Good stress is exhilarating, bad stress is demoralizing.
Good stress brings out the best in you, helping you to rise to the challenge, according to an article in the current issue of Redbook, while bad stress makes you feel like a runaway train, out of control, exhausted."Stress can be very useful," said Dr. Jeffrey G. Jones, medical director of the St. Francis Occupational Health Center in Indiana.
"After all, any time you try to accomplish something, you are under stress. Any time you prepare for a challenge, you experience positive stress. This type of stress helps us survive and motivates us. Without it, we would be bored. We would stop growing and changing."
Bad stress - including that brought on by too much good stress - often sends out physical signals, according to psychologist Donald A. Tubesing, president of Whole Person Associates in Duluth, Minn.
"Our bodies are our best biofeedback mechanism," he said.
The signals can include an upset stomach, twitching eyelid, a rash, perpetually furrowed brow, chronic fatigue or headaches.
One way to reduce stress is through the following relaxation techniques, said Robert D. Kerns, assistant clinical professor of psychology at Yale University School of Medicine.
Progressive muscle relaxation means systematically tensing and relaxing the various muscle groups in your body, combined with deep regular diaphragmatic breathing. Inhale slowly through your nose, expanding your belly, not your chest. Exhale by pulling in your stomach, letting air out through your nose.
Another technique is positive imagery, where you imagine a relaxing scene using as many senses as possible.
"A beach scene works well for me," Kerns said. "I imagine being alone on the beach, watching the waves breaking on the shore, tasting a hint of salt in the air and feeling the warm sun and sand."
He said other people may imagine a walk in the woods or fishing on a lake. The more elaborate the detail, the more relaxing it will be.
Exercise is a great tension reducer and walking has the added benefit of getting you out in the fresh air and into distracting and changing scenery. Don't mull over problems - enjoy the walk and give your mind a rest.
The beneficial effects of meditation as a stress reducer and immune-system booster have been well documented and can be incorporated into your walk.
Psychotherapists David and Deena Balboa suggest these steps for enhancing the stress-reducing value of walking.
Release yourself from any objective - this is not a fitness walk with a target heart-rate goal.
Relax your shoulders, keep head erect, allow your arms full range of motion to encourage deep breathing. Take a few deep breaths, exhaling slowly and audibly. To clear your mind, focus on your breathing, not to control it but simply to watch it.
A good laugh, the kind that makes your eyes tear and your stomach hurt, can be an effective de-stresser, said Sabina White of the Laughter Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara. She said a study in the project showed her that people who spent an hour participating in a laughter workshop dealt with psychological stress as well as a group that just relaxed.
White conducts laughter workshops that focus on sharing embarrassing moments and laughing about them, learning ways to find humor in distressing situations and talking about the kinds of humor that are healing - jokes about life - and the kinds that are not healing - jokes that put down groups of people.
"I realized that if you don't value laughter, you may just stop doing it," White said. "That happened to me and I missed it. Life is a lot lighter, now that I laugh again."