*Stress:

• 70% of all illness is due to unmanaged stress

• #1 cause of death, heart disease from high blood pressure

• Shrinks the brain, limiting cognitive ability

• Costs business $300billion/year

 CHASED BY A TIGER

     A major threat to our health, stress is recognized as a danger to our mental and physical well being.

    "Fight or flight", is a nervous state that we seem to live in constantly.  A state of emergency has been declared in our nervous system, hormones, heart and lungs.

    "Rest and digest" should be our normal state of being.  Blood pressure, digestion, and healing processes function at optimum.

   Depression, ulcers, constipation, and high blood pressure, are a few of the diseases caused by stress.

 TREATMENT

    Relaxation is no longer a luxury, it can save your life.  Finding a way to break the cycle of Work and Worry is vital to your well being.

    Effective treatment involves switching the body from a state of emergency to a state of relaxation.  Only then will the body begin to heal itself.

    Swedish massage is one of the best techniques to combat stress, but any kind of focused bodywork is effective.  A brisk sports massage or deep tissue session will release the tension in the body, and help focus the mind.

*"Massage and Bodywork" Magazine, April/May 2000