Most of us have heard at one time or another that disease and debilitating illness is most often stress induced. Since stress is essentially part of life and affects all of us at one time or another, how we deal with stress dictates how stress deals with us.

Healthy successful entrepreneurs have learned to deal with their stress level before it deals with them.

If we truly want to follow in their footsteps down the road of success, learning how to deal with and reduce stress in our own lives is mandatory. They have not eliminated stress, in fact, they likely have a great deal of stress, but they neutralize it mentally and emotionally and know what action steps to take, what physical or mental exercise to perform in order to release and alleviate stress.

Physical activity shapes and challenges our body to be stronger, it’s a good thing. And, although physical activity does contribute to a healthy mind, helping reduce stress levels, the mind, like the body needs some solo attention. It requires its own space and time to heal when the body is quiet and at rest.

Stress manifests in many ways such as depression, mood swings, weight gain and illness. If we hope to achieve the balance our body is crying out for we must address our physical body through challenging exercise and our mental/emotional state with some form of exercise too. Everything needs attention and strengthening.

Our minds need the same kind of nourishing and personal attention that the body does…some form of exercise that builds its muscles (its resolve) or it will continue to weaken and fall prey to destructive thoughts.

Without first attending to our “inner selves” (mental and emotional) where the controls are, we soon give in to stress, destructive feelings and eventually actions such as anger and violence. Some form of inner meditation is needed to put us “in touch” with the strength needed to effectively deal with stress in a positive manner. That strength is “located in our inner muscles.”

Stress not only makes us miserable and reduces the quality of our lives, but it taxes our immune system to the max – opening the door to illness and disease. Although the immune system is an amazing arsenal of defense, enough extreme stress can have devastating effects on its strength and function.

Stress rears its ugly head a few different ways:

Acute stress – The kind we experience most often is acute stress. It’s those little annoyances and bumps in the road of life that challenge our resolve for peace. We react to these situations emotionally with anger, anxiety or irritable mood. This type of stress of often causes physical symptoms like head-aches or back pain. Short tempered anger, ceaseless worry, anxiety, high blood pressure and heart disease are all the result of frequent bouts of recurring stress.

Chronic stress – This type of stress is the most draining and dangerous type of stress because it consistently pounds on you from all angles, wearing you down day after day. The source of chronic stress is often times a condition that you cannot presently see any way out of. It prevents you from feeling whole and content as a human. Chronic stress if left alone can eventually lead to the worst of health conditions such as heart attack and stroke. Destructive actions such as violence and suicide, are most often the result of chronic stress.

Stress weaves its way throughout our whole body and effects all our body systems. Our respiratory, muscular-skeletal, cardiovascular, endocrine, gastrointestinal and reproductive systems are all negatively affected by stress.

There are many methods readily available to proactively deal with stress and physical activity is a great place to start. Taking time out of your week for exercise sessions helps release bottled up emotions and reduce tension helping to alleviate stress.

However, adding some form of relaxation techniques like self-hypnosis or meditation is key and takes it to another level because the focus shifts from physical strength to emotional and mental peace.

It can drop your blood pressure and oxygen consumption and reduce the release of stress hormones. This is in stark contrast to the body’s stress response which kicks in stress hormones like cortisol…the “fight or flight” hormone. Using exercise as a form of “moving mediation” can be a very effective and time efficient “stress dissipating” method.

If you don’t already have one, it’s time to find some form of relaxation, meditation and or exercise technique that is “stress dissipating,” effective and time efficient that works for you. It’s only fair to give your mind the same respect you give your body and provide it the tools needed to survive in a world that demands so much on all levels of existence.

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