Stress is a normal part of our day and it’s not a bad thing. Your body perceives standing up as stress.

But in today’s society, stress has gotten out of control and is now considered to be the #1 killer in North America. Many articles on stress will tell you to slow down, appreciate the small things and take some time out to relax. But what does that mean exactly? And how do you implement it? If you are reading this article, you probably aren’t sure – like so many others.

Stress (or the fight-or-flight response) is a key factor in the survival of any species. When a threat comes, whether in the form of a neighbouring tribe, a hungry bear or anything that threatens your immediate survival, are you going to stand and fight or run as fast as you can to get to safety? This fight-or-flight response was never intended to last very long. As we were evolving, one of three things would happen:

• (1) You were faster/smarter and got away.
• (2) You killed them.
• (3) They killed you.

Once the threat was gone, the nervous system of our evolving friend would calm down and everything would be fine for a while. Major threats didn’t come several times a day or even everyday. And if threats did come frequently, death would probably come sooner than later.

That`s what evolution is all about – survival.

Today, things are not working as they should because the mechanism — the fight-or-flight response — is still there, but the scenery has changed. The “threats” of modern society:

• (1) Are rarely threats to our immediate survival.
• (2) Are ongoing.

There is a stress response going on, for many people, all day everyday. They are in survival mode.

No bears though. Traffic. Deadlines. A boss or co-workers you don’t like or who don`t like you.

Get home from work and then dinner, kids, chores, bed. Where did the day go? You’re not sure but there’s no time to think about it because you’ve got to get to bed so you can get up tomorrow and do it all again.

Pressure to succeed. Pressure to provide. To be better than the next person. Pressure to be the best, the smartest, the fastest, the best looking. Pressure to prove you are good enough, smart enough, fun enough, cool enough. And maybe you feel you are not these things and that stresses you out.

Maybe you are having relationship trouble. Maybe you are getting divorced.

Maybe you don`t feel happy and have no clue why.

Whatever the reason, many people are in a permanent survival mode. Survival mode can`t last forever and eventually your system will start to shut down and things will start to go wrong.

When people are in survival mode, stress hormones are high. Cortisol is the main long-term stress hormone. Adrenaline is the main short-term stress hormone. As in adrenaline-rush. It comes on fast and then slowly wears off. Cortisol sticks around and wrecks havoc on your body, your brain and your mind.

Survival mode is the feeling of just trying to make it through the day, the week or to the next deadline. ‘’When this is over, everything will calm down and then I`ll be less stressed.’’ What many people find is that things don`t calm down – the stressful events and stressful times keep coming one after the other.

Waiting for things to calm down isn`t the answer.

Addressing the state of your nervous system and your body and mind`s response to stress is.

Our body asks for many simple things throughout the day that we readily comply to: food, water, oxygen, elimination, shelter, clothes. We wouldn`t think of not giving our body the things it needs to survive. And for people who don`t have enough of these things – eg. food, sanitation, clean air, clean water, a place to live or at least to sleep – we consider it a tragedy.

There is something else our body and our mind need that we tend to neglect.

Balance.

Our body needs balance. Our mind needs balance.

Our body tells us it needs balance through red flags such as fatigue, weight gain, aches and pains, high cholesterol , insomnia, acne, a difficult menstrual cycle, menopausal symptoms – any feeling of un-wellness.

For more on how stress affects different areas of the body click here.

Our mind tells it needs balance through feelings of overwhelm, anger, frustration, irriation, sadness, fear – any emotion that does not feel loving and nuturing signals to us that something is wrong.

I created the 4-step Balance Program for my patients in order to restore balance to both the body and the mind.