Kristin I know you’re probably sick of hearing about stress.
But whether you’re sick of hearing about it –or denying you have it– the fact is that it doesn’t care. It’s still going to wreak havoc on your body unless you do something about it.
And even if you believe you have great stress management tools in an on-going and afterwards way –like a regular yoga or trail running practice, or meditation and prayer every morning– the truth is that unless you can interrupt your body’s response to stress as it happens, in-the-moment and on-the-fly, your body is going to continue to react in the way it knows how.
And that’s this:
The tools I teach help you interrupt the stress response as it happens. So you can choose a different response before you do something stupid. Or careless. Or reactive.
You can be physiologically experiencing stress yet mentally numb to it because you’ve become so accustomed to it. Especially over the past two years, have you become so adapted to the daily pressures, irritations and annoyances of life that it all seems normal? This is exactly when it becomes the biggest problem. You THINK you’re handling it okay because you’re numb to it. But this is exactly when it’s at its most dangerous.
Think about your response to the most recent shootings. Did you let them go by without doing more than flinch and mutter under your breath that the world is a mess?
All these big and small stresses accumulate quickly and you may not realize how much they’re impairing your mental and emotional clarity and your overall health until it shows up as a bad decision, an overreaction or –an unwanted diagnosis at the doctor’s office!!
When the natural stress response goes wild*
The body’s stress response system is usually self-limiting. Once a perceived threat has passed, hormone levels return to normal. As adrenaline and cortisol levels drop, your heart rate and blood pressure return to baseline levels, and other systems resume their regular activities.
But when stressors are always present and you constantly feel under attack, that fight-or-flight reaction stays turned on.
The long-term activation of the stress response system and the overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones that follows can disrupt almost all your body’s processes. This puts you at increased risk of many health problems, including:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Digestive problems
- Headaches
- Muscle tension and pain
- Heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure and stroke
- Sleep problems
- Weight gain
- Memory and concentration impairment
*https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037
The Importance of Coping with Stressors
That’s why it’s so important to learn healthy ways to cope with your life stressors as they happen, in-the-moment and on-the-fly.
I can help.
This Zoom Masterclass — Transform Stress– is the first step. And it’s FREE.
Join me this Sunday at noon.
