Why should I add a stress-management practice?

Find out how reducing stress can have a major positive impact on your overall health and wellness.

Photo Credit: Menhak via Flickr Creative Commons

Although eating healthy and exercising regularly are important to your health and well-being, stress management, as well as love and support, also play a powerful role.

Did you know that chronic stress causes your arteries to become more clogged and you to gain more weight independent of your diet? It increases your risk for sudden cardiac death, decreases your immune function, and even accelerates the aging process.

The good news is that stress isn’t just a function of what happens to you; even more important is how you react to what happens to you. When you practice simple stress management techniques on a regular basis—even just a few minutes a day—you can be in the same job, the same school, the same family, but you react in healthier ways.

Some people say, “I used to have a short fuse and I’d explode easily. Now, my fuse is longer, so things don’t bother me so much. I can accomplish even more without getting stressed in the process.”

You’ll find powerful stress management techniques, including guided meditation videos, on the Ornish Spectrum website—and they are all free.

Looking for other ways to live a healthier, happier life? Reverse heart disease and diabetes, lose weight and reduce your cancer risk with these tips from Dean Ornish.

This content was originally published on Ornish Living.

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