The How of Chilling

Now that we have introduced the idea that we could chill out a little more, you might ask how that might be accomplished. A good way to begin is to understand what stress really is, and to learn how to handle it more effectively.

Most of us acknowledge that stress is a major concern in modern living – both personally and collectively. Stress has been shown to be a significant problem in terms of many health issues such as cardiac, digestive, and respiratory and emotional conditions, in relationship difficulties, and has resulted in billions of lost dollars from substandard productivity and missed work time. Stress is the "carbon dioxide of our inner atmosphere". Yet, very few people have a good understanding of what stress really is, and how best to manage stress.

Stress is a natural, normal and necessary part of how we function effectively as human beings. Stress itself is not a problem. Stress is as necessary a physiological process. Similar to a well-functioning digestive system, it depends on achieving balance -- between the nutrients we take and the energy we expend. In terms of our stress system, the balance is between how much we experience the Stress Reaction and how much our Relaxation Response is activated. A good balance of both will result in a healthier, more satisfied and less troublesome life experience.