LOOK: This Is Your Body On Stress

March 19, 2013 Subscribe · Forward LOOK: This Is Your Body On Stress Your boss reams you out for a bad presentation -- you break out into a sweat. Your demanding mother-in-law comes for a visit -- your head pounds. Rumors swirl about possible layoffs at work -- you can't sleep. An unexpected expense takes a hit on your bank account -- your stomach aches. Here's why: Historically, the majority of stressors facing humans were physical (lions and tigers and bears, oh my!), requiring, in turn, a physical response. "We are not particularly splendid physical creatures," says David Spiegel, M.D., director of the Center on Stress and Health at Stanford School of Medicine, who explains that plenty of other animals can outrun us, overpower us, out-see us, out-smell us. "The only thing that has allowed us to explore the planet is the fact that we can respond effectively to threats." Humans are equipped with a sophisticated fight or flight response that allows us to outrun a grizzly bear or fight off an animal far more powerful than we are. When stressed, the sympathetic nervous system takes control of the body, which then triggers fight or flight. (The counterpart of the sympathetic nervous system is the parasympathetic nervous system, also known as the "rest and digest system," which is in control during more relaxing times. Both are part of the autonomic nervous system, which controls involuntary actions.) Once our bodies identify a threat, we prepare for war (or getting the heck out of there): muscles tense up, the heart starts beating faster and blood flows away from any non-essential body system. The problem, though, is that while just a few hundred years ago our stressors were primarily physical, today the vast majority of stress is psychological -- work, finances, families and the like. But our bodies have yet to catch up. And that means the stress response is still a physical one. Your boss yells, your body thinks "grizzly bear." Continue reading... Who Are The Healthiest Workers In America? 8 Of The Best Meditation Apps For Unwinding -- On The Go! Why Mindfulness Helps Us Know Our True Selves 50 Of The Most Influential Women In Health 10 Great Green Superfoods Is Man's 'No Eating' Diet A Good Idea? LOOK: This Is Your Body On Stress 11 Ways To De-Stress At Your Desk LOOK: This Is Your Body On Stress A Guide To The Shamrock Shake 50 Of The Most Influential Women In Health ARIANNA HUFFINGTON Mindfulness, Meditation, Wellness And Their Connection To Corporate America's Bottom Line On Tuesday I'll be guest-hosting CNBC's Squawk Box. As well as discussing Cyprus and a possible euro-crisis, we are going to discuss the growing trend in corporate America to take steps -- meditation, yoga, mindfulness trainings -- to reduce stress and improve health and creativity. Even a quick look at what's happening in the American workplace shows that it's a seriously split-screen world. On the one hand, there's the stressful world of quarterly earnings reports, beating growth expectations, hard-charging CEOs, and focusing on the bottom line -- the world that is the usual focus of CNBC and Squawk Box. On the other hand, there's the world populated by the growing awareness of the costs of stress, not just in the health and well-being of business leaders and employees, but on the bottom line as well. Continue reading... DANIEL GULATI Why You Should 'Slow-Track' Your Career Quitting early to avoid getting stuck in a rut is smart. But continually shortening your time horizons for career achievement and shirking hard work in the search for immediate silver bullets is a dangerous practice, and may actually limit your long-term outcomes. Continue reading... KERRY AND KELLY MACLEAN A Family Who Meditates Together... As time passed, we felt increasingly blessed to have this time together each day, and we began to realize what we were doing was downright revolutionary. Whoever heard of an entire family stopping to do absolutely nothing together? Continue reading... Received this from a friend? Sign up for alerts from The Huffington Post here. Unsubscribe here. Huffington Post, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003