Are my thoughts making me sick? Have you ever stopped to ask yourself this question? Just this morning I was talking with a client of mine named Sue (name changed of course), she was sharing her frustration about her flared up sinuses. After listening for a few minutes I asked Sue why did she think that her sinuses had flared up at this particular time - after all they had been great for months previously. Sue thought for a moment and couldn't come up with anything, her diet and exercise of recent have been fabulous. I continued to probe a little and asked about her work. Sue immediately shared her week's frustration with a project she was dealing with, in fact she told me that she had woken at 4am this morning anxious about a specific detail.

Many self help guru's and modern day positive help authors relate that our thoughts can have a huge impact on our level of wellbeing. For years though many scientists and more traditional medical practitioners have laughed this of as "mumbo jumbo". Recent research though is having the medical field do a complete turn around. Scientists are now showing that thoughts have the ability to turn on the stress response (what a surprise - not!). The stress response often referred to as the "fight or flight response" was imprinted on our nerve systems from our hunter gatherer past when we occasionally had to run from a lion or tiger. One of the consequences of fight flight is a down regulation of the immune system. The intelligent body decides to down regulate the immune system in an effort to save energy ( after all it expects we are being chased by a lion or tiger). This stressful event in the past was a 90 second event. We either escaped the lion or got eaten, after this period the immune system was switched right back on again. Unfortunately nowadays stress is much more pervasive, it last days, weeks and sometimes years and this comes at a tremendous cost - cranky sinuses are just one!

Managing stress in our life is essential if you want to express great health and wellness. Dealing with stress has to be holistic - you need to eat well (foods from nature), move often and have strategies to deal with ever present mental and emotional stress.

One of the most effective strategies I have come up with to deal with mental stress is to ask myself can I influence this issue? If the answer is yes I write down what steps I can begin to take and I take action. It the answer is no (as is often the case) I find it much easier for me to let go.

Take a moment to look at the stresses in your life, which ones can you control i.e your messy desk, the quality of your work and which ones can't you i.e what the weather will be like for you birthday party this saturday night. After asking this question either take action or learn to let go.

Dr Angus Pyke is the founder and director of What Actually Works - an online forum providing simple, proven and effective strategies for people to live a happier and healthier life. Angus is a sort after speaker and health coach to leaders of industry and Olympic gold medalists. His humor, compassion and simple message has helped to empower thousands to make change and live a more passionate, healthy and fulfilling life. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it www.whatactuallyworks.com.au www.facebook.com/whatactuallyworks