Feature The stress advantage
Learning to manage your stress can be a source of positivity, says Liggy Webb
many diseases and his theories have rapidly become a popular way of explaining patterns of illness. He pioneered the way forward in recognising that it isn’t stress that kills us but our reaction to it. It is useful, therefore, to ask yourself a few challenging questions from time to time. Here are some that can help you positively review your approach to potential stress overload:
What are you telling yourself about your situation? In the words of Shakespeare: “Nothing is good or bad, only thinking makes it so!” One of the best ways to tackle stress is
to address your thoughts and what you are feeding them with.
When the subconscious mind is told something by the conscious mind, it doesn’t distinguish between what is real and what is artificial. It will believe whatever you tell it. There is a huge benefit to nourishing your mind with a positive and helpful vocabulary!
connotation attached to stress, with many people in pursuit of a stress-free life. This type of existence, however, is unrealistic because a certain level of stress is a prerequisite for actually staying alive. Stress in your life is indeed a necessity and can, if you allow it, be used to your advantage. Without any stress, our bodies and minds simply wouldn’t be able to perform. It is important to remember that stress isn’t bad or good. It is a natural physiological and psychological reaction to a change to the body or the circumstances surrounding it. It is your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand or pressure. It can be caused by both
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Are you a perpetual people pleaser? Sometimes it is hard to say no, especially if you want to be helpful or you don’t like to let people down. It is important to remember that you don’t have a bottomless pit of energy and it is essential for your own wellbeing that you don’t take on more than you can do.
et’s face it: if stress were a person, it probably wouldn’t receive many party invitations! More often than not, there seems to be such a negative
positive and negative experiences. When faced with a situation that makes
you stressed, your body releases chemicals, including cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline. These chemicals essentially give you more energy, strength and focus. Reining your stress and riding it to your advantage is fundamental to achieving optimum personal performance. There are indeed many ways that we can learn to positively manage our responses to stress in our lives.
I have long been interested in the work of the pioneering Hungarian endocrinologist Hans Selye, who studied medicine related to the endocrine system, which controls hormones. The term ‘stress’, as it is currently used, was coined by Selye in 1936, who defined it as “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change”. Through his research he suggested that the failure to cope effectively with stress might explain the appearance of
Are you an emotional hoarder? Learning to let go of the past or things that you fear may happen in the future is a big help when managing stress. We cannot change the past and we cannot control the future. What we can do is deal mindfully with the here and now, and learn to slow down and release unhelpful emotional clutter. n
Author
Liggy Webb is a best-selling author and international consultant specialising in behavioural change. She is also the founding director of The Learning Architect, an international consortium of behavioural skills specialists.
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