Since Meryl needs some cat therapy: (Yes, I know this is a friend’s cat; but mine now live up in Maine)……

Sharon, a fellow worry-wart

chsw

So a little aerobic exercise when you feel stressed is the best thing you can do to cope with it.

Thanks… been dealing with stress at work, perhaps it’s time to start walking home occasionally (it’s only about 2 miles) instead of taking the easy way.

Stress, in any form, releases cortisol and adrenaline which make the heart pump faster, thereby increasing blood pressure. You probably know that. Cholesterol in the blood also increases as part of the stress reaction, and enzyme activity causes the blood to thicken (in case the person is injured). This is the very same response to stress our ancestors had milennia ago, when their stress was mainly from predators seeking to eat them. When they ran away, the stress reaction naturally dissipated. But because stress doesn’t come from those sources any more, it’s more likely to be worry over deadlines and things, or anger, the body doesn’t get a chance to burn off the stress hormones and they can cause problems throughout the body. So a little aerobic exercise when you feel stressed is the best thing you can do to cope with it.

Then after the exercise, you can sit down with the cats! It’s working for me: I’m feeling a lot better. I used to exercise at set times during the day but I’ve changed those times to coordinate with when I’m likely to be most stressed or angry (after the evening news is one of those times, funnily enough! I get so angry at the spin on the Middle East). And relaxing afterwards with my cat definitely helps, too.

Look after yourself, we would hate for anything bad to happen.