STRESS MANAGEMENT???

That's a hoot.
First I sat in Orlando style morning traffic.
Hakuna Matada my ( l )
Then I dragged folks through a meeting they didn't want to attend (it's a bad sign when the person sitting next to you is banging their head on the table and you are the person running the meeting)
Then I treated patients THAT was fun. Really, I'm not being sarcastic I love treating patients I just don't get to do it much anymore.
Then paperwork. Then a phone meeting WHILE doing paperwork.
Then a commute back home with more bumper to bumper traffic all the way.... (Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase. Hakuna Matata! Ain't no passing craze)
Stopped at a warehouse club to buy MEAT. Yeah Atkins.
But the noise and the lights and the distractions were really overwhelming. And the impulses to buy buy buy. Stress starts to build.
Then I get home and there is a cancellation notice in the mailbox from the insurance company! My home insurance office never sent in my payment!!! It's Friday evening and I am uninsured. I made multiple phone calls leaving unintelligible messages on stranger's answering machines yelling about no insurance and incompetence. Basic lunatic mode.
Funny that didn't help my stress level at all.....

When I am feeling stressed my body thinks it is under attack. So my caveman brain gets ready for a long siege. It will slow my metabolism, cause increased fat storage, especially that sexy attractive abdominal fat, mess with my blood sugar levels and cause cravings.. like I need more cravings? But Cavegirl Rory needed to eat everything in sight and gain weight if possible if she was to survive the long drawn out saber tooth tiger invasion that was causing all that stress, right?

But I am not being attacked by Saber tooth tigers everyday. My poor brain does not know I am just trying to avoid being run over by a Hummer on the highway. Everyone in Florida needs a giant 4-wheel drive vehicle BTW because of our world famous snowstorms and blizzards; you have to mount that plow onto something right? But I digress....

So how do I lower my stress and counteract the signals my body is getting that I am under attack all day and I am about to die die die?

I could quit my job and lie on the beach all day. No that would cause stress when my mortgage foreclosed and I got skin cancer and had no health insurance and the first hurricane hit. Besides some stress is good. It's called eustress I think. Yes, just looked it up. "Stress that is deemed healthful or giving one the feeling of fulfillment" (dictionary.com).

Meditation. I think I'll give that a try again. Has a physiological effect on the body as well as making you feel good. The "experts" and millions of eastern practioners claim a few minutes a day can lower the BP and counteract the effects of daily "fight or flight" responses. Plus the relaxation response can become a habit. You can turn it on when you need it -- or so I've been told. I'll let you know next time I'm in traffic and the Hummer dude tries to flatten me again!!

I had a great Yoga teacher in NY. That has a great stress relieving effect and ends in meditation. And it's good exercise-- it was the only exercise I did to lose the weight before. Felt fab too. But I need a good teacher; I am not a self-motivated yogi. My down dog just got gets up and leaves.

OK I will meditate every day. Starting with ten minutes in the evening. Then when my schedule gets back to normal I will switch to the morning.

Then I'll add some cardio exercise it is great for stress too. Already doing some strengthening but I need to really break a sweat to get the endorphins and serotonin flowing.
More on exercise later but I want to deal with stress a little more first........ Tomorrow.... MORE STRESS, LOL