Have you ever shouted, “I’m stressed out!” If you live on planet Earth, in all likelihood, you have. The word “stress” typically has negative connotations. We feel particularly anxious or edgy, and could even be at an emotional breaking point. While we can deal with bad stress, through means such as hot stone therapy, we should keep some facts in mind about bad and good stress, and how to deal with them:

1. We need a certain amount of “good” stress

To understand “good” stress better, we need to revisit the body’s natural instinct of “flight or flight.” When we encounter seriously stressful situations, do we deal with them, or avoid them? We need certain amounts of stress in our lives. While crossing a street, we may see a car zooming down the road, towards us. Our professor or boss may assign us a huge workload for us to complete within a small timeframe. In these cases, the brain senses stress, and then transmits important chemicals throughout body. The results are:

• Higher blood pressure

• Increased heartbeat

• Keener senses

• Higher level of blood sugar

In short, we are ready to rock and roll! This explosion of energy informs our body that we need to take action—and take it immediately.

2. Too much stress can be dangerous

In the case of stress, too much is too bad. While a moderate amount of stress can help us to deal with problems and responsibilities, it can overwhelm us. Perhaps we must deal with unpaid bills, a death in the family, or a pain-in-the-neck boss. Such situations can cause us not only to react to them, but also to worry ourselves silly about them. Unhealthy levels of stress can result in several negative health issues, including:

• depression

• digestion problems

• faster aging

• heart attacks

• high blood pressure

• infertility

• poor immune system

• strokes

Consider the life of John D. Rockefeller. Though he was once one of the wealthiest men in the world, becoming overworked and stressed-out caused him nearly to die. However, when Rockefeller followed his doctor’s advice, which included to never worry about anything, he lived to be 97-years-old!

3. Hot stone massages can eliminate bad stress in your mind and body

Having a hot stone massage remains one of the most effective ways to reduce the bad stress in your life. Through heat therapy, these massages help to calm your mind, reduce your heart rate, increase blood circulation, and relax your muscles. While a basic massage can be healthy, a hot stone massage creates additional benefits. By combining the hot stones with virtually any style of massage, you get the basic benefits of massages, coupled with the plusses of heat therapy.

While we typically think of stress as being “bad,” we can experience both good and bad stress in our lives. Whenever stress becomes too much to handle, treatments such as hot stone massages can help to knock out the bad stress in our lives!