Excess Stress

Everyone has his or her own individual threshold for stress. In other words, you can adapt to whatever your world throws at you, up to a certain point or peak. Once your stress load pushes beyond this threshold, it becomes excess.

Most people, when experiencing some sort of physical symptom, try to blame the discomfort on some act that they performed. For example, if your neck suddenly becomes sore, it is only natural to start wondering: Did I sleep in a strange posture? Did I turn my head in a funny way? Or some other physical action that may explain the soreness. Unfortunately, these types of thoughts rarely give us the full picture of what is really happening inside of us.

Here is a very important thing to remember: Your body does not differentiate between the 3 types of stress. Your body will react exactly the same way to all kinds of excess stress no matter the origin. Whether you are experiencing physical, mental or chemical stress (most likely a combination of all three), you will react in a predictable and consistent manner whenever this combined stress load pushes beyond your personal threshold level.

Does a cloud in the sky actually put out the sun? Of course not, it just filters the light. Similarly, excess stress does not completely block out the essential life force energy that runs through us, it interferes with its proper flow. The higher the stress levels (thicker clouds), the weaker the flow of energy throughout the body (gloomy day). Excess stress is the one and only cause of “The Human Dimmer Switch”.

Good Stress?

Since, due to all of this stress talk, I've probably either scared you, created a deep depression or both - here is a bit of good news about stress.

Not all stress is bad. In fact, many of our daily stressors can be quite beneficial. Proper exercise is an example of physical stress that can make your muscles, bones, heart and lungs all become stronger and function better. Reading or doing brain exercises, like cross-word puzzles, are forms of mental stress that can increase your brain capacity and function. Also, if you are exposed to a virus, your body will go through an incredible chemical transformation in order to create antibodies to defend against that virus. This example of chemical stress is how our immune system develops, strengthens and keeps us healthy.