Cape Town is different to Johannesburg

In my talk I ask someone to hold a half-filled glass of water. I then ask a question: "Is it heavy?"

In Johannesburg the person holding the glass answers: "No", while in Cape Town the answer is usually: "Yes".

In Johannesburg people have better coping skills to deal with stress than in Cape Town, but in Johannesburg chronic 'life-style' diseases are rising rapidly.

Coping skills for dealing with stress does not mean eliminating the negative effects of stress. Medical science now associates 95% of diseases with stress.

The analogy of the glass of water is as follows:
I give you the glass to hold. It is not heavy. But if I ask you to hold it up for an hour, your arm would become very tired. If I ask you to hold the glass up all day, your arm would be ready to fall off.

Stress has as  much impact on us when we first experience it as holding up that glass of water. The negative impact of stress depends on how long we hold onto the stress; or how quickly we can de-stress.

Read through my previous blogs to find out the biochemical functioning of stress: it releases cortisol and adrenalin. De-stressing is also a chemical release into our blood-stream. 

We can prepare for stress by releasing the hormones, neuropeptide and other de-stress chemical before we encounter stress. In this way we become energised by the stress without experiencing the negative effects of stress. We perform better, but prevent life-style illnesses developing.

Laughter as an exercise is the best method of active de-stressing and also of preventative de-stressing.