Reclaim ResilienceStrategies for Less Stress
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We all know that chronic stress can cause all kinds of problems in our lives. Among all the contributors to poor health, stress is perhaps the most harmful. While the stress response may have helped our earliest ancestors to manage the very real threats they encountered moment by moment, today these stress reactions are evoked far too often, reducing our ability to turn them off.
This constant barrage of stress hormones can have serious consequences, such as:
What is Stress?
Stress is the body's reaction to a lack of equilibrium, harmful situations or stressors - be they real or perceived. When you feel threatened, a chemical reaction occurs in your body that primes your system to protect you from injury. This stress response, known as "fight-or-flight,” is marked by a faster heart rate and breathing, a rise in blood pressure, temporarily suppressed immune function and tightened muscles. You’re ready to take action!
Each person interprets potential stressors differently. For example, emergencies may upset an untrained person, but be taken in stride by an EMT. Someone not accustomed to working with young children may lack the patience that an experienced kindergarten teacher has acquired. And remember, not all stress is problematic. In the right dose, positive stress or ‘eustress’ can propel you to accomplish a task or goal, or even help you avoid a car accident. Our bodies are designed to handle small doses of stress, but unchecked, chronic stress carries consequences.
How Stress Affects Your Body
There are different types of stress and not all stress is harmful for you. Eustress is a positive, short-term stress that provides strength, motivation, enthusiasm and creativity. An athlete experiences eustress during a workout or prior to competition. If these short bursts become prolonged, they can develop into other forms of stress. Distress is a negative stress resulting from constant adjustments to one's routine, often creating feelings of discomfort or insecurity.
Two other categories of stress are Hyperstress and Hypostress. As the names imply, Hyperstress results from being overloaded or pushed beyond what one can handle. Hypostress occurs when an individual is bored, unchallenged, restless and uninspired. A worker who performs repetitive tasks or a person who lacks the confidence or growth mindset to stretch beyond their comfort zone might experience hypostress. While not generally considered harmful in the short term, it can cause significant discontent and health issues if it persists for too long.
Stress can be acute (intense and quick to arrive/retreat) or chronic (lasting weeks, months or years). Both acute and chronic stress can negatively impact one’s health, physically, mentally and emotionally. Under chronic stress, your immune system becomes desensitized to cortisol. Because inflammation is partly regulated by this hormone, this decreased sensitivity amplifies the inflammatory response which can put you at greater risk for many diseases. Elevated cortisol can also impact memory through loss of prefrontal cortex synapses and may even trigger dementia. Because it is potentially harmful, it is important to self-monitor and identify strategies to reduce and manage distress.
What can I do?
Since each person is impacted by and responds differently to stressors in his or her life, crafting your own unique recipe for managing stress can make all the difference. We hear much today about developing resilience, but how do we do that?
Resilience is not a trait that some people either have or don't have. Resilience behaviors, thoughts and actions can be developed by anyone. Resilience is a lifelong process of healthy adaptation to stressful life challenges. It's about learning to bounce back from and even grow through difficult experiences. Research has shown that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary. We all must adopt strategies as we develop along the path of our lives. Even babies demonstrate resilience.
Throughout the past 20 years, I have learned a great deal about stress and resilience. From both professional experiences and personal triumphs, I have accumulated a toolbox of strategies. Since there is no one-size-fits-all in human growth, each person's stress toolbox will be unique to them. I am developing a self-paced program (that can be completed in 6 to 12 weeks) that helps you to assemble best strategies into your own personal Resilience Recipe.
Your Resilience Recipe
As a health coach, I have been privileged to guide thousands of people to better health. Along the way, I have had a front row seat to the sabotage and relapse that can happen when stressful circumstances threaten new lifestyles. Without a proper toolbox, their home's new foundation often lacks structural integrity.
In the Resilience Recipe Program, you will have access to all my best stress management and resilience tools, and also to my committed coaching guidance in choosing the tools that belong in Your Box. Weekly coaching sessions or chats are included to support you as you learn, choose and apply your new tools.
Contact me by clicking here.
This constant barrage of stress hormones can have serious consequences, such as:
- Added weight and belly fat, increasing CVD risk
- Depression and anxiety
- Low Energy
- Diabetes
- Hypertension
- Memory Problems
- Frequent Headaches
- Gastrointestinal distress like GERD, poor appetite
- Infertility
- Feelings of agitation, frustration or overwhelm
- Low self-esteem, Isolation
- Muscle tension
- Trembling, tinnitus, bruxism
- Fidgeting, pacing, nail biting
- Substance abuse
What is Stress?
Stress is the body's reaction to a lack of equilibrium, harmful situations or stressors - be they real or perceived. When you feel threatened, a chemical reaction occurs in your body that primes your system to protect you from injury. This stress response, known as "fight-or-flight,” is marked by a faster heart rate and breathing, a rise in blood pressure, temporarily suppressed immune function and tightened muscles. You’re ready to take action!
Each person interprets potential stressors differently. For example, emergencies may upset an untrained person, but be taken in stride by an EMT. Someone not accustomed to working with young children may lack the patience that an experienced kindergarten teacher has acquired. And remember, not all stress is problematic. In the right dose, positive stress or ‘eustress’ can propel you to accomplish a task or goal, or even help you avoid a car accident. Our bodies are designed to handle small doses of stress, but unchecked, chronic stress carries consequences.
How Stress Affects Your Body
There are different types of stress and not all stress is harmful for you. Eustress is a positive, short-term stress that provides strength, motivation, enthusiasm and creativity. An athlete experiences eustress during a workout or prior to competition. If these short bursts become prolonged, they can develop into other forms of stress. Distress is a negative stress resulting from constant adjustments to one's routine, often creating feelings of discomfort or insecurity.
Two other categories of stress are Hyperstress and Hypostress. As the names imply, Hyperstress results from being overloaded or pushed beyond what one can handle. Hypostress occurs when an individual is bored, unchallenged, restless and uninspired. A worker who performs repetitive tasks or a person who lacks the confidence or growth mindset to stretch beyond their comfort zone might experience hypostress. While not generally considered harmful in the short term, it can cause significant discontent and health issues if it persists for too long.
Stress can be acute (intense and quick to arrive/retreat) or chronic (lasting weeks, months or years). Both acute and chronic stress can negatively impact one’s health, physically, mentally and emotionally. Under chronic stress, your immune system becomes desensitized to cortisol. Because inflammation is partly regulated by this hormone, this decreased sensitivity amplifies the inflammatory response which can put you at greater risk for many diseases. Elevated cortisol can also impact memory through loss of prefrontal cortex synapses and may even trigger dementia. Because it is potentially harmful, it is important to self-monitor and identify strategies to reduce and manage distress.
What can I do?
Since each person is impacted by and responds differently to stressors in his or her life, crafting your own unique recipe for managing stress can make all the difference. We hear much today about developing resilience, but how do we do that?
Resilience is not a trait that some people either have or don't have. Resilience behaviors, thoughts and actions can be developed by anyone. Resilience is a lifelong process of healthy adaptation to stressful life challenges. It's about learning to bounce back from and even grow through difficult experiences. Research has shown that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary. We all must adopt strategies as we develop along the path of our lives. Even babies demonstrate resilience.
Throughout the past 20 years, I have learned a great deal about stress and resilience. From both professional experiences and personal triumphs, I have accumulated a toolbox of strategies. Since there is no one-size-fits-all in human growth, each person's stress toolbox will be unique to them. I am developing a self-paced program (that can be completed in 6 to 12 weeks) that helps you to assemble best strategies into your own personal Resilience Recipe.
Your Resilience Recipe
As a health coach, I have been privileged to guide thousands of people to better health. Along the way, I have had a front row seat to the sabotage and relapse that can happen when stressful circumstances threaten new lifestyles. Without a proper toolbox, their home's new foundation often lacks structural integrity.
In the Resilience Recipe Program, you will have access to all my best stress management and resilience tools, and also to my committed coaching guidance in choosing the tools that belong in Your Box. Weekly coaching sessions or chats are included to support you as you learn, choose and apply your new tools.
Contact me by clicking here.
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