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Did you know that there is more than one type of stress? It’s not just gambling investment bankers and brain surgeons who feel stress; you and I feel it every day to different degrees.

Stress affects each of us in different ways and for different reasons, but there are essentially 3 core types of stress that need to be dealt with if you are to avoid any health problems, because over time, undue stress can have physical manifestations…like death.

What Can You Do?

The three types of stress are ‘over excited stress’, ‘under excited stress’ and ‘frozen stress’. Here are some ways of spotting the symptoms and how to deal with them and get on with your life.

Over Excited Stress

Being stimulated is important for us to learn, to act, to move and to think, but when different stimuli come at us all at once and for an extended period of time, it can cause our brains to get overexcited. Processing all this information along with worries and things all at once may end up making you angry, or irritable, or even like you have had way too much coffee.

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Relaxation – The best way to deal with ‘overexcited stress’ is to combat it with relaxation techniques such as mediation. This involves trying to clear your mind of all the things you are trying to think about at the same time, and allowing your mind to chill out for a while and think about something really simple and easy for a while. Like a nice sit down and a cup of tea, in the middle of running a marathon dressed as a caterpillar.

Under Excited Stress

Most people when they think of stress, think of the ‘over excited’ example. ‘Under excited’ stress is when the brain reacts to the barrage of stimuli by turning inward and making you feel depressed and withdrawn.

Energize – To counteract an ‘under excited’ stress reaction you need to start doing some kind of rhythmic stimulating activity. This might be jogging or cycling, or perhaps swimming or playing an instrument. This will get your mind back in a positive rhythm by allowing you to focus on a repetitive yet fun task.

Frozen Stress

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This is a mix between ‘under’ and ‘over’ stress. It can leave you feeling agitated one moment and then depressed the next.

Reboot – The only way to break this feeling of being frozen in time is to use a technique that allows you to balance both relaxation and repetitive physical activity. Probably the best thing for this is yoga. Aim for types of yoga such as Hatha yoga, Satyananda yoga or, if you like a work out, power yoga to help you to fight through your stress.

What type of stress do you have?

Amber Willow is a huge believer in the power of Chakra jewellery to aid spiritual healing. She is looking forward to giving Guardian Angel gifts to her family and friends this Christmas.