and less able to cope. Over time, stress can lead to mental health problems such as:
anxiety eating disorders
depression substance abuse
(Helpguide.org)

Tomorrow I will give you 20 great tips to help you de-stress!