If you ever needed a reason to take a break from your fast paced life? here are some hard-hitting health reasons that should stop you in your tracks.
Key Points:
- Stress is more likely to lead to colds and flu and is the main contributor to the development of many diseases
- Relaxation helps the body protect against disease and promotes good health
- Actual deep relaxation is the most important factor towards good health (sitting watching TV doesn?t count)
- It takes 3 days to unwind and 7-10 to really relax when on holiday
- Bliss Sanctuary For Women provides a safe haven for women to relax
Before we really get into the stats let me introduce myself for those who don't know me. My name is Zo? Watson, and after returning from my first ever solo holiday to Bali, I resigned from the rat-race and returned to Bali to open Bliss Sanctuary For Women, the first-of-its-kind women's only sanctuary established to offer a safe haven for women needing to restore, revive and reinvigorate.
I now dedicate my life to helping women find their own ?Bliss? whatever that may be. This involves constant research and collating feedback from guests. My latest findings simply backs up what we all know but never do, with new proven studies. Stop the stress. We need more rest! (read very loud)
We all know that a good nigh sleep is essential to good health, while stress is detrimental to it. But did you know that deep relaxation could improve your overall well being now and in the future?
New research conducted by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services shows that people suffering from chronic stress are much more likely to catch colds. Not only does stress compromise the immune system, it also hampers the body?s production of the hormones necessary to fight inflammation. With cold & flu season now upon us, these findings couldn?t be timelier.
But what really had researchers sniffling about was the body?s inflammatory response when disrupted by stress. When disrupted, the body?s natural protection is limited against the development of a broader range of diseases and serious health concerns such as:
- Alzheimer?s
- Anxiety
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Autoimmune disorders
- Depression
- Digestive Problems
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Heart Disease
- High Blood Pressure
- Indecisiveness / poor decision-making
- Infertility
- Inflammation
- Insomnia
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Low Libido
- Muscular aches & pains
- Respiratory problems
- Strokes
A 2007 University of Cambridge study found that those less stressed had a 24% lower risk of stroke. While the Kinsey Institute of Research revealed that stress zaps libido in men by up to 30% as well as affecting fertility in both genders.
Thankfully, researchers at the Harvard Medical School have also recently proved that deep restorative relaxation can have positive genetic effects on our body, which protect and fight against these diseases and disorders, both today and later in life.
Put simply, deep relaxation can reverse the damaging effects that stress has left on the body.
Benefits of relaxation include:
- Improved sleep quality / more energy
- Increased concentration, awareness, clarity
- Decreased muscle tension
- Assists with chronic pain
- Balanced emotions
- Boosts immune system
- Glowing skin (stress causes breakouts)
- Helps maintain a healthy weight
- Brings back that lovin? feeling (increased libido)
- Reduced risk of heart disease by lowering heart rate blood pressure
- Assists Diabetes by improving the body?s ability to regulate blood sugar levels (Duke University Medical Centre)
The good news is that all you have to do is R E L A X. In fact i the single most important thing you can do for your mental, psychological and physical health.
According to Harvard Medical School, for relaxation to be effective it needs to get in deep, so if you are in a high state of stress, lounging on the couch for a few hours every other Sunday is probably not going to cut it.
On average, it takes approximately three days to ?wind down? when on holiday and 7-10 days to achieve deep restorative benefits that lasts for up to six weeks.
A survey of 273 guests taken after their stay at Bliss Sanctuary For Women showed that the #1 activity their bodies needed was deep rest and no schedules, rather than what they had thought before their holiday, which was attending vigorous yoga sessions or strict eating.
Recent studies by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that 42% of Australian women always or often feel rushed or pressed for time, leading to increased stress levels.
So relax and take a big deep breath, it could just save your life.
A deep breathe goes a long way:
- improves respiratory & asthma
- lowers heart rate & blood pressure
- reduces lactic acid build up in muscle tissue
- balances oxygen & carbon dioxide in the blood
- boosts the immune system & physical wellbeing
- decreases muscle tension
- increases mental clarity and focus
For more information about ?Bliss Sanctuary For Women? please head to our website.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/13/science/relaxation-surprising-benefits-detected.html?pagewanted=2
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Breathing_to_reduce_stress
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/a-once-and-future-meditator-tries-the-relaxation-response-for-stress-201110143598
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/03/stress-health-sick-common-cold_n_1398173.html
https://nccam.nih.gov/research/results/spotlight/040212
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/13/stress-awareness-day-relaxation-benefits_n_1424820.html
(The Huffington Post became the first commercially run, United States digital media enterprise to win a Pulitzer Prize, 2012)
