Why Your Mind is Better than Pills at Conquering
A Better , More Integrated Solution to the Opiate Crisis
Mind over matter : How true is this statement ? More than you think .
Stress has a bad reputation , but not all of it is bad . The " good " kind of stress gets you across the street quickly when you see an oncoming vehicle or can motivate you to work to‐ ward a deadline . Your body enters self-protection mode and puts you in tip-top shape : your immune system , heart rate , attention , and memory all gear up for survival .
However , when stress is chronic ( think of pulling all-nighters and waiting until the last minute to get things done ), it turns into bad stress — also known as distress . It can impact your health and cause you to feel under attack . It ’ s not just a feel‐ ing , either . Your body physically and automatically reacts as if under threat of siege .
When your body is constantly ( rather than just momentarily ) geared up for self-protection , your systems fatigue and start to decline . Immunity drops , inflammation creeps in , attention and memory start to fail and sleeping problems arise . Other physical changes can also occur , like shallow breathing , tense muscles , anxiety , and the release of stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline .
Unless you live in a war zone , that threat usually comes in the form of pain and anxiety , so protective reactions fall short . The body unwittingly attacks itself with reactions that worsen the problems of distress .
It ' s easy to feel powerless against this type of stress , but re‐ search has shown there ' s a lot you can do . The solution , it turns out , is not to escape the pain or negative emotions . Rather , it is to change the way the mind and the body react to them . Science suggests that these skills literally train the brain away from both physical and emotional pain .
Here ' s how to do it . 1 . The power of the relaxation response
The relaxation response directly counteracts reactions that increase distress , tension , and pain . To get there , try diaphragmatic breathing or other yoga-