Cheryl Richardson's 13 "Stress Steps" To Watch Out For

Cheryl Richardson is a New York Times best-selling author of several books including, Take Time for Your Life, Life Makeovers, Stand Up for Your Life, The Unmistakable Touch of Grace, The Art of Extreme Self Care and her new book with Louise Hay called You Can Create an Exceptional Life. She is a personal coach specialising in self-care, as well as an internet radio show host, and much more. 

According to Cheryl, there are 13 ‘stress steps’ that you should watch out for:

1. You find it difficult to take your focus away from work, money, relationships, family, or anything else that is bothering you.
2. Your amygdala (in your mid-brain) senses danger.
3. Your amygdala helps to initiate your body's fight-or-flight response to stress.
4. In "fight or flight", your body releases adrenaline and the "stress hormone" cortisol, which in turn diverts blood away from your digestive tract, leaving you less able to digest food or absorb nutrients AND more likely to gain weight.
5. In this physiological "crisis mode," you're more vulnerable to pain from chronic illness, arthritis, fibromyalgia, migraines, stomach upsets, and more.
6. In this state of heightened physiological "alert", your brain's creative centre is deemed "non-essential" and shuts down, lowering your problem solving skills, your creativity, your intuition and so on.
7. You feel increasingly irritable, isolated and impatient. Your relationships suffer.
8. Stress affects your sleep, your metabolism slows down, and the weight stays.
9. Your body secretes even more cortisol, wreaking more havoc on your digestion (and waist line), increasing your blood pressure and lowering your immune system.
10. After releasing too much cortisol for too long, your body goes into "adrenal fatigue". You consistently feel depleted, exhausted, and depressed.
11. You no longer have the energy to adhere to your exercise routine, your healthy eating, meditation or yoga. Instead, these are replaced by migraines, insomnia, hair loss, chronic pain, and any number of other issues become regular parts of your life.
12. Battling low energy, you can hardly focus at work, and elsewhere. Your relationships suffer.
13. Your depression deepens. You (and your body) are STRESSED OUT.

I am sure many people will be able to recognise any of the above. Click this  link  to see a video by Cheryl that explains how you can overcome each of them...

Best wishes for you on your journey....  :-)