I am Dr. Hassan, a Board-Certified Physiatrist and Independent Practice Owner. I help physiatrists start and grow their own profitable practices so they can achieve financial independence and live without limits.
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Drama and stress are fast friends. The more drama you experience, the more stress you will have to deal with. While dramatic events can be positive (holding your newborn baby in your arms for the first time definitely qualifies as drama), that’s not the type of event you’re trying to avoid.
The drama most people would like less of in their lives is often accompanied by stress. Some of that experience makes you tense and anxious. This could be a gossiping coworker or a spouse who never pitches in with household chores.
There are so many different things that can cause unnecessary drama. What happens inside your body has to do with chemicals like cortisol. It’s aptly named the stress hormone. While it’s a healthy part of helping you deal with stressful situations, it can create serious problems when it hangs around all the time.
This is what drama does to you. It cranks up your stress response. If dramatic situations are constantly a part of your life, you produce too much cortisol. That leads to stress, both mental and physical, as well as internal inflammation throughout the body.
You can exploit this drama/stress/cortisol relationship to enjoy much less drama.
How Exercise Reduces Stress and Anxiety
There is a two-part process here. The first way you can use exercise or simple physical activity to reduce drama is hormone-related. We talked about cortisol already. Other “feel bad” chemicals are also produced in excess when you experience drama, stress, and anxiety.
Exercising takes power away from those chemicals.
Moderate to intense physical activity, even for just a couple of minutes, helps regulate the level of bad-to-good hormones in your body. Without digging deeply into the physiological process, exercising begins the production of dopamine and endorphins, serotonin, and oxytocin. These are known as the four “feel good” hormones.
At the same time, physical activity reduces the presence of cortisol. This cranks up feelings of positivity and reduces the stress that is both a symptom and cause of drama in your life.
The second part of the process has to do with emotional resilience.
A 2014 study published by PubMed Central shows that people who exercise regularly show a smaller negative impact and incidence rate of stress than people who do not enjoy regular physical activity. Get up and move regularly, and you automatically create a stronger resistance to drama, stress, and anxiety.
The next time you feel drama creeping into your life, go for a brisk walk. Hop on your bike. Go play with the kids or the grandchildren. Physical activity is a simple and effective way of enjoying less drama and stress and more positive feelings.
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Once you’ve decided that you want to leave your current job to start your practice, you need an exit plan. Check out our blog post here for tips on developing an exit plan and starting your new independent practice.
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I’m Dr. Hassan, a Board-Certified Physiatrist and Independent Practice Owner. I help physiatrists start and grow their own profitable practices so they can achieve financial independence and live without limits. Please go to businessofrehab.com/contractnegotiations to pick up the free guide to help you negotiate the contract of your dreams.
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