"Stress comes in many forms -- acute and chronic, physical and mental -- and the feeling can span a wide emotional range, from a mild state of alertness to a sense of being completely overwhelmed by the push and pull of life. At the far end of the spectrum is what we know as being stressed out: a lonely place where issues that might ordinarily seem like challenges become insurmountable problems. Stay there too long and you're talking about chronic stress, which converts emotional strain into physical strain and, ultimately, serious health problems like heart disease and diabetes. Hormones released by stress can clamp down on the immune system, leaving your body wide open to any number of diseases.....The good news is that the way you choose to cope with stress can change not only how you feel, but how stress physically affects your brain. We don't have to run from lions anymore, but we're stuck with the fight-or-flight instinct, and it doesn't exactly fly in the boardroom. Yet if you react passively to a stressful situation -- or if there is simply no way out -- stress can turn chronic. Active coping moves you out of this territory. Instincts aside, you do have some control over how stress affects you."
This article was sent to me by a good friend several months ago. It is from a December 2007 issue of Men's Journal. You may not be surprised by what this article tells you, but you will no doubt realize that it is something you don't think about often enough. It gives a new perspective on exercise and is worth the read.
You can read the article by clicking here: Full story.
