On Stress

Transcript of high school speech on stress.

“Smile, Breathe, and Celebrate”

Coming soon to a theater near you. Stress… it destroys our minds. Stress… it destroys our health. Stress…it destroys… humanity. And guess what… there’s no one to save you this time. “Stressed out”, the movie. Produced by you, directed by everybody else. Coming soon to a theater (point to the head) in you.

In the modern world, Stressed Out the movie has been in box office for way too long. But however disastrous as it may be, we just keep on hitting that replay button again and again. Every time this daily stress runs in our mind, scenes repeat themselves – we fight with the frivolous, flee from the facts, and fret about the future. Today, the student juggles with projects, SATs, sports, tests and speech tournaments. Add the social pressures of fitting in, being unique, falling in love, falling out of love, and work worries, and the fear of even one of these juggling balls falling down makes us stressed out. According to Dr. Richard Carlson, author of the New York Times Bestseller “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff… its all Small Stuff,” stress is “a socially acceptable form of mental illness” (qtd. in Simmins). It affects all of us and jeopardizes all of us. We may feel that we’re stress free, but unless we can live creatively amongst these crazy schedules, breathe without butterflies, and just laugh at “what’s happening”, what are we really free from? But hey, life happens, who wants to clean it up and move on? But if we don’t clean up our stress, the stress will end up cleaning us out.

According to Dr. Blackburn, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics and the 2009 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, “When people are under stress…it’s like they age before your eyes, and…something [is] going on at a molecular level” (qtd. in Carey). Besides destroying the ends of DNA and in some cases decreasing its life by a decade (Carey), what stress is doing to us is not pretty at all.

Stress ignites a fight or flight survival response, as the body prepares to either fight the danger or flee and save its life. Thus, the body shoots stress hormones that cause the breathing rate to drastically increase, blood pressure to skyrocket, and other physiological changes (Cooper) to fend off the short-term danger of that attacking grizzly bear. And while giving up growth and immunity (The Franklin Institute) to stay alive in such cases is fine, in the modern world, even small situations launch the hormonal missiles again and again (Mayo Clinic). Our body doesn’t understand whether we’re facing the life-threatening bear or just simple irritations that its 11 PM and I have 5 books to spark-note, 4 quizzes to study, 3 projects to build, 2 parents to please, and a farm on Facebook that I still have to weed. And as Dean Smith, an award winning basketball coach puts it, “If [we] treat every situation as a life and death matter, [we’ll] die a lot of times” (qtd. in “How to Overcome Your Worries: 5 Timeless Thoughts from the Last 2500 Years.”).

According to TIME, these stress hormones then lead to a weak immune system and reduce bone mass (Lemonick). Chronic stress can also move fat to the waist (Maglione-Garves, Kravitz, and Schneider), lead to high blood pressure, damage the brain involved in learning and memory (The Franklin Institute), and according to Dr. Hans Selyle, the man who named this phenomenon “stress”, stress makes us “a little older” (qtd. in Skae). Before and after pictures of President Obama or Clinton’s hair prove it best. Or if you’re still not convinced, you can take a look at my mother, who believes it’s my fault that she has gray hair.

And even more dangerously, we attempt to dump this stress by watching TV, sleeping, or eating. According to an American Psychological Association poll, four in ten people watch two hours of TV a day and overeat when they’re stressed out (“Stress a major health problem in the U.S., warns APA”). We run away form it, instead of accepting it and moving on. So, how do we even begin to let go of our fight-flight? The first of the three ways, is to smile, laugh, and take it light.

Phyllis Diller, a famous American comedian once said, “A smile is a curve that sets everything straight” (“Quotations about Smiles”). Besides releasing endorphins (American Cancer Society) or happiness hormones, laughing and smiling can trick the body into relaxing from its burnt out survival state. Just like an anticipation of Monday makes us stressed out, according to Science Daily, just an anticipation of laughing in groups caused cortisol, the stress hormone, to decrease by almost half and adrenaline to lower by 70% (“Laughter Remains Good Medicine”).

“The old saying that ‘laughter is the best medicine,’ definitely appears to be true when it comes to protecting your heart” (qtd. in University of Maryland Medical Center) says Michael Miller, M.D., director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Laughing not only increases blood vessels function, that is decreased by our stress (“University Of Maryland School Of Medicine Study Shows Laughter Helps Blood Vessels Function Better”), but according to USA Today, happy adults with heart problems live 11 years longer than unhappy ones, as stress causes sticky arteries and thicker blood (Elias).

Dr. Madan Kataria, the founder of the laughter yoga clubs worldwide, where participants just laugh for health, says that the body can’t recognize the difference between fake laughter and real laughter –the health effects are the same (Laughter Yoga International). And while for a couple of seconds, the laughter may seem forced, through rushing endorphins and bringing ourselves naturally to the present, we feel de-stressed.

As kids we laugh at anything, but as we grow older we only smile and laugh for camera – how about smiling at the situation and laughing with life no matter what happens around us? To drop stress, let’s make life a laughing matter.

The next technique to become stress free is to allow the breath to relax the body and mind. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the creator of the Sudharshan Kriya, a rhythmic breathing technique to relieve stress taught over 150 countries, says, “for every rhythm in the breath there is a corresponding emotion.” Now, just watching our breathe reveals that during fearful emotions, our breath becomes fast and shallow, and when we are relaxed and happy, our breath becomes slow and deep. Researchers in Belgium have taken this a step further: when we breathe in certain patterns, we re-experience those emotions (Art of Living). Slow focused breathing helps us feel relaxed and de-stressed (Lehigh Valley Health Network).

According to Time, 10 million Americans practiced meditation daily – and that too, for 2003 (Stein et al. 1). Daniel Goleman, author of Destructive Emotions, a conversation among the Dalai Lama and a group of neuroscientists, says “For 30 years meditation research has told us that it works beautifully as an antidote to stress” (Stein et al. 2). Besides increasing the threshold at which we get stressed, the Society of Neuroscience reports that meditation gives more energy and alertness than caffeine or exercise (Nagourney). And with 60% of doctor visits being stress-related (Stein et al. 7), Time adds that “compared with surgery, sitting on a cushion is really cheap” (Stein et al. 2).

With almost twenty studies confirming a drop in blood pressure with meditation (Murphy and Donovan), meditation also boosts the immune system (Stein et al. 1), decreases cortisol, and generates brain waves that help us relax (Murphy and Donovan).

And best of all, you don’t have to be a monk to meditate – a simple way is to just take out a few minutes a day, sit with your eyes closed at work or home, and watch your breath go in and out. “Just breathe it.”

Mother Teresa once said, “Life is a game… play it” (qtd. in “10 of the Best Mother Teresa Quotes”). The last technique to dropping stress is to celebrate life and dive into creativity – to play music, dance, doodle, and write, with 100% focus. To be fully in that one activity that makes you, you – something that makes you forget the past and future and helps you enjoy right now.

According to Carolyn Gross, author of “Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos”, in stress the right brain becomes inaccessible and imagination and intuitiveness decrease in function. Creative activities like playing music can change the stress response at the genomic level (Nieves), dancing can release happiness hormones (Dance National Arts Center), and writing can allow us to express our feelings. As Garson Kanin, a notable American writer and director once said, “One antidote to stress is self-expression… My thoughts get off my chest, down my sleeves and onto my pad” (qtd. in “No Need to Stress… Here are Some Great Stress Relief Quotes”).

So when you dance just dance, when you write just write, and when you draw let’s just draw – nothing else, you and your activity. And there really is only one side effect: having fun.

So, smile, breathe, and celebrate – three simple techniques for the modern busy, fast-paced, frowning, and stressed human to keep up with this crazy fight-or-flight filled world. We may not have control over the situation, but we do have control over the stress. And stressed out the movie is really just a movie. Smile, breathe, and celebrate.

Works Cited

“10 of the Best Mother Teresa Quotes.” All Famous Quotes. 31 Dec. 2009 http://www.all-famous-quotes.com/Mother_Teresa_quotes.html. American Cancer Society. “Humor Therapy.” American Cancer Society. 1 Nov. 2008. 30 Dec. 2009 http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_5_3X_Humor_Therapy.asp?sitearea=ETO.

Art Of Living. “Stress & Well-being.” Stress of AoL newsletter 1 1-2.

Carey, Benedict. “Too Much Stress May Give Genes Gray Hair.” The New York Times 30 Nov. 2004. 29 Dec. 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/30/health/30age.html?_r=3&scp=4&sq=stress%20health&st=cse.

Carolyn, Gross. “How Stress Symptoms Affect Brain Function.” SelfGrowth. 31 Dec. 2009 http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Gross3.html.

Cooper, Cary L. “World of the Body: stress.” The Oxford Companion to the Body. 2001, 2003. Answers. 29 Dec. 2009 http://www.answers.com/topic/stress.

Dance National Arts Center. “Facts About Dance - Did you know?” Dance National Arts Center. 25 Jan. 2010 http://artsalive.ca/en/dan/dance101/facts.asp.

Elias, Marilyn. “Happy folks live longer than fuddy-duddies.” USA Today 4 Mar. 2003. 30 Dec. 2009 http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-03-04-happy_x.htm.

The Franklin Institute. “Renew - Stress on the Brain.” The Franklin Institute. Unisys. 29 Dec. 2009 http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/stress.html#top.

“How to Overcome Your Worries: 5 Timeless Thoughts from the Last 2500 Years.” The Positivity Blog. 25 Jan. 2010 http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2009/10/23/how-to-overcome-your-worries/.

“Laughter Remains Good Medicine.” Science Daily 17 Apr. 2009. 30 Dec. 2009 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090417084115.htm.

Laughter Yoga International. “History Of Laughter Yoga.” Laughter Yoga International. 31 Dec. 2009 http://www.laughteryoga.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=460:history-of-laughter-yoga&catid=86:the-history&Itemid=265.

Lehigh Valley Health Network. “Take a Deep Breath….and Relax!” Lehigh Valley Health Network. 25 Jan. 2010 http://www.lvhn.org.

Lemonick, Michael. “Depression: How Stress Takes Its Toll.” Time 20 Jan. 2003. 29 Dec. 2009 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1004098,00.html.

Maglione-Garves, Christine A., Len Kravitz, and Suzanne Schneider. “Cortisol Connection: Tips on Managing Stress and Weight.” The University of New Mexico. 29 Dec. 2009 http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/stresscortisol.html.

Mayo Clinic. “Stress and high blood pressure: What’s the connection?” Mayo Clinic. 29 Dec. 2009 http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress-and-high-blood-pressure/HI00092.

Murphy, Michael, and Steven Donovan. The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation. The Institute of Noetic Sciences. The Institue of Noetic Sciences. 31 Dec. 2009 http://www.noetic.org/research/medbiblio/ch1.htm.

Nagourney, Eric. “Performance: Researchers Test Meditation?s Impact on Alertness.” The New York Times 24 Oct. 2006. 31 Dec. 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/health/24perf.html?_r=3&scp=5&sq=meditation&st=cse.

Nieves, Ann-Marie. “Playing a Musical Instrument Reverses Stress on the Genomic Level.” American Musical Conference. 2 Feb. 2005. 25 Jan. 2010 http://www.amc-music.org/news/pressreleases/Bittman-genomic.htm.

“No Need to Stress… Here are Some Great Stress Relief Quotes.” Beyond the quote. 31 Dec. 2009 http://www.beyondthequote.com/stress-relief-quotes.html.

“Quotations about Smiles.” The Quote Garden. 25 Jan. 2010 http://www.quotegarden.com/smiles.html.

Shankar, H. H. Sri Sri Ravi. “Breath of Life.” Soohum. 25 Jan. 2010 http://soohum.com/default.aspx.

Simmins, Charles. “Strategies to help cope with stress in the office.” Helium. 29 Dec. 2009 http://www.helium.com/items/1518270-strategies-to-help-cope-with-stress-in-the-office.

Skae, Teya. “How a Stressful State Leads to Chronic Fatigue (Part 1).” Natural News. 20 Sept. 2008. 29 Dec. 2009 http://www.naturalnews.com/024268_chronic_fatigue_cortisol_adrenal_glands.html.

Stein, Joel, David Bjerklie, Alice Park, David Van Biema, Karen Ann Cullott, and Jeanne McDowell. “Just Say Om.” TIME 4 Aug. 2003. 31 Dec. 2009 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1005349,00.html.

“Stress a major health problem in the U.S., warns APA.” The Mental Health Social Worker. 29 Dec. 2009 http://mhsw.org/press/stress-a-major-health-problem-in-the-us-warns-apa/.

University of Maryland Medical Center. “Laughter is the Best Medicine for Your Heart.” University of Maryland Medical Center. 31 Dec. 2009 http://www.umm.edu/features/laughter.htm.

“University Of Maryland School Of Medicine Study Shows Laughter Helps Blood Vessels Function Better.” Science Daily 19 Mar. 2005. 30 Dec. 2009 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050309111444.htm.