Ow Di Body?

"Ow di body?" is the way folks greet each other in Sierra Leone. The appropriate response to the inquiry is "Da body fayne." This special greeting appeals to me in that it seems a much more personal inquiry that "Hi, how's it going?" Also it made me think about how we often forget about how the bag of bones below our neck may be faring. When things heat up in our heads (i.e., our thoughts consumed with stress from work or personal issues), we often try to solve the head issues with our bodies. Sometimes the choices are not the best: over-indulging in the Chunky Monkey ice cream or pinot noir, or giving in to the siren call of the couch. Other times, the choices we make are better in terms of self-care: getting adequate sleep, consuming a healthy diet, engaging in regular exercise and meditation.

Research comes out on an almost daily basis providing us information about the impact of stress on our health. Chronic stress poses serious threat on our bodies, with symptoms ranging from elevated blood pressure, cardiac problems, gastric problems, immune deficits to miscarriage or issues of infertility in women. Let's face it, we all live pretty stressful lives, despite our best intentions to slow our pace down. We worry about all kinds of things: money, car payments, family issues, job security, retirement, deadlines...I'm sure you can add your own personal worries to this list. We have control over certain aspects of our lives, for instance, making a conscious choice not to check email after 7 pm or getting to the gym three times a week. However, some uncontrollable stressors will always be present. For example, you get a flat tire on the way to work or you get a call at work 20 minutes before your big presentation that may result in an equally big bonus that your child has thrown up and needs to be picked up from school. Even though we can't avoid all stress, what we do have control over is how we manage the stress that is present in our lives.. The manner in which we cope with stress impacts us on a daily basis and more importantly, can impact our future health as well. The interaction of our minds and our bodies (i.e., our emotions and personality) have enormous impact on our level of health.

I am in the process of reading a book on stress and coping entitled "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers" by Robert Sapolsky, Ph.D., a researcher at Stanford University. In the book Sapolsky talks about how hormones and various parts of the brain are mobilized in response to stress and the link between stress and increased risk for certain types of diseases as well as how successfully we move through the aging process. The book's title describes the difference between how four legged animals react and respond to stress as compared to how we human animals respond to stressors. For a zebra, the most upsetting things in life are primarily acute physical crises. For example, the lion has just leapt out and chomped on his leg but he's gotten away and now has to spend the next hour evading the stalking lion. He's not worrying about whether that cute zebra in the corner of the field thinks he's a dork. In addition to acute physical stress there is also chronic physical stress. The example Sapolsky uses is this: Locusts have eaten your crops and you must wander miles a day to get enough food. The next form of stress Sapolsky describes is purely human and monkey/ape: psychological stress. He comments that since we rarely have to stalk down and wrestle our dinner, we generate all sorts of stressful events in our heads. Sustained psychological stress is a fairly recent evolutionary process. Our physiological responses are tuned to cope with short bursts of stress (either it's over with or you're over with), however, when we sit around masticating and mulling over distressing events and thoughts, we turn on the same physiological responses but keep them turned on for months or years on end with not-so-great results.

So how do we keep da body fayne? Research indicates that there are several things we can do to successfully manage stress and keep our bodies and minds healthy. Here's just a few to try:

1. Exercise: Physical activity counters stress for a number of reasons. It decreases your risk of various diseases, it generally makes you feel good, you reduce tension and you are more likely to effectively manage psychological stressors when they come your way. Importantly, you want to engage in an physical activity you enjoy (not one you are forced to participate in) and not overdo it. Overdoing it can be just as bad for your body as not doing enough. Think 30-60 minutes 3-5 days a week.

2. Meditation: Meditating for 15-30 minutes a day has been shown to provide physiological benefits (lowering blood pressure) as well as psychological benefits long after the meditation session. Meditation can be as simple as sitting quietly at your desk with your eyes closed and focusing on your breathing.

3. Social Support: Having a community of supportive friends or even one good friend is one key to psychological and physical health. As important as the right network of friends is the act of giving social support to another. Sapolsky writes about this as "In a world of stressful lack of control, an amazing source of control we all have is the ability to make the world a better place, one act at a time."

4. Choose Your Battles and Your Strategy: Have the wisdom to pick your battles and once you have, the flexibility and resiliency of strategies to use in those battles. Sapolsky offers this advice from a Quaker meeting: "In the face of strong winds, let me be a blade of grass. In the face of strong walls, let me be a gale of wind." Decide which issues are truly important and let the others slide. So what if your spouse doesn't put the toilet paper on the holder in your preferred way...So what if you're boss didn't greet you in a friendly manner this morning; it may have more to do with her own stressors not you...So what if your teenager wants to dye his hair blue, it's his hair and thankfully not yours.

In short, we don't always have complete control over our lives (or our health), but we can change the way we manage the issues that surface each day. The key is to find ways to cope with the stressors rather than allow them to dominate our lives and sabotage our health. So next time someone asks you "How's it going" you can respond "Da body's fayne, mon!"

“The concept of total wellness recognizes that our every thought, word, and behavior affects our greater health and well-being. And we, in turn, are affected not only emotionally but also physically and spiritually.”
--Greg Anderson

Thought for the Day: Evaluate how you react and respond to your stressors this week. Create some time to implement some of the suggestions above in order to take care of your health.