Did you know that even a little stress can damage, over time, can damage our health and lead to possible permanent disability? A study of more than 17,000 Swedes in Stockholm county proved that the higher the levels of psychological stress, the higher the likelihood of a person needing a disability “pension award,” five years down the line. Even people with the mildest levels of distress had an extremely elevated risk of receiving those benefits. Researchers concluded that the demands of modern society may be exceeding human ability.
This study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, and MANY others are good reminders that we all need to find effective ways to cope with the day to day stress we all encounter. Some great suggestions from the Mayo Clinic are being active, meditating, getting enough quality sleep and practicing yoga.
It’s often said that stress is related to 99% of all illnesses. Makes sense that their would be a connection between it and collecting disability. It is my personal goal to remain productive to my family, my friends and the world at large for as long as possible. To that end, I am rather happy that I practice those things suggested by the people at the Mayo Clinic. I am so happy that the pool has warmed up enough to have me back in there swimming. Some activities, like swimming, allow one to both be active and meditative. Running, yoga, Pilates…they all share that quality. Fitness is the magic bullet to good health and happiness. Peaceandfitness. Get yours!
You will notice that Kyle has added a share button for both Facebook and Twitter that you will see at the bottom of each day’s individual entry. If you read an entry that you think can benefit others, you can repost it on either Facebook or you can send it out as a Tweet. Since my mission remains constant, “to spread the word on how wellness works,” I am always appreciative of you passing along the message. Once you hit the share button, it will ask you to type in your Facebook or Twitter account information and then it is very simple to post. And thanks to so many of you who seemed to know that already (before I did) as I see entries have already been shared on Facebook. Thank you, thank you. Please remember that this is a very safe sight, including the very appropriate ads from our friends at Google. Make it a magical and maybe even meatless Monday 🙂
WOW!! It is unbelievable that we both were thinking about “stress” today. In one of my classes at the college, we had the entire class dedicated to stress management. We spoke about meditating, acupressure, yoga, exercise, quality sleep, aromatherapy and peaceful music. These are all the techniques that I use to management my stress. My class is also going to create a mandala that represents positive attributes about themselves. They will gaze at their mandala whenever a stressful situation arises. So, all in all, we CAN manage our stress as soon as we get our “tool box” filled with all the helpful tools.
Rita…I not only wish everyone could have you as a first or third grade teacher, but also as a college professor. You take WHOLE learning to a new level. You have always taught the importance of stress reduction, physical fitness, yoga, etc! You are AWESOME! How lucky your students are…..
I forgot to mention that for our next class we will be doing some basic yoga poses. One of my students stated that he does not like yoga because it “wasn’t MANLY.” Well…………I told him a thing or two!!!! So………we shall see what he will do when we start stretching and then end with “the tree.” lol