Ep.5/ Stress
😴Tired?
😤Easily frustrated?
😨Inability to sleep?
😵Poor concentration?
🤪Forgetful?
😖Feeling on edge?
Stress is our reaction to fear, worry, change and high demands. If left unchecked it can lead to a myriad of physical illnesses, mental health difficulties and burnout!🤒
Much of our mental anguish comes from allowing things that are outside of our control to have vast amounts of our mental capacity. When stressed our perspective lens narrows.
This can lead to situations such as an email from our manager, a difficult social interaction or even something like spilling milk can internally become a 10/10 situation 🌡. It can also lead us to shutting off from our support networks and internal resources such as our knowledgebase and resiliency.
Using Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, if we can elicit a positive emotion 🌈 in those moments, it broadens our lens. Essentially, we can not only see the situation for what it is but also become aware of novel thought processes 💡, activities and relationships.
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This then allows us to build enduring personal resources 🌱, and access our social support network, skills, resilience and knowledge.
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This leads to increased wellbeing, which produces more positive emotions and so the upward spiral continues ☀️. It is important to note this is not about #toxicpositivity (putting a smile and glitter over the top of difficult situations and emotions) but a way of using techniques to enhance self-efficacy during difficult times.
If you find you have reached a point where your #emotions are in control of you rather than you being in control of them—check in with your physical body ✔️.
Often when we are stressed, our forehead, jaw and shoulders tense.
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This sends a signal to our brain 🧠 we could be in danger which releases chemicals such as cortisol and adrenaline to ready us for fight or flight.
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This then sends a signal to the body to become tenser and this becomes a negative spiral escalating the feelings of stress and overwhelm. 🤯
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Consciously relax these areas, then take a couple of slow deep breaths 🧘🏻♂️ pulling the breath into the abdomen.
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This activates the body’s vagus nerve (part of the parasympathetic nervous system), our internal rest and reset button. 😊
Connecting with the breath and body in this way is also a fantastic way of pulling your awareness from your thoughts and into the present moment. 💛
My parting thought ‘May you have bravery to change the things you can change, the inner peace to accept the things you can not and the wisdom to know the difference.' 🙏🏻
Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). The broaden–and–build theory of positive emotions. Philosophical transactions of the royal society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 359(1449), 1367-1377.
