Stress Relief

Stress Reduction and Relief can be one of the most beneficial health steps you can take. Peace, relaxation and biofeedback can help.

Stress is defined as a nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it which results in symptoms such as rise in the blood pressure, release of hormones, quickness of breath, tightening of muscles, perspiration, and increased cardiac activity.

Stress is not necessarily negative. Some stress keeps us motivated and alert, while too little stress can create problems. However, too much stress can trigger problems with mental and physical health, particularly over a prolonged period of time.

Any experience that taxes an individual's energy or well-being; stress may be physical, mental, or emotional.

Tension (Psychology): a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense; "he suffered from fatigue and emotional tension"; "stress is a vasoconstrictor".

Physics: Force that produces strain on a physical body; "the intensity of stress is expressed in units of force divided by units of area". Mental or physical tension that results from physical, emotional, or chemical causes.

What may be considered "stress relief"?

Anything that relieves mundane stress on a daily basis, such as relaxation, can help.

Hans Selye, a Hungarian medical scientist, was the first to use the word "stress" in connection with a picture of health wellness. His theory is that when the body reacts to stress, it creates an "alarm" response.

That means that your body is in good shape to react accordingly to any given stressor, hopefully appropriately and effectively in ways that relieve it.

If the stress continues, however, an "adaptation" state may result, where we learn to accommodate or bear the symptoms of stress by adjusting to them.

This can, more positively, mean creating an increase in our tolerance to frustration and moving back into the alarm state, which relieves the stress, or, negatively, reacting with an accommodating adjustment that (temporarily) alleviates the pain of the stress but becomes a new holding pattern.

If the stress continues even longer, an "exhaustion" state is created that may lead to a considerably weakened system. This alarm / adaptation / exhaustion model fits all forms of stress, whether physical, mental, or emotional.

Obviously, reducing stress is a key to well-being. Relaxation helps, but how do we know where stress may be hiding in the adapted or exhausted states physically, mentally, and emotionally.

With the help of the iNDIGO and SCIO Quantum Biofeedback systems, we can painlessly and non-invasively look at reactions to common stressors and begin to piece the picture together.

Most people find the biofeedback experience relaxing, soothing and beneficial. The side effects of biofeedback may include these possibilities (and many more that may be experienced):

• Ability to relax more quickly
• Deeper state of relaxation during sleep
• Easier to fall asleep and stay asleep
• Reduction of stress and hypertension
• Improved general health
• Increase in amount of calmness and peacefulness
• Reduction of anger
• Less fearfulness
• Fewer anxiety attacks
• Amelioration of sorrow
• Reduction of the depth of depression
• Heightened muscle mobility
• Enhanced mental clarity
• Able to pay attention more consistently
• Better focus of attention
• Deeper concentration and enhanced memory
• Less attention to pain and stressors
• Less concentration on pain and stressors
• Fewer feelings of pain and stress
• Less intense focus on pain and stressors
• Less intensity of any pain or any stress
• More able to manage stress and pain

Specialists who provide a variety of forms of Biofeedback range from Psychologists, Medical Doctors, Dentists, Chiropractors, Internists, Nurses, Physical Therapists, Naturopaths, Veterinarians to Energy Medicine Practitioners, and many others.

 
STRESS REDUCTION, STRESS RELIEF, the iNDIGO and SCIO
 
The iNDIGO and SCIO are able to comfortably and non-invasively obtain feedback on reactions above what we call a “baseline”, or “norm” of response to thousands of electronic signatures of various items, in a very short amount of time.
 
Any reactions above a baseline of the “norm” are considered to be significant as possible responses from stress. Reducing the stress response in an individuated way, unique to each individual, is what the iNDIGO & SCIO are all about.  
 
Let’s define “stress”, and how it can impact us in ways you may not have considered before. 
 
Stress runs much deeper than most people are aware of, in ways that can impact our mental and physical wellbeing, especially if it occurs, even gradually, over a prolonged period of time.
 
In a nutshell, stress is any perceived mental or physical tension that results from environmental, physical, mental, emotional, chemical and a host of other causes. 
 
Stress is a response of the body and mind to any demand made upon it which results in symptoms, such as a rise in blood pressure, release of hormones, quickness of breath, tightening of muscles, increased mental and cardiac activity and much more.
 
The most obvious stress response is referred to as the “fight-or-flight” reaction, which is your body’s fast and automatic switch into “high alert.”

This reaction helps you deal with any perceived threat from your environment, even more subtle forms such as “information overload” or your life’s circumstances.
 
But never before in the history of humankind have we created a world that exposes us to so much rapidly delivered information, be it from media sources, traffic and communication systems, or nonverbally from the environment. 

An overload of messages can also come from internal sources: either biological, mental, emotional or all three at the same time.
 
Our minds are theorized to only manage 7 or 8  bits of information well at once, so anything beyond this can automatically activate this “fight or flight” biological response, even if on a subtle level that doesn’t seem like what we would call a real life threatening emergency.
 
In the larger scheme of things, this response was designed to stimulate your body to produce the energy, concentration and agility either to protect yourself or to run as fast as possible. 

But in our modern times, sometimes stress, even in the form of excess worry or anger, can seem to never let up.
 
Some of our more “modern” stressful circumstances, unlike most immediate physical threats, do tend to be prolonged and faced on a continual basis.

So, we can see how this runs the possibility of producing this reaction for much longer than it’s intended, or needed, to be “on” for.
 
This can go on continually so that you may not be aware of it anymore, as the immune system, digestive system and brain can become further and further stressed from over activation. 

We may “adapt” to and simply tolerate our stressors, as opposed to managing or reducing them.
 
But what’s good for your body in a short-term crisis can be harmful over long periods. 

The long-term activation of the stress-response system can disrupt almost all your body’s processes, impacting risks such as weight gain, insomnia, serious digestive and cardiac issues, memory, physical illnesses and conditions, and a much more.  It can even impair our absorption of nutrients.
 
It engages the heart in way that changes neurotransmitter and mineral levels, often imbalancing or depleting them when they’re needed for other normal bodily functions, such as maintaining bone density.
 
In the initial phase, the brain sets off an entire response “system” throughout your body through nerve and hormonal signals, which activates your adrenal glands to release powerful hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. 

Cortisol also slows functions that would be temporarily unnecessary in an extreme emergency situation, but in daily life, all-important for maintaining wellness.
 
It can change your immune system responses by impairing disease-fighting white blood cells; and suppress the digestive, reproductive and growth systems, which are all a part of maintaining overall health. 

But, if the stress response never fully switches completely “off”, stress hormones can continue to wash through the system in high levels, failing to leave the blood and tissues in a timely way.
 
Any perceived stress ~ such as from work, personal relationships, major life changes, illness, or the death of a family member, friend or pet, or for some, even responses to foods such as sugar  ~ can set off the same stress response system in the body. 
 
The longer you “adapt” to them without intervention, the more, in theory, you are at risk of entering the “exhaustion” stage of stress, where your body’s own maintenance systems can be overwhelmed and not functioning at optimal levels that protect you.
 
But every person is unique.  Your reaction to a potentially stressful event, even in normal daily life, is different from anyone else’s.  Some people naturally manage stress well, while others react strongly to the smallest stressor. 

Life experiences can also affect your response to stress: People who were exposed to stressful events as children in the form of neglect or abuse tend to be more vulnerable to stress as adults.
 
In light of our modern world of excess chemical toxicity, some of which mimic hormones, along with emotional tension and the “information highway” overload of messages, stress is a part of life. 

However, you can learn to identify your stressors, how to take control of some stress-inducing circumstances and lifestyles, even in your environment, and learn how to take care of yourself physically and emotionally.
 
The payoff of managing and reducing stress can be enormous, even by assisting your body to do what it was designed to do, which is repair itself and maintain your health.  Your body is designed to heal itself. 

Take the case of a broken bone:  a doctor may set it in a cast, but your bone heals itself.
 
So, as you can see by now, there are a lot of issues, even some serious diseases and conditions, linked to components of stress.  Even the AMA has admitted that stress is a contributing factor in many diseases, including some infectious diseases.
 
The iNDIGO and SIO gives us feedback on your unique responses to stress in a highly refined way, and helps train you to react differently, and to reduce and control it.
 
Biofeedback allows individuals to take control over bodily processes normally considered involuntary. Quantum Biofeedback empowers people with the ability to use specific reactive signals from their own bodies to positively change the way they live!