There are two ways we can respond to any given circumstance: by letting our habitual negative reaction restrain us or by letting our positive powerful mind free us! So the answer is YES!

Amongst the 30,000 adults tracked in the United States over the course of 8 years, for the study which inspired Stanford psychologist Kelly McGonigal on her TED TALK ‘How to make stress your friend’ , those who reported high stress levels had a 43 % increased risk of dying. 

However, before you jump to the conclusion that stress - as we may have heard for so many years - is therefore bad for you... you’ll be surprised to find that the study actually suggests that it is not stress itself, but the way you interpret it that leads to negative effects on the body.

In other words, if you believe stress is bad for you, the experience of it would introduce a fear response in the system, which causes constriction throughout the body including constriction of your blood vessels. Unlike those who have no such association and no corresponding physical reaction.

So by controlling that response through the power of the mind while introducing length into the system when you encounter stress, you may be able to avoid negative physical consequences. 

This might explain why after exercising or meditating, clients often report feeling 'less stressed', or enjoying more freedom in their overall life.   

It's not that they are less stressed, but that they no longer pull down around it.  

And that mindset can and will make all the difference in your health and wellbeing.  

So next time you feel stressed, accept it, embrace it and make friends with it.