Professional Women's Alliance of Connecticut

By Karen Goldstein, RN

Just to give you a little background, I have been a Registered Nurse for over 30 years. It has been in the last 10 years that I have been working with the Holistic / Natural Healing Arts, encompassing Reiki, Aromatherapy, Mind-Body Imagery, for Well Being and Stress Management. My focus is to provide the necessary tools and education in managing stress levels for balance & wellness. This allows for self-empowerment in making more informed choices on how we can make healthy lifestyle changes, with the outcome of reducing stress & illness in our life. Stress is something we all have to varying degrees. It can result from our jobs, relationships, financial & health issues. We are adaptable and have amazing self-healing capabilities, but if overwhelmed by stress, it will manifest in our emotional & physical health as illness. We may not always be able to control our environment around us, but we can control our own internal responses to stress to create positive changes. Being aware of how stress affects you as an individual will allow you to take those steps for change.

How the Mind Affects the Body
There is a direct connection between our brain, thoughts, emotions & physical body. The brain’s response to a stressful situation, negative thought, emotion, or even anticipation of stress, is through the hormonal system with the release of Cortisol & Adrenalin from the Adrenal Glands. This in turn negatively affects our immune system. If repeated stress is unwanted & creates unhappiness, then it will have unwanted physical effects. Our bodies communicate with us through our emotions and physical symptoms. It is our body’s way to tell us to look within & face issues in our life that may require change. Our bodies are demanding attention & action to get to the real cause. Stress can manifest differently in each of us, & even vary according to the situation we may find ourselves in as well as the state of our overall health.

By being aware of our own physical and emotional responses to stress by paying attention to the signs our body is giving us, we can create positive change in our life. Emotions and stress are stored in different parts of the body, and reflect our past and present experiences. The key is to pay attention to the signs our body is giving us and look to see where the cause of the imbalance is in our life: whether it be financial, our relationship within oneself or with others, diet, lack of exercise or sleep, or our job. The next step is to address the core issue. By using holistic and stress reduction techniques, we can take immediate steps to control our responses to stress that can lower our risks to the onset of illness and facilitate healing on all levels: Body, Mind, and Spirit.

Positive emotions create higher energy levels within the body, which support the body’s natural healing process. By paying attention to our emotions, we can consciously change our low energy emotions of anger, fear or worry up to the positive emotions of happiness, love & creativity. Our thoughts & emotions create our reality and how we choose to live life. Positive emotions give positive results.
The major component in creating a life of well being is our attitude. It is literally in our thoughts. We can create our reality that is in harmony with our Spirit and create those changes needed to reach our goals… and live each moment and each wonderful experience in life with joy, gratitude and vitality!