The Fallout of Stress

Stress is a biological reaction to threat or the fear of a demand or change. Not all stress is negative. Winning the lottery is considered positive (eustress) while wrecking your car while collecting your winnings is negative (distress). Stress causes our body to release hormones which increase our heart rate and breathing, restricts digestion, and tightens muscles. This survival mechanism is advantageous when choosing to fight or run away from a bear. These reactions are not helpful when dealing with rush hour traffic, workplace demands, and other confrontations of daily life.

The body's reaction to stress was described by Hans De Solye in the 1920s as the General Adaptation Syndrome. In short, continued stress causes the body to try to adapt. Adaptation will continue until the body reaches it limit at which point resistance to stress and disease start to collapse. It is no wonder that nearly half of all Americans experience stress-related health issues. It's difficult to change biological responses that are hard-wired into our DNA. It's also difficult to avoid stress. Our "Flight or Flight" mechanism was designed to activate when our life was threatened, not several times a day as it does now.

Massage helps the body to remember what it means to relax. Besides increasing relaxation and decreasing anxiety, massage lowers blood pressure, increases circulation, reduces fatigue and gives us more energy to handle stressful situations. When we are at peace, we think clearer, respond better, and maintain a general sense of well-being with less effort. If all the body knows is stress, it will try to manage it all on its own. By relieving stress with massage, your body can balance its resources as it was originally designed to.