Stress is a fact of life and a necessity in many cases but left unaddressed, stress can wreak havoc on your body systems and interfere with the intelligent workings of your body.  Simply put, general health will be impaired and ill effects unavoidable.

So, how does stress affect us?  Before we can answer this question we must know what stress is. Simply put, stress is the body’s reaction to any change that requires an adjustment or response. The body reacts to these changes with physiological, physical, mental, and emotional responses.

Stress, to varying degrees, is a normal part of life and our body, mind, and spirit is designed to experience and react to stress. Stress can be positive, in that it helps to keep us alert and ready to avoid danger. Additionally, positive life events (such as: a new relationship, wedding, birth of a child, a new home, new career, even exercise, etc.) are all stress inducing events.

Stress, as we know, can also be negative and without relief or relaxation, it will negatively affect every system in our body. In future posts, I will be highlighting the different systems of the body and how stress affects those systems.

Here are some interesting statistics on stress:

– It is now believed that 80% – 90% of all disease is stress induced
– 75% – 90% of all doctor’s office visits are for stress related ailments and complaints
– Emotional disorders are more than 50% due to chronic, untreated reactions to stress
– 43% of adults suffer adverse health effects from stress
– OSHA estimates that stress costs American industry more than $300 billion annually

My intent is to help you understand just how important it is to allow yourself to experience stress relief – it is well worth the time and cost, I assure you. Whether you are an elite athlete, a corporate executive, college student, or average joe, we all need to be active participants in our own care and quality of life.

So please, make time in your life for regular massage; let me support you in living a healthy life.