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Is it okay to have stress, outside of exercising? If stress is a good thing, where do we draw the line?
Mattaroni wrote about that here: http://180degreehealth.com/2013/01/healthy-stress-health-benefits-of-acute-stress
The idea of hormesis, that acute stress can prompt beneficial adaptation, applies not just to exercise.
Chronic stress if likely more problematic, though it can vary. Partly it depends on how ‘stressful’ the activity is perceived. Climbing a mountain can be awful for one person, and awesome for another, even if it’s the same physical challenge.
I don’t see how climbing a mountain can be awful for one and not the other. Then I would think I you could say the same about labor then? It’s so painful, but in the end it was worth it for some and not the others?
The reaction to a stressor was meant to be a short term response. Like in the animal kingdom, either you escaped from the lion, or you became lunch. The zebra would be stressed for that short time, and then go back to normal. But for humans, it’s rarely a short experience. Many people suffer from chronic stress. AND, the things that humans allow to stress them (stressors) are mostly imaginary and created: like traffic, being overly busy, relationship problems.
Oftentimes, the reaction to stress is a lot worse than the original stressor itself.
Bottom line is; don’t let unimportant things get to the point where they are stressful! “Pick your battles”, and learn how to lower the volume on what you allow to stress you!
Is it fair to compare us to the animal kingdom? We live in very different environments. Kids in elementary schools are using kindles, and baby bears are learning how to hunt for fish. Why not compare us to to our ancestors who lived 200 years ago, or for that matter 50 years ago?
I do believe people get stressed about ridiculous things, and then get diagnosed with bipolar or manic is just even crazier. How do you tell people to just get over it, and quit complaining about something that isn’t going to matter in a month?Kelly- although our lives are very different from our animal cousins, our bodies respond to stress in the same way! Read Robert Sapolsky’s book: “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers”- and see photos of stressed out baboons with belly fat!
Dealing with stress and relieving is a practice – and there are many effective tools that can stop the habitual reaction to a stressor. I use EFT tapping, HeartMath and Buteyko breathing. Using my Emwave, which is a biofeedback type of tool, has shown me how I’m actually able to retrain my body. It has really helped me.I had to look all that up on the internet. Do you think tapping really helps, or does it just get your mind off what your focusing on and directs it onto something else?
Kelly – I KNOW EFT works. It’s worked on me multiple times. It’s just so amazing that people can’t believe it works so easily! It even works on animals. There are some tricks to make it work best though… But basically, it can work quickly, or be a little illusive until you get through a number of sessions.
Probably yeah- childbirth seems a good example. Unquestionably worth it for some, unfathomable to others.
As Lianda alluded to, there’s a difference between the stress event and how we respond to it. We seems to have some measure of agency in responding though, so it makes sense to me to leverage that however we can so that stress events don’t impact us (as) harshly.
I have tried EFT tapping, with mixed results. It’s probably helpful, but the most important thing for me has been eating. Seriously. When I start to get agitated or cranky or stressed out, almost always I haven’t had enough food.
Having easy, tasty food near me is the biggest anti-stress intervention I can take.
Also, moving around. Playing basketball, lifting weights, dropping and doing 20 push ups. Something.
It depends on the sort of stress I’m facing, but those are fundamentally helpful for maintaining my well being.
And I guess for specific stressful events that I anticipate, mindfulness and putting my story in a bigger context is helpful. I think of a few quotes:
– “All suffering is bearable if it is seen as art of a story.”
– “This too, shall pass.”
– “For everything, there is a season.”Probably the most important way to start stress relief is to get “centered”. Emotionally, mindfully and physically realizing that you are “safe” is the bottom line for stress relief.
Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” explains that we cannot move up the triangle towards self-actualization until our basic foundational need for safety is realized. So mindful attention to the present, and feeling safe would be way to start any practice.
All energy medicine techniques will work better with this beginning step.
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