“Red and yellow kill a fellow” is a common warning to help identify the coral snake which is poisonous to us. However, this phrase may also apply to your health.
Red and yellow on the traffic light tool are states of survival. There’s nothing wrong with going into those states when necessary, but spending excessive time in yellow and red indicates you are experiencing chronic stress and can have an impact on your well-being.
A Yale study has found that spending too much time in a stressful state actually speeds up the biological clock and ages us faster. We may all know this when we have seen someone who has gone through an exceptionally difficult time in their lives, and they look older.
The risks of heart disease, diabetes, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, and mood problems can all be increased by chronic stress says Rajita Sinha, one of the study’s authors.
That sounds like a lot of bad news that will make us all go into yellow!
The good news is that individuals in the study who were high on resilience, as measured by their ability to bring themselves back to a state of emotional steadiness, did not experience the same degree of risk.
What does that mean? Practice going back to green! Remember that green is a state of balance and steadiness. It’s where you are your healthiest and strongest.
Let’s all work on Living in Green™ as much as possible.