“ Pain, stress My brain, can’t even rest It’s hard to maintain the pressure on my chest ”

Organized Konfusion,  Stress (1994)

Stress is a term phycologists and doctors adopted from engineering. Stress in engineering terms  just means force upon an area. As so many forces are working upon us in the modern world, it is no wonder our bodies are not keeping up. Someone around you has undoubtably said at one time or another “It’s the foods we eat nowadays” or “It’s all the junk food”, but how many of you have stopped to think that it was actually the civilization itself that was causing all these ailments?

You have the Paleo crowd telling you that it comes down to food we have not had enough time to adapt to. I say put Grok in a traffic jam like in L.A. or Montreal, give him a boss that is a complete dick, 2 term papers to finish and a cop that harasses him for being a “no good dirty caveman” and he will quickly have a beer belly and possibly acid reflux, maybe a little cancer. Let’s throw in good ol’ Irritable Bowel Syndrome and a little insomnia for good measure. The (OG) original Grok certainly did not stay up at night worried about identity theft or whether he had good job security as head of the design team at the spear factory.  Anyone that thinks his existence was one full of as much hardship and stress as we now have has never lived in the wilderness. I can tell you from experience it was not. Do not misunderstand me here, I’m not saying let’s blow it all up and live in the stone age a la fight club, I simply think we need to reevaluate our civilization and redesign it with people in mind in order to truly advance and move past suffering by killing off as much stress as possible. In order to be clear It’s not everything about civilization, only part of it, the part I will refer to as the matrix.

Stress has even been called the disease of civilization. One of the primary drivers of all diseases and disorders including obesity, in my opinion is stress. There I said it, yea I said it… fuck yo’ couch!  It’s not less physical activity from modern conveniences causing a calorie surplus, it’s just a wack-ass lifestyle causing your body to develop a need to create a calorie surplus to build fat.

It was stated in Powell’s “The Pathology of Cancer” (1908), “There can be little doubt that the various influences grouped under the title of civilization play a part in producing a tendency to Cancer.” Now this was said over 100 years ago so it surprises me because we have yet to change any of the urban planning and social systems that create this mess in the first place! A large proportion of stress we encounter arises from work related stressors and developments in a system that no longer make sense for life today. We sit in classrooms learning counterintuitive skills, and then work and commute fifty hours a week for forty years with little contact with nature in tedious jobs, far away from relatives and friends, no sense of community or belonging, and no political empowerment or sense of purpose. While working these jobs, we have to deal with a constant bombardment of information and sadly most of it is pointless. The more advanced we become the, more demanding the customer. The more fast paced things become the quicker the deadlines become. More women are working than ever before, yet the amount of responsibilities that they have in the home have not reduced correspondingly. In the end it makes for little time to relax and get rid of those bad vibes.

With little time and both parents working, is it any wonder creating a stable stress free home environment with adequate nutrition is near impossible?  How is one to protect one’s family from the unnecessary stress of the modern world?  This is arguably the worst facet of modern life. We now have a whole generation raising themselves with stressed out parents to create yet another source of stress to throw on top of the initial stress. A friend recently asked me what causes weight gain after me correcting her that it’s not eating too many carbs!!!! After hearing my answer she said “That can’t be it!  Come on Chief, I know, my kids are obviously overweight. How could my 3 year old have any stress? Kids do not have any bills to pay or responsibilities.”  I said to her “Stress is about personal perception.  Do you think she doesn’t hear you two arguing about bills or senses trouble brewing in your relationship?  You don’t think the thought hasn’t crossed her mind that her parents might break up and therefore create a not so secure future for her?”  The human body has very few ways to protect itself from an insecure future. Oxygen, water, and food are the only thing your body is equipped to give a shit about.  Lack of money can equal lack of food for the body.  Loved one who passed away can equal lack of the good vibes you once had with them which can equal eat more food to get the “good vibes” back.  Get it?  The only way your subconscious mind can compensate for instability in the future is through fat gain gasping for air or increases in thirst as these are the bodies only forms of currency.”

You have the news hitting you up from all angles about how hopeless and negative the world is and how you have a really shitty financial future no matter what you do for a living (unless you own a bank).  Perhaps even just the obvious nature of the unhealthy environment of your average ghetto and how the obesity rates correlate are enough to point out how this supposed civilized way of living might not be the best suited for humans. Probably the most ironic situation is “typical rez life” far from the hustle and bustle of New York. You might assume it’s less stressful with lots of nature nearby and less people than a metropolis but I assure you, the effects of colonization can be felt today. The common mental state plays a huge role. The unique drama of everyday life on a reservation makes for a level of stress unlike any other. Combined with the undeniable dependence on the outside world for survival makes for a witch’s brew of magic fat gaining trickery. Oddly the decisions made on wall street ripple to dirt roads as well. Even though it can hardly be considered civilization compared to New York, with things like the internet, television, and “The Economy”, there is very little chance of escaping the disease called civilization. It is a modern mindset of how things should be. There is a means to circumvent this while waiting for a better revamped society. You have to first understand it can effect you no matter where on this planet you decide to play the game. The key is to forfeit and go back to the locker room and come up with a better game plan.

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This entry was posted 839 days ago on Thursday, February 3rd, 2011 at 12:48 pm and is filed under Body (fitness and nutrition).