Release Yourself Part I. Stress Less. Live More.

Stress less. Live more. "Release Yourself" is a 3-part series dedicated to conquering destructive stress for health, happiness and harmony. In this well-researched and engaging series, Sophia Elan shares simple, life-changing, proven strategies (based on holistic therapies and neuroscience) to become a stress conqueror and reclaim your mental and physical well-being. This book, PART I of the three-part series, reviews the nervous system and stress response and documents how chronic stress, directly and indirectly, impacts mood, energy, appetite, weight, sleep, digestive health, immunity, and the risk of developing mental disorders and physical diseases, as well as aging in general. The epic rise in chronic stress parallels the epidemic rise in mental and physical health challenges, including dementia, neurodegenerative diseases, obesity, and autoimmune diseases. Elan contends that this parallel is far from coincidental and that you have the power to be the master of your health destiny. Elan documents the connection between unabated, prolonged stress and the development of virtually every mental and physical health challenge. PARTS II and III of this series collectively offer 50 practical, evidence-based, transformative strategies to successfully manage stress and resolve the wide-ranging negative physiological, psychological, and behavioral consequences thereof. The majority of doctors' visits are for stress-related symptoms. Conventional medicine fails to appreciate the causative/contributory factor that chronic stress (including trauma-induced stress) plays in physical and mental health issues. Conventional psychotherapy is often cost-prohibitive and fails to recognize/address the vast potential physiological impacts of chronic stress. Conventional therapies primarily rely on drugs to superficially make the patient feel better. Drugs are generally ineffectual at best at resolving issues long-term, are often counterproductive, and frequently cause significant negative side effects. Conventional approaches treat the body and mind separately, failing to appreciate and capitalize on the interconnectedness of mind and body and failing to realize the cumulative psychological, physiological and behavioral manifestations of chronic stress. Time to get unconventional, according to Elan. Manage your stress so it doesn't ravage your mind, body, and spirit. "Release Yourself" is part of Elan's "KISS" collection, a catalog of self-care made simple books, utilizing Elan's trademark "keep it simple, sweetheart" philosophy. "KISS" guides are designed to inspire and empower you to achieve optimal mental and physical well-being, via simple, natural, accessible lifestyle routines. A conqueror of lifelong traumas, Elan preaches what she practices and shares an insightful toolkit for resolving chronic stress and overcoming the pervasive destructive stress-induced impacts she knew all too well from a lifetime of misdiagnoses and mistreatments. By resolving her traumas, employing her "KISS" philosophy, Elan found the key to ending her physiological challenges, her mental anguish, and her maladaptive coping mechanisms, including substance abuse. Stress is inevitable, suffering is not… In her compassionate and relatable voice, Elan encourages us all to be our own best health advocate and "insurance" by engaging in simple, empowering natural habits and practices to live the rest of our lives as the best of our lives. Keep it simple, sweetheart…