Stress, Resilience, and Your Health

by Dana L. Barron, PhD

Why Stress about Stress?

We have all heard that stress is bad for our health but it can be helpful to understand exactly why that is. The body’s acute “stress response” is not inherently harmful – in fact it is an essential mechanism of survival. The brain senses danger and the body makes changes that allow for immediate action – fight or flight. Then the danger passes and the body calms back down to its natural resting state.

But the conditions of modern life are such that many of us are living in a chronic stress response, and here is where the trouble starts. Stress hormones trigger increases in heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, and blood sugar. Other systems in the body, notably the digestive, reproductive, and immune systems, slow down or stop in order to focus energy where it is needed most. This great when you need to run away from a tiger, but when it goes on long term, it sows the seeds of dysfunction and disease.

The good news is, you can maintain health and vitality by identifying your stressors and learning tools for stress resilience.

Perform a Stress Audit

Performing a comprehensive stress audit with my clients includes exploring the mental and emotional stressors – thoughts and feelings, events and experiences. But we also dig deeper to factors you might not associate with stress. Pathogens and infections, problems with digestion, inadequate sleep, diet and nutrients, and exposure to toxins can all trigger a stress response. Their effects are cumulative. If the total stress load is manageable, we feel fine. But when stress overcomes the body’s capacity to adapt, systems start to malfunction and we get symptoms.

Thankfully, for each aspect of stress, there are stress reduction strategies. These strategies become a self-care plan, a powerful healing tool. The seeds of stress resilience are planted. The healing path begins.

The Healing Path is a self-care plan for life. It puts control over your health into your hands. It works from the root causes of symptoms and it encompasses the whole person, mind, body and spirit. It recognizes the integral relationship among all the systems of the body. Each person’s path is unique – strategies must be tailored to fit the reality of your life. The tools, then, are yours forever.

Dana L. Barron, PhD is a health coach, advocate, and herbalist. She helps clients understand the functional imbalances that are causing their symptoms and design integrative solutions to regain health and vitality. She also guides clients in their relationships with health care providers to ensure they are getting their needs met. She can be reached at 215-688-5108 or healingpathcoaching@yahoo.com.