As I said in Part 1 of this blog series, stress is a natural part of life. We all experience it. If you think that you do not, perhaps you have a different word for it? May be instead of stress you would say you are anxious, worried, excited, challenged, driven, focused, frustrated, upset, in anticipation, overwhelmed, exhausted, tired or withdrawn. Whatever the word, my meaning of stress is that there is something in this lifestyle of yours that generates the Stress Response in you.
Are you experiencing stress?
The Stress Response is a term for a group of physiological symptoms generated when you are feeling threatened in some way. You are getting ready to fight or run away. So, you might experience quickened heart rate, dilated blood vessels and shallow breathing accompany increased levels of adrenaline and cortisol (the stress hormones). For short periods this is beneficial for your health and well- being. Long term however, and the negative impact on your immune system, mental health, quality of sleep, productivity, overall resilience, creativity, relationships and vitality are immense. Here are some of the signs to look out for that tell you that you might be experiencing stress (or whatever word you might use):
- Do you find it hard to get to sleep? If you wake up in the night, do you struggle to go back to sleep? Do you feel tired in the morning? Are you getting less than 7 hours sleep a night? If you say yes to any of these, you may well be experiencing stress. These may happen as a consequence of your stress. They may also be contributing factors to your stress. Either way, good quality sleep is essential for many reasons. If you do struggle to sleep or wake up in the night and can’t get back to sleep, this audio might be useful.
- Do you eat a lot of sugary foods or foods high in fat? Can you get through the day only if you have sugary and caffeinated drinks? Sugar, fat and caffeine interfere with your body’s natural rhythms, disrupting sleep and other natural highs and lows of your day. Many processed foods place your body under a lot of burden, damaging blood vessels, creating bloating and inflammation. Not to mention the effect of artificial chemicals in our food that poison the body and bring it into imbalance. All of this is stressful for your body and impacts on your overall ability to cope.
- Muscular Tension. Light, regular exercise and movement leave the body feeling flexible, mobile and limber. Sitting still all day, barely moving your body, makes your muscles short, tight and painful. It puts the body under a lot of stress. Think how lovely it feels to have a stretch at your desk after you’ve been working at your computer for a couple of hours. Feels great right? Also, little body movement leaves people in “their heads”. In other words, listening to the logical and rational part of the mind rather than balancing it with the instinct and intuition of which the body is a part. Muscles also become tense due to unexpressed emotion. Emotions are energy in motion. If they are not expressed, they are internalised (in muscles and internal organs), another source of stress for the body. Muscular tension from all sources pulls the body out of alignment, generating postural stress that can have long term impact such as shoulder, knee and hip replacement operations, diminished mobility, nerve damage and quality of life.
- Suppressed Emotion. Are you the type of person who never feels or expresses emotion? Or if you do it is usually fits of anger or rage? Do you have a “stiff upper lip” or are you known as the “strong one” in the family/ relationship? This can lead to a lot of stress in the body. Gabor Mate, in his book “When the Body Says No- the cost of hidden stress”, explores the impact of suppressed emotion and how it can lead to many debilitating/ life threatening diseases such as MS, ME, numerous types of cancer, motor neuron disease, IBS and more. In short, the stress on the body from unexpressed emotion is so great, it manifests over time as physical illness.
- Grinding/ clenching your teeth. This is a sure sign you are experiencing stress. If people mention that you are doing either of these, it’s a strong indicator you are stressed.
- Holding your breath. Or breathing in a shallow manner. This can be a response to stress. It can also become a habit that keeps the body in a more heightened anxious state. Learning deep breathing exercises will lower blood pressure, deactivate the stress response in the body and generally make you feel more calm, relaxed and mobile. Belissa Vranich’s book Breathe gives detailed instructions and exercises about how to breathe more effectively for better health.
- Lack of focus. The Stress Response makes you very insular. Therefore, focus on other people, projects at work, problem solving and other things that require focus just doesn’t happen. It’s your body’s way of saying “Stop paying attention to other things, I need some attention here!!!!”
- Short temper and irritability. If your body is tired and debilitated by long term exposure to the effects of the Stress Response, you have no or very little reserves in the tank for additional stress. My experience of this is that as a response to feeling powerless or out of control, we tend to lash out to protect ourselves. This is a sure sign that you are reaching the end of your tether. Consciously activating the Relaxation Response will give you more reserves to tackle any additional stress whilst keeping off “Red Alert”.
- A little worry is healthy. We can use it to assess situations and scan for trouble before the event. Anxiety takes it to another level, assessing endless scenarios without resolution. This is usually a clear sign that you are stressed. There is a much calmer life for you to enjoy beyond anxiety if you can find the ways to manage your stress.
- Feeling like life has no purpose or direction. Life without purpose has no direction. Without meaningful goals, aligned to what is most important to us (whatever that may be), life can feel pointless and meaningless. We can feel powerless and that comes with its own stress. A lack of energy, vitality, engagement, power, strength and focus. Purpose infuses our life with direction and meaning that gives momentum, energy, pace and vitality to life.
Natural Ways to manage stress
Please note, this is not an exact science. There might be many reasons why you are experiencing these symptoms. If you suspect stress at all, consult your doctor and a healthy dose of common sense and discover the ways YOU can undo the effects of stress. Rather than pop a pill which might be the easiest way to deal with it, I invite you to explore more natural ways to manage your stress. I am not a trained medical professional, so please do not take my word as gospel. However, there is something empowering about listening to your body and intuition and finding the right answer for you. Managing the stress is the key. I discuss some of the strategies I have discovered on my travels with stress in Part 3.
Over to You
Do you notice that you often do not sleep well? Perhaps you sleep very soundly. Or maybe you are affected by someone who has disturbed sleep? Are there parts of your body that get very tight? Is that due to lack of movement, emotional stress, worry, anxiety or body misalignment? Or is your body limber, relaxed and agile? Would you say you were an emotional eater? Do you find it hard to focus? Or do you have laser- type focus and excellent concentration? Are you more irritable than you used to be? Perhaps you are more calm and unflappable than ever before?
Do you feel lost in your life and feel life is getting smaller? Or is your life expanding and you are discovering new horizons? I’d love to hear your experiences and grow this body of wisdom in the Potentiality Coaching community. Please share in the comment box below or on social media. Thank you.
Pass it On
If what I have been talking about sounds like someone you know, why no forward this blog to them and ask them to give it a read. It might be the turning point for them to start listening to their body and recognise the signs that stress is present. It’s so easy to deal with. Awareness is the first step. The next is action. See you next time for Part 3.