According Natalia Pardo Restrepo, medical surgeon, specialist in mind-body medicine with an emphasis on stress management at Harvard’s Benson Henry Institute, these are the keys to preventing and controlling cardiovascular problems related to stress:
·Have healthy lifestyle habits. Achieve a good, restful sleep, which allows our system to recover and readjust.
Have a balanced diet, preferably guided by a professional.
Sufficient physical activity in accordance with one’s own characteristics and needs.
Maintain positive social connection and deep and meaningful relationships.
·Increase recharging activities, which are those that increase states of calm, peace, security and satisfaction to compensate for the daily wear and tear.
Regularly question the burdens that are being carried in life. Analyze which ones are self-imposed, which ones are not essential in the well-being project itself and take away time, energy and capacity. Stress also occurs when the load exceeds the bearing capacity and this margin decreases over the years.
· Adapt to the reality that you have, which is different from entering maladaptive processes (where you live through resistance and resignation). Adapting is accepting.
Perform relaxation activities. The beneficial effects of breathing (mindfulness), meditation, yoga, taichi or qigong. It is scientifically proven that these practices activate the parasympathetic system, which turns off the cerebral alert centers, the amygdaloid centers, which are the ones that keep us in constant anguish, accelerate, alert, fear, with a ruminant mind and seeing a dark, hostile future. or loaded with uncertainty. On the other hand, these relaxation techniques turn on the prefrontal cortex (the navigation system) allowing us to interpret life in a different way, one that generates well-being.
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