{"id":9252,"date":"2022-03-01T12:52:56","date_gmt":"2022-03-01T20:52:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vionicshoes.com\/blog\/?p=9252"},"modified":"2022-03-01T12:57:02","modified_gmt":"2022-03-01T20:57:02","slug":"effects-of-stress-on-the-body","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vionicshoes.com\/blog\/effects-of-stress-on-the-body\/","title":{"rendered":"Effects of Stress On the Body"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Juliet Kaska<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stress can be good<\/span><\/p>\n

Stress makes us stronger<\/span><\/p>\n

Stress often gets a bad wrap. But did you know stress on our bones through resistance (gravity, weights, etc) actually causes our bones to get stronger? If our bones did not have this stress, they would become weak and brittle. And consider those recent sniffles: illness acts as a stressor on our body and in some situations makes us stronger by helping to build up our immune system.<\/span><\/p>\n

The same applies for the emotional stress in our lives. Stress builds resilience. If we only have ease and relaxation in our lives, we would not know how to handle hard moments that life throws our way.<\/span><\/p>\n

After hearing about all those upsides to stress you\u2019re probably thinking, \u2018Bring it on! This stress thing seems kind of awesome\u2019. Well, not too fast there.<\/span><\/p>\n

While positive in many ways, too much stress can also have many negative side effects. Stress can become debilitating.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go back to our example of bones needing stress to get strong. Imagine a bone in your body. How about the thigh bone? Known as the femur bone. It\u2019s the strongest and longest bone in the body. Now imagine a 200 lb boulder landing on that bone. Smash. Crack. AHHHHHH!!!! The bone breaks from the weight of the boulder. That is far too much stress for the femur bone to withstand. Rather than growing stronger, it will crack under the pressure of this stress.<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, emotional stress works the same way on our nervous system. Learning that we can handle emotional and mental stress makes us stronger and more resilient for the next hardship life offers up. But sometimes that stress can become a huge boulder, and we can become debilitated, succumbing to illness, anxiety and\/or depression.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike the 200lb boulder which you would clearly feel and recognize on impact, emotional and mental stress is more often than not, slower to build, and more difficult to recognize. In fact, the signs can be so subtle that many people miss them and instead find themselves in a debilitating state wondering \u2018how did I get here?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn to Listen<\/span><\/h3>\n

Our bodies are amazing communicators. Everything we need to thrive, heal and live is communicated to us by our body. We sometimes just forget to read the signs. When you are hungry, what does your body do? It releases ghrelin, a hormone that then tells your stomach to release acid to break down food. If there is no food, we experience hunger pains. The body\u2019s way of communicating to you that it is time to be refueled (eat).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are millions of messages being sent throughout our body at every moment. Many of these messages we can actually \u201chear\u201d or read\u2014 if we are being present. It is these messages that if we can listen to, we can prevent ourselves from getting to a stage of debilitation from stress.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some warning signs that your body is saying to you, \u2018Hello, and listen up, I need some help.\u2019 I promise you, they are worth it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Early Signs You are Under Emotional Stress<\/span><\/h4>\n