'Don't worry be happy' or 'Make stress your friend'?

One of the most significant triggers for tension type headaches and migraines is psychological stress. Ongoing stress is also a predictor of how well people recover with back and neck pain. So is the answer to “don’t worry be happy?” "Just cut out stress", "You need to take more stress out of your life" or the always ridiculous: "You need to stop work or make it less stressful". Or my personal favourite, "Just don't let yourself feel so stressed"

But what happens if you CANT just let it go so easily? Or you haven't won tattslotto and you have to keep working to be able to live?

Well there is a possibility that decreasing stress might not be all that important anyway. What IS important is how you look at it.

We all have stress in one form or another and for most of us its actually SO constant that we may not even realise that we have it.

New research suggests that if you view your stress response as being your body's way of helping you out of a tough spot, rather than something that makes your life harder, then not only might you live longer but your stress may actually help PROTECT your heart from heart disease!

Watch the TED talk below to find out what I mean. Its not short but it is worth the investment of your time. How often can you spend 15minutes and potentially save your won life?

How do you think you're dealing with stress? Is it time you updated your perspective?

Let us know what you think next time you're in the practice!

All the best,

Kieran