"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome."
- Samuel Johnson

One of my friends sent me this lovely quote. It reminded me of the many risks and obstacles we face in life. We often are paralyzed to take the actions to make our lives more fulfilling, energized and joyful. Many of us are scared about the future and the word “change”. If we want to reduce the impact of negative stress in our lives, we have to be aware of how much we tend to take things personally that actually are not personal. We rush through life, meeting deadlines and missing out the fun aspects of our life, our loving relationships and the beauty around us. We literally shape our brain to run in this treadmill of more stress, anxiety and unhappiness.

Our brain is plastic – that means both the function and its structure can be changed quickly and permanently to become positive and joyful. Even a simple act of spending a few minutes with our loved ones, indulging in our favorite art activity or thinking of our last vacation has the ability to energize and relax us. We often wallow in self-pity and self-doubt and don’t fully realize our strengths and our inner resilient nature - having the capacity to bounce back when things go wrong, and ability to enjoy life even when we have pain, stress and challenges.
Science has shown us that these practices can shape our brain and enhance our well-being. Make time for these three important activities on a daily and weekly basis. These practices are as important as healthy eating and hydration in managing stress and building your resilience over time!

1. Physical Activity – Yes! If you are fond of your 60-90 minute yoga or dance class, more power to you! Recent research has shown even brisk walking 15-30 minutes daily promotes stress reduction and is good for your brain. Regular and moderate exercise is not only good to lose and control your body weight, it helps us change our brains to feel good and enjoy our lives.
2. Social circle – many of us we do have family and friends/ co-workers who appear to demotivate us or “suck” our happiness. We have a choice. I am not suggesting that we abandon these people. Look around and find family, friends and co-workers that are supportive, loving and positive. I have a list of uplifting and positive friends who get phone calls and emails regularly from me. I schedule walks and fun activities with local friends to energize me. I also support them in their challenges.

• Who supports you? Who do you support?
• What fun activities do you participate with your family and friends?
• What are your favorite volunteer activities?
• How do you play with your children/nieces/ nephews/ grandchildren?
• Do you indulge in random and anonymous acts of kindness? 
  

3. Meditation & Mindfulness – You saw that coming! Didn’t you?! This is a blog on meditation and mindfulness. What did you expect? :-) Meditation and other contemplative practices are powerful ways to become aware and uncover our inner strength and resilience. Many people fear that meditation takes several months and years to master. Research shows that you get benefits within a few days and weeks of training. There is also a misconception that you have to meditate hours on a daily basis. Twelve to fifteen minute sessions of meditation, 3-5 times a week, have shown to improve attention and working memory among participants in meditation studies. Make time for gardening or just relaxing in a local park.

Combine these activities. Go to a meditation or yoga class with your best friend. Walking meditation in a local garden or labyrinth may be a beautiful break from your daily stress. Help out with a local 5k race. Most important – don’t just read this article. Share it with a friend or family member and spend time with them! Take Action! Now!

My friend Vicki created the beautiful CORE graphic for us! The acronym CORE serves as a reminder of the components of  Resilience: 
C –  5 Cs - Compassion, Courage, Collaboration, Creativity and Critical Thinking
O – Optimism and Hope
R – Resilience
E - Energy - healthy eating, meditation and physical activity
References

R J Davidson, B S McEwen, Social influences on neuroplasticity: Stress and interventions to promote well-being Nat Neurosci. Apr 15, 2012; 15(5): 689–695.doi: 10.1038/nn.3093

Steve Paulson, Richard Davidson, Amishi Jha and Jon Kabat-Zinn Becoming conscious: the science of mindfulness, doi: 10.1111/nyas.12203 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1303 (2013) 87–104

You often see reports about stress "causing" heart disease in the popular media. There are two separate issues - heart attack versus heart disease. Heart disease occurs over a period of time - heart attack is a specific event - often the last stage of heart disease as a person succumbs to this disease.

What is a heart attack?
A heart attack is a very specific event! A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to part of the heart muscle itself is severely reduced or stopped. The reduction or stoppage happens when one or more of the coronary arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle is blocked. This is usually caused by the buildup of plaque (deposits of fat-like substances), a process called atherosclerosis. The plaque can eventually burst, tear or rupture, creating a "snag" where a blood clot forms and blocks the artery. This leads to a heart attack.

If the blood supply is cut off for more than a few minutes, muscle cells suffer permanent injury and die. This can kill or disable someone, depending on how much heart muscle is damaged.

The medical term for heart attack is myocardial infarction. A heart attack is also sometimes called a coronary thrombosis or coronary occlusion.

What is Heart Disease?
Heart disease refers to conditions in your arteries and other blood vessels related to your heart. Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) refers to the build of plaque in your arteries (see atherosclerosis above). In some individuals this "process" starts as early as 2 years of age. CAD can result in angina (chest pain) or heart attack or other health complications.

Several factors play an important role in heart disease including your family history, cholesterol levels, level of physical activity and smoking. Many studies suggest that anger and negative handling of stress can have a powerful effect on a person's immunity and risk of heart disease. People who hate their jobs have double the risk of dying from heart disease as compared to people who enjoy their jobs.  It must be understood that the "garden variety" of stress is common for most people. It is not the "stress" that kills but how we handle it.

The bottom line - if you have anger issues or you have "unhealthy" ways of dealing with your stress levels - consider meditation and other relaxation methods.

03-18-2010 Original Publication
05-03-2014 Links updated