Stress is not Bad
Many people would comment that I did not understand their stress levels because I had not walked in their shoes. We all have stress! Stress can help you meet daily challenges and can motivate you to reach your goals. It can help you accomplish tasks more efficiently. Stress is also a vital warning system, produced by your “always on Guard Duty - Amygdala” portion of your brain. It exists in all your senses and is your fight-or-flight response. Those responses that you feel when stressed are initially designed to protect you, whether it’s from injury or another perceived threat.
Prolonged stress or chronic stress is the bad type. It can dominate your thoughts day in and day out. It can also do a number on your body, causing anxiety, tiredness, high blood pressure, depression, etc.
Good Stress can produce:
Better brain performance likely explains why many people, including myself, work better when under stress.
Fight illness - low doses of the stress hormone also helps protect from infections. Moderate stress stimulates the production of a chemical called interleukins and gives the immune system a quick boost to protect against illnesses — unlike its evil twin, chronic stress, which lowers immunity and increases inflammation.
Resiliency - as you confront different situations and overcome various problems, you train yourself to deal with similar incidents in the future.
Increased Senses - produce a laser-like focus so you can avoid physically stressful situations — such as jumping away from a moving car.
Of course, when you are overly stressed there are many conditions that are not good. So, what do you do when that is the case? My programs of (Mindfulness and Meditation) allow you to ID and turn down stressors in the moment and then train you to address those stress causes to keep them in the good range. Here are some tips you can do on your own:
Be aware of the emotions/stressors – don’t suppress them but give yourself permission to be human. Name them and tell yourself you are normal.
Experience the experience, look at the emotion with friendly curiosity – what are the causes behind the symptoms? What are some of the solutions?
Break it down into scheduled actions, focusing on the present and working with/examining each issue.
Set SMART Goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time phased) goals to health and monitor them regularly.
Take time to be with others - Social interaction is the number one contributor to happiness.
One definition of stress is ‘expectations regarding demands’. Look at your expectations and then give me a call to discuss. Chronic stress has both a mind/body connection that is not healthy.
