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Exercise Reduces Stress


How much exercise reduces stress???

Most people live such full and stressful lives that it is an important question to ask. What I consider the two most important things to understand about exercise and stress are:
  • How the basic physiology of stress works
  • How exercise helps to manage stress

Basic physiology of stress

There are two parts (or, if you are into computers, think of them as being two operating systems) of the autonomic nervous system:

Stress Response
Relaxation Response

The body naturally flows between these two operating systems constantly throughout the day.

As an example, think about when you first step into a hot shower in the morning. That change in temperature is a stressor that triggers the stress response. After a short amount of time, the body adapts to the stressor and goes back to the relaxation response.

That is how stress is supposed to work with acute stress: react…adapt…relax.

However, the human body was not designed to function in a healthy way when chronically out-of-balance in this way.

stressed

Exercise and stress

With acute stress, the body releases elevated stress hormones into the body to help you adapt to the stressor. When that occurs, the body naturally goes out-of-balance in order to help you survive that immediate threat.

But, what happens when acute stress becomes chronic stress?

When the body functions too much of the time in an out-of-balance condition, the body does not get enough time to rest and rejuvenate.

The body wasn’t designed to function in a healthy way with all those extra hormones in the body over an extended period of time. Cortisol is one of the stress hormones that, over time, will cause harm to your body.

Exercise helps to reduce the stress hormone cortisol.

When you exercise, the body also releases an increase in endorphins and serotonin. The benefit of that to you is:
  • improvement in mood
  • increased self-esteem
  • weight management
  • mild forms of depression
These benefits from exercise can last for several days.

Exercise and your overall health

When you exercise, you not only reduce stress hormones and bring your body back into balance, but that increased state of balance has a positive impact on your overall health.

Exercising reduces your risk of:

High blood pressure
Heart disease
Type 2 diabetes
Obesity
Insomnia
Depression

When you think about how exercise reduces stress, know that it’s important to do “enough” so that you can feel more relaxed afterwards.

Bringing your body back into balance is the goal in managing stress, and one of the benefits of exercise.







For more information, please see:

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Stress Tip Of The Day!

Throughout each day, the primary cause of stress is because of threats of uncertainty.

It is thoughts of fear and worry that are triggering the stress response.

Staying focused on maintaining a positive attitude is an important stress technique.



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Testimonials

“Ms. Churchill is the unique health care worker everyone hopes to encounter, but rarely does. She has an extraordinary gift that allows her to do much more than diagnose and treat.”
Abbie K. – Minneapolis




K., age 45, is a long term chronically PTSD disabled patient. She has had daily headaches for 20 years. Two weeks ago she reported that she had had 4 days of pain free time, and was having the exceedingly odd sensation of "smiling all the time". She and Cathi have made extraordinary fast progress together.
Dr. Cole




I referred C.L., age mid-forties, to see Cathi after a life of suffering the post traumatic stress disorder of parental sexual abuse over many years of her childhood, with major dysfunctions of alcohol and drug abuse, and with the disabling symptoms of migraine that have for more than twenty years become chronic.

She has lived with daily headaches that have not responded to any of the several drugs which have benefited many such suffering patients. She has needed chronic opiate treatment of her chronic pain syndrome.

In the few weeks that Cathi has worked with her, C.L. has begun to experience days without pain, periods of happiness, and a reduction in her opiate dosage requirements that represent a breakthrough in her stalled-out life as a single mom raising a teen-age daughter with only social security income resources.
Dr. Racer








“I first met Cathi Churchill eight years ago when she effectively helped my work unit through the stress of a hospital-wide layoff. I was impressed with her clear-minded approach and willingness to listen.”
Andy R.




N., age 60, is a hard driving attorney twenty year patient of mine who hit the wall with chronic fatigue four years ago, and began to realize she had to learn to rest. She recovered enough to return to her workaholic lifestyle when she was stopped by a herniated cervical disc and resumption of her chronic colitis.

Working with Cathi, she is discovering "the way she does life" and learning to make choices about it. She came in last week, having "danced until dawn". She is learning to dialogue with her body in effective ways.
Dr. Cole




“I stumbled upon Cathi after my recent heart attack that was brought on by stress. I was scared of having another one, and didn’t know what to do. I had lost hope. Working with her has changed my life. I’m so grateful."
Debbie – Canada




M.S., a woman in her late forties with progressively more and more disabling rheumatoid arthritis since childhood, whose most recent problems have arisen over the last two to three years as complications of immunosuppressive therapy for her disease. The complications have been associated with the severely disabling chronic pain of recurrent herpes neuralgia for more than three years, and for the past 15 months, recurrent osteomyelitis in her right lower mandible.

The second, more alarming (even life-threatening) problem has caused months of diagnostic and therapy confusion among her many consultants, three successive resections of the bone over the last six to eight months, and the still ongoing threat of more relapses of the smoldering bone infection and chronic pain only made bearable by chronic, massive doses of opiates.

In the few months since M. began to work with Cathi with several modalities: stress management, therapeutic touch, guided imaging, and others, her life has become more livable, as she has become able to bear the pain and the discouragement of unresolved disease.

She has relied on many of the methods for maintaining hope and getting through overwhelming discouragement by using the inner resources she has learned with Cathi.

My hope as her primary physician, is that Cathi and M. will be able to continue to work together to maintain that inner strength and hope as she faces yet more months of pain, and further repeated surgery.

Thank you for the healing guidance you've been able to give her thus far.
Dr. Racer




“I sought out the help of Cathi during my divorce, and found her to be an insightful and compassionate coach. Her ability to see deep into the heart of an emotionally stressful problem is, I believe, unique and I would highly recommend her service to anyone.”
P.R. – Brooklyn Center




S., age 48, is a Laotian patient of mine with 15 years of chronic abdominal pain. She has had an extensive medical worked up, and nothing ever worked. Cathi saw her over several months.

S. has improved! Cathi established a trusting relationship with her, and helped her to effectively break through her wall of silence and grief about her son's mental illness, and taught her how to "change her thinking".

S. now comes in smiling, notes some unusual continued symptoms, but no longer has chronic abdominal disabling pain.
Dr. Cole




“Control My Stress is so amazing. I want to thank you, again, for such a valuable resource.”
Tony.


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