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Everyone
experiences it. No one is immune, because stress
is a necessary component of life. But you don't
have to let it overpower you. You can learn to
manage your response to stress. By gaining more
control over you body's automatic reactions to anxiety
producing situations, you can reduce the negative
effects of Stress in your life.
The
antidote to stress is the relaxation response.
During the relaxation response, your endocrine and
nervous systems activate changes to slow your heart
rate, improve your circulation and digestion, and
relax your muscles - in direct counteraction to the
stress response.
There
are may activities that can trigger the relaxation
response, such as exercise, deep breathing,
meditation, or listening to soothing music.
Of
course, one of the best methods to combat stress is
therapeutic massage. Massage can dramatically
reverse the damaging physiological effects of stress.
A
program of regular massage will put you in touch with
your body, teaching you to monitor its signals and
needs so you'll know when you should take time out
from the things that worry you. In this way, you
can avoid the damaging effects of chronic stress and
gain some control over your sense of well-being.
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