Stress…. the good, the bad & the ugly & What we can do about it !!!!
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We see lots about stress and it leading to anxiety issues and in today’s fast pace world and social media driven culture we are struggling as a society with stress in general
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Stress is either short or long term and to a degree can be a good thing
– in hunter gatherer times if we saw a sabre toothed tiger it is a good idea to have a bit of stress which triggers cortisol and fight or flight state to help us react to danger
BUT
In today’s world many people are reacting in the fight or flight response to everything from social media posts, financial , stress, relationship stress, etc etc which is leading to a constant state of stress.
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What can happen with long term stress ?
1. impaired immune function – being in a long term sympathetic nervous state with elevated cortisol levels reduce our defences to disease and infection
2. mood changes – when we are stressed and live in tunnel vision our mood often isn’t a supportive one and without being relaxed t is hard to have perspective on events and easy to be reactive and live in a state of constant threat.
3. poor sleep – when stressed and worried and a busy brain it can affect our sleep which can further lead top more stress and / anxiety and even more affect on mood and well being
4. poor mental performance – brain fog, lack of clarity, responding inappropriately to events when stressed
5. poor digestion – stress hampers digestion and we can get all sorts of issues from the from indigestion, acid reflux, lack of acid production, and constipation.
6. reduced physical performance – recovery is hampered significantly with long term stress and strength levels and endurance can be affected too.
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How can we affect our stress levels & reaction to stress ??
Firstly we need to consider us getting stressed is OUR reaction to external circumstances.
So it is crucially important that we recognise we have a CHOICE how we respond to external events !!
If you are owning YOUR response to external events you have a chance to control how stressed you are getting !!!
To help us relax and reduce stress there are some daily practices that can help our overall stress levels.
1. meditation
2. deep breathing exercises
3. regular exercise
4. herbs like valerian and enough magnesium in the diet.
5. daily journalling
6. daily gratitude and writing down the wins from the day
7. reducing social media time
8. stop comparing yourself to others
9. read the book by Byron katie called “loving what is” which will help you question your thoughts.
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Life will throw curve balls, stressful events at you which is as sure as death & taxes but if we can do the daily practices that help us respond with ability and choice to them we can be the author of the response rather than a victim who feels helpless.
Remember we can change how we look at things and often that changes how we feel about the event / person / circumstance.
If you get a different perspective it is amazing how it can appear, sometimes a friend, colleague, mentor or coach can help give you the perspective and clarity on things which can reduce the impact of certain situations through quality questions, eg
1. what can i learn from this ?
2. how can this serve me ?
3. what could i have done different ?
4. in a year from now when i look back at this will it matter ?
5. Is this true ( though i am having ) ?
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I hope in some way this may help and maybe give you one idea that may help you if suffering from stress and any form of anxiety.