[Vickie Lake]

I don't think I suggested that stress (by most peoples interpretation) can necessarily be eliminated. In fact, the demands on our life typically exist because we want so much. We want rich relationships, we want financial success, we want to see the world, we want exceptional health, we want all of the myriad of delights our great world has to offer. Hans Selye is often referred to as the godfather of understanding stress. In his book, from the early 70's and read by 'moi' at that time) I remember that he said, "stress is the bodies response to the demands placed upon it". So the demands always exist but it is, as gystyles stated, our response that determines how we feel about it, positive or negative, and often how our physiology responds as a consequence of our mental state. So okie, said it well, planning for the demands of your chosen lifestyle often minimize your mental and physical drain and thereby your stress response.

Nutrition was and is the first order of managing the response patterns and the effects of stress related incidents. A popular diet Dr. said food is your drug and as much as I resisted the statement, in the beginning, he is exactly right. The food we eat provides the resources to maintain maximal performance of our many chemical systems that manage our body functions. I still have to finish a full report but let me say here that the cortisol response is not only prolific in our present time because of our 'stressful' schedules but is very often an imbalanced response due to adrenal fatigue. If the adrenal gland is overworked it becomes inefficient at accurately interpreting the level of stress it is addressing and will over compensate with the stress hormones. I will post on the detail of this phenomenon later. I will also address some of the complementary organ functions that excite our production of these hormones. It is important to understand that cortisol is not the enemy but our management of our physiology (which includes mental function) and it can be managed. Heck, learning to say NO to some of the requests in our lives can add as much stress as it takes away. Nobody said it would be easy.

Ok Bagger, I would say you've busted me but you actually caught me in a stress management protocol that works beautifully for me and causes most people to raise their brow in question. I have always been a great sleeper and really believe in the importance of restorative rest. I never believed in the popular saying,"I'll sleep when I'm dead". But in my midlife as a woman I found myself a participant in another hormonal flux, not experienced by our male readers; subtle enough? Suddenly I was awake at 3:00 every morning and watching the clock, tossing and turning, 'trying to go back to sleep' and being enormously anxious as I watched the time move closer and closer to the alarm clock bell. I had for some time had another stressful life experience. I write almost daily but never feel fresh or energetic after a long day of work and since I get up at 5:30 for my day I couldn't imagine getting up early to try to write. Add to it that I do best if 'my mind' knows that I will have atleast two hours without interruption. I always write best in the morning but that is when my clients most want to have their appointments. So . . .I realized that all I had to do was go to bed earlier than any other adult I know, I don't have children in my home anylonger, and I could wake up naturally and get my writing done. In fact, I have had some of my best experiences because there is no interruption, nobody wants to see me at 3:00 a.m. (I had a doctor that saw me at 4:00 for a while), there is no one to call, the world is quiet and I love it. This is where the self management came in. We humans are quick to find all of the problems. Who goes to bed at 7:00. We'll I have about three hours at home after my work day and found that I really could go to sleep quite easily, especially after a few days of staying up after my early morning writing experience. It's is definitely different than most people but so are a lot of my life choices.

So break out of the mold, plan for your life ( am in traffic daily and I only schedule clients around easy traffic flow so a frazzled trainer is not trying to tout health), fuel your body in a way that serves your health and your pleasure. I love a life full of variety and it's a challenge but it is only as stressful as I decide it will be. Oh yea, if you're in traffic, try a book on tape and skip some of the onslot of news that will be available many more times during the day. It is a type of meditation so make sure you like the story.

Vik