Stress can't be escaped in our everyday lives and gets a pretty bad wrap because of how it manifests in our bodies. There are lots of moving parts involved so we have dedicated a short series to unpacking the layers of this well known, but often misunderstood experience. Building resilience to managing stress is invaluable.
Stress is the reaction of our bodies to physical, emotional, or psychological changes within our environment or our body. Stress can range from normal and harmless, to very intense and damaging. It can greatly influence things like our mental and physical health — long term stress plays a large role in a multitude of ailments like heart disease, depression, and even cancer.
About the physical stress response
Our “fight, flight, or freeze” response kicks in when we encounter a stressful situation and our bodies release a flood of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Our bodies have been doing this since cavemen needed to respond to various dangers. Physical responses help you to stay focused and alert until things are under control.
But in this world where we spend more time at a desk than we do evading prehistoric predators, sometimes these stress responses can do us more harm than good. When this stress response compounds over time unresolved it can take a toll on our physical and emotional health.
Ways to manage stress
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Take a break: A fully packed schedule makes anyone feel stressed. Schedule regular breaks into your day. Carve that time out and be disciplined with it: Take a quick walk, get some fresh air, take your shoes off for a minute and connect with the ground (“earthing” is literally grounding.)
Talk to someone you trust: Sometimes just getting your stresses out of your head can be enormously helpful. Whether its with a professional, colleague, family member or friend.
Brain dump into a thought diary (physical or phone notes). Similar to talking, this process transfers the stress out of your head. |
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When we manage stress well, we are resilient against unexpected changes in life, but when we manage stress poorly, we are vulnerable to distress, disease, and unhappiness.
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