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                                                 MASTER STRESS

Would you like to live in a world with no stress?

Picture it: No worry, No anxiety, No pressure…..
Sounds nice, right?

Maybe for a moment; but stress is inevitable.
Stress is so deeply rooted in our life that we can’t avoid it. Stress is so tough to cope up with but we would be a lot of worse without it.
Humans have a stress response for a reason- it prepares our mind & body for what we need to do in a moment or in the coming moments.
Our body’s natural response saved us time and again; if you look at the evolutionary process of humankind.

So what is stress basically?
Stress is a state of worry or mental tension caused by difficult situation. It is a natural instinct that prompts us to fight or flight.
Stress can be both physiological and psychological.
So if I tell you to go out without jacket or sweater on cold winter night it would be a physiological stress. And if I tell you tomorrow are a final exam of all subjects, it is psychological stress.
We are “turn on” to stress all the time. Stress is the ocean we swim in. from the moment we open our eyes in the morning till our eyes drift closed at night we are flooded with constant thoughts, to do list, commitments, and thorny conversations, unexpected small and large crises.
But how do you explain stress? Like what are the symptoms of stress? - Dry throat, sweating, palpitations, heart racing, and so on….

How does it happen?.....
First understand what stress does to your body? You will say just tell us how to manage stress but believe me you will appreciate this session if you understand the biology behind it. And then you yourself will be able to manage your stress.
We have sympathetic chain ganglia in the middle of our body. i.e. right from our neck to the navel or slightly below navel. Sympathetic chain ganglia are a network of neurons. When something happens or when there is stressful situation; these neurons collapse all at once. And secrete some neurochemicals like cortisol and adrenalin. Now this adrenalin has two functions to do. One is to dilate blood vessels, not all. And second is to constrict some other. Adrenalin dilates blood vessels of very important organs like brain, muscles and heart. This pushes more blood to these organs and keeps them more active when you are in a threat situation. Therefore heart works faster than usual to get more oxygen and blood to the body. Brain requires more oxygen and blood supply too. – to act more effectively, think faster, focus on the thought process. Muscles  should get more blood to fight against stressors.

And now some of the organs which don’t need immediate attention are separated out from getting enough blood. For example your digestive system, reproduction system etc. Also therefore your throat becomes dry because salivary glands don’t need immediate and usual blood supply.
But what if you are under constant threat of something or the other? i.e what if you are constantly under stress? Cortisol is constantly in your blood, your heart is constantly racing, pumping the blood very hard, your digestion becomes awfully bad, you cannot focus on your daily routine works, you become more agitated, and you are constantly on demand of glucose- only source of energy. This is how your body goes into metabolic syndrome.
Oh…. No….If this all is happening in your body and your life is like this – targets, family, exams, extracurricular then what to do?
There are some techniques to give your body short bouts of stress and then a quick recovery. And trust me this healthy form of stress which prepares your body for the bad days.