I just stumbled across this fascinating TED talk. As someone who deals with a fair amount of stress, I found this pretty amazing.

The gist? Stress only shortens your lifespan if you let it. Embrace stress and you’ll be fine.

The action items?

1) When you feel your heart start to race and you break out in sweat, don’t freak out. View it has helpful. Thank your body for bringing it’s A-Game and use that adrenaline to kick ass. It could actually be the difference between that stress being good or bad for your heart.

2) The “cuddle hormone”, oxytocin, is actually part of the human stress response. This is the hormone that enhances your empathy and makes you want to connect more with others. It’s also very, VERY good for your heart. These heart benefits are enhanced by reaching out to others to seek support or help them…which will shorten the effects of your stress. Stressed? Reach out and touch someone.

3) People who spend time caring for others show hardly any stress-related health effects. Help others, be more healthy.