Better health through reduced stress
by Joy JordanThe phone keeps ringing, your computer is on the fritz and you’re trying to fit 25 hours of activity into a 24-hour day. So your stress levels go up, along with your blood pressure. One sure way to damage your health is a high-stress lifestyle, though in today’s world, that’s often unavoidable. “When in stress, we produce a chemical in the body called cortisol that influences the way the body functions,” said Adam Liss, owner of Cape Stress Reduction. Research has noted that ongoing stress actually affects the brain’s physiology, he added. Stress is a normal short-term response, but it’s not supposed to be a long-term ongoing situation – that will cause actual physical harm to your mind and body, in the form of cell die-off. Since it’s virtually impossible to avoid stress in our daily lives, what with the demands of work, family and more, the key is how you manage that stress.
Liss, whose company offers group classes, one-on-one instruction and seminars for businesses and groups, helps his clients learn how to be more mindful and pay attention to what’s happening in their busy minds and rebellious bodies, which can manifest in ailments such as back trouble, insomnia and weight gain. At his offices in Marstons Mills, Liss offers weekly drop-in classes and longer sessions, as well as specialty workshops, customized on-site corporate and school programs, and individual counseling.
The classes teach how to pay attention to things people normally turn away from because they’re uncomfortable – these will show up in body and mind if ignored. Liss notes that he works with people with a range of health concerns, from those wanting to maximize their fitness to cancer patients and those suffering from heart disease. “Many have serious health issues they are trying to improve, others are being proactive and want to maintain and optimize their health now with an eye to the future and living and long healthy life.” It’s about starting to gain control of how your body is working – to get it functioning in a normal healthy matter.
As stress is implicated in as much as 85 percent of disease processes, with conditions ranging as wide as acid reflux to heart disease, anxiety to hypertension, and psoriasis to insomnia, stress reduction services can not only help people feel better, it can reduce employee absenteeism, boost productivity across the board, reduce health-care costs, impact hospital overload at emergency room treatment centers, and reduce reliance on prescription medications.
With baby boomers now spending two-thirds of the dollars in this country and all of them interested in health and longevity, stress reduction and a whole body approach to optimal health is on everybody's radar screen. The United States consumes 42 percent of the world’s prescription drugs and has only 5 percent of the world's population. However, this reliance on medication in addition to high-tech testing and treatment, and the fact that we spend more on health care per capita than any other country, noted Liss, has not yielded an increased life-expectancy, with the U.S. rating 42nd on the list of countries around the world. “Though our high-stress lifestyle is not responsible for all of this, it is one of the two places we can have the biggest bang for our buck in reducing the risk, severity and cost of disease and suffering.”
While all ages and professions are represented in his clientele, Liss said, baby boomers are the majority – as are women, which make up 70 percent to 80 percent of his students. “It’s not that men are feeling less stressed, but it’s that they won’t/don’t know how to ask for help,” said Liss. “Men are more liable to believe that they should be able to take care of it themselves, but they don’t have any more tools than anyone else and need this type of guidance as well.”
Eight stress reduction basics
1. Take a breather. Literally, stop what you are doing for 60 seconds and breathe deeply with your eyes closed. Make it a habit to stop once every hour for a silent 60-second break.
2. Do one thing at a time. Stop multitasking for a half-hour each day and simply focus on the task at hand. Defer the other things that come up until that time has passed.
3. Move that body! Do some kind of exercise every day even if it is only for 5 to 10 minutes. Go for a short walk, up and down the stairs a few times, or just turn on some music and dance. Think of it as preventative maintenance.
4. Feed yourself a healthy diet. This is more than just the food you eat. Be aware of what you listen to, read, and watch. Pay attention to how these things affect you and choose what is healthiest for you.
5. Pay attention. Pay attention to the person you are with right now. Listen carefully to what that person is saying. And then respond respectfully, honestly and sincerely.
6. Spend some time doing something you love. Whether it is a hobby, an excursion or a get-together, make time on a regular basis to do that special something that revitalizes your life and feeds your soul.
7. Give to a worthy cause. The cause is yours to choose. Pick something that rings true in your heart: an organization or a person, global or local, popular or unnoticed. How much and what you give likewise comes from the heart. Service, experience or prayer, there are many ways to give.
8. Smile. If you are looking for a good time, start right here. Share a smile. Studies show that smiling triggers happiness by evoking a cascade of neurotransmitters in the body that engender good feelings. Smiles are contagious and each one encourages another.
Source: Cape Stress Reduction
Published in Cape Business November/December 2007
Joy Jordan is managing editor of Cape Business magazine. She has worked in the technology and publishing industries and was chief copy editor for Cape Cod Community Newspapers. 
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