What Is Stress?

What is stress? This is a question that more and more people are asking in these modern times. We know that our lives are becoming increasingly stressful and we are constantly hearing about people who are sick or disabled by the effects of stress. But what is stress exactly, and why does it seem to cause so many more problems now than in the past?

One of the reasons that we hear a lot more about stress these days is that it is a modern term. The use of the word stress in psychology and biology only dates back to the 1930s. Before that, it was only applied to physics and engineering. So that is why we do not see the word appearing in literature from one hundred years ago or more.

Stress is defined as an inappropriate response in the body to any kind of demand. So technically, stress is not the situation, but our response to it. The situation or demand causing the stress is called the stressor.

The first effects of stress on the body are similar to those felt in times of danger. The heart rate will tend to increase, adrenalin begins to surge through our system and the body prepares for a ‘fight or flight’ response to the danger.

However, in our modern lives, it is not usually possible to respond in these ways. If your boss dumps yet another 100 page report on your desk asking for a summary before lunchtime, you may be tempted to either hit him or run from the office (the two responses that your body is preparing you for) but you probably will not do either one.

The result is that the adrenalin has nothing to do, and instead of being used for its designed purpose it continues to circulate around the body for much longer than it should. That is why stress is called an inappropriate response: we don’t need all of that adrenalin to handle our boss.

As well as obviously stressful situations like that, there are many other stressors in our lives that we don’t even notice. Noise is one example. Conflict is another. These are things that we may be used to or even enjoy, but in primitive terms they were usually associated with danger and so our bodies will be preparing for the classic ‘fight or flight’ action.

The physical result of living like this is that we may have high levels of adrenalin circulating in the body all of the time. This can lead to many of the physical effects of stress, from headaches through chest pains, digestive disorders through serious illnesses.

What is stress on a psychological level? It means that we live most of our lives feeling slightly worried with moments of severe anxiety. It is common to suffer from insomnia, depression, irritability, mood swings, and more.

We may withdraw from friends and family, neglect our responsibilities, procrastinate, and become more dependent on substances like alcohol, cigarettes or drugs (prescribed or recreational). Eating habits are also likely to change: some people eat more, others eat less, but most people will either lose or gain weight when under stress.

Clearly, many of these effects can cause stress in themselves. Withdrawing from friends makes us feel more isolated and depressed. Neglecting our work leads to anxiety about job security. So we can easily find ourselves in a vicious circle. To break out of the circle it is not enough to know what is stress: we also need to know how to deal with it.

Top 3 Ways To Relieve Stress

It can be hard to think of any effective ways to relieve stress when you are in the grip of the negative feelings that stress causes. Whether you are depressed, panicky or feeling that you cannot cope, you need a way out and you need it fast.

Stress is a physical reaction to a threatening situation. At the beginning of our history, we needed it to prompt us to flee or fight when we were in physical danger. Now we feel stress in situations where running away or punching somebody are not usually good options. We need other options, or the stress will go on bugging us until it causes real damage.

So below you will find my top 3 ways to relieve stress. But before we begin, let’s just remember that reading them is not enough! You need to actually do them to have any effect on your stress levels. So pick one and start right now!

1. Relax

It may seem impossible to do when you are stressed, but regular use of relaxation techniques is one of the best ways to manage the stress of our modern lives. Take time out at least three times a week to relax with meditation, yoga, a binaural beat soundtrack, guided visualization or a positive form of prayer (not a list of your faults!)

Relaxation techniques like these will make you feel better right away. More importantly, they will also reduce your tendency to react to stress in your life in the future, if practiced regularly. They will also help you to sleep, which is often an issue for people who are suffering from stress and looking for ways to relieve stress.

2. Establish Healthy Habits

If you are in the habit of reaching for cookies, chocolate, beer, cigarettes or even coffee when you are stressed, it’s worth trying to change. Sure, when you are under a lot of pressure it may not be the best time to try to quit those bad habits completely, but do try to reduce your dependence on them instead of increasing it.

All of those substances will make you feel less than your best physically. They are a drain on the body’s resources. However good they may make you feel for a few minutes or seconds, the truth is that they are the last thing you need when you are looking for ways to relieve stress.

Instead, eat a balanced diet, drink water when you are thirsty, and take a warm bath or go for a walk or run instead of reaching for your usual stimulants. Playing with a child or a pet can be a great stress reliever too.

3. Realistic Scheduling

Plan your day, but don’t plan more into your day than a person can realistically do. If you are making to-do lists at work, keep the list short. Keep in mind that most of the things will take at least twice as long as you expect, plus you need breaks.

If you can come out with a well balanced, realistic plan for your day, you have a good chance of doing everything that you planned. This will give you a sense of achievement and will mean that you can relax at the end of the day. In fact, it is one of the best ways to relieve stress.

Trying to lose weight but having craving issues?

So you’re doing your best to lose weight, sticking to a good eating plan, exercising and then along comes that CRAVING for your comfort food of choice… what do you do?

Have you been able to notice a pattern between your feelings and the types of food you are craving?  Something I’ve been doing of late – which seems to be making quite a difference – is to ensure that I’m getting enough sleep AND I quit drinking coffee! 

When the afternoon energy drop hits, I have a large mug of Egyptian Licorice (if you don’t like licorice, perhaps you could try another sweet tasting herbal tea) after a 10-15 minute meditation… this gives me the energy boost I need and the great thing is that I don’t have that energy crash that we can get after having sugar.

By allowing access to the emotional and energy requirements of my body, I’ve cut way back on my snacking and oddly enough, my cravings have reduced markedly.

If you have not been able to connect your cravings to your emotions – let me know, there’s some tools and techniques I have that might help!

What Do YOU Think About Drastic Measures for Weight Loss?

I was chatting to someone recently about weight loss ideas and strategies and she asked me what my thoughts were on bariatric surgery…  I have to be totally honest with you here – the idea of surgery for weight loss horrifies me, in fact I know a number of people who’ve done it and they’ve gained a large portion of the weight back again.

So – here’s why I’m opposed to body weight being surgically removed (or having how much you can eat surgically manipulated)… if you don’t deal with the emotional issues about your body image and don’t change your mindset – I believe that your pretty much guaranteed to have the weight come back on.  
Maybe you won’t – but these problems or issues WILL show up in some other way… perhaps binging in another way such as shopping, hoarding, sex, etc.

I firmly believe that the ONLY way to live a healthy balanced life is to treat all aspects of what you need in life with honor and respect. By that I mean nurturing your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs.
Physical – nutrition, exercise, etc. Emotional – journaling, self-expression, etc. Mental – reading, inner dialogue (how you talk to yourself!), etc. and Spiritual – meditating, visualizing, feeling connected.

Quick fixes may get you where you THINK you want to be, but unless you adopt a holistic approach and realize that a healthy body is NOT a destination, rather – this body of yours is a sacred vessel which allows you to truly deeply enjoy your life experience… this is it, the journey is the gift.

Using the power of words to feel good!

I just got back from a lunch date with a friend whom I had not seen for many years… we had some really great conversations about how we each help clients in a similar way (reminds me of a quote “same same – but different!”).

Part of our conversation was around reframing the idea of having to do something to choosing to do it!

Think about it – how do YOU feel when you have to do something… for me, that energy feels heavy, like a burden – taking away my power of choice and feeling of being in control of what I do.

And yet – when I choose to do something… the energy is much lighter, life affirming and fun – because I’ve taken control and got my eye on what the end result is going to be.

This idea relates to pretty much any part of your life… but let’s look at exercise as an example of something that you may be struggling with doing.  Do you try to exercise from the viewpoint that you have to exercise in order to lose weight (or just maintain a healthy body)?

Would you be willing to start shifting that focus to be that you choose to exercise and move your body on fun ways so you can feel healthy and happy?

I’d love for you to try this out for yourself and let me know how it feels for you!

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