Dealing with Stress and Why it Can be Good for You!
Our everyday lives are super hectic, and as we deal with meeting after meeting, and the demands of home life we can quickly find ourselves feeling stressed. We are constantly putting pressure on ourselves to achieve it all, and we’re burning out quicker than ever.
Stress is an Important Bodily Function
You may have heard of the ‘fight or flight’ response which is our way of dealing with stressful situations. Depending on the situation, we may decide to use the adrenaline we receive to face the problem, or in other cases it is better to run away for example when we are alone at night in a dangerous location.
Although we try to control our stress response to deal with our daily lives, it is important to try to listen to what our instincts are telling us and understand why we are feeling the way we do. Stress is a physical response and you can experience faster heart rate, sweaty hands, but these physical responses help send more oxygen to your brain and prepare your body to react to situations. By taking time to analyze our stress response, we can use it to our advantage!
Harness Your Stress Response
The truth is, there is no such thing as ‘bad’ or ‘good’ stress, the only difference between the stress we feel while planning an important event versus when we receive bad news is simply our response to it. If we allow things to overwhelm us then they will, especially when we view stress as a negative. If we reframe how we think of stress so that even in bad times we use the additional focus and energy we receive into something productive, we can achieve amazing things!
Top Tips for Managing Stress
Stress can be managed in many ways, sometimes all we need is to refocus:
- Don’t try and change things you can’t control
- Eat right, stay hydrated, and get enough sleep!
- Make time for you and things you enjoy
- Walking breathing exercises and meditation can help relieve high stress
- Moderate levels of stress are good for us, so try and monitor your stress levels to maintain a healthy level of stress
Read All About It
Find out more about the benefits of stress from the book 'The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal PH.D.' the ultimate guide on how to use stress to your advantage!