Dealing with daily stressors and working through life’s challenges can consume our attention and impact our mental and physical well-being. According the American Institute for Stress 73% of us say that stress effects our mental health and 77% of us experience stress that effects our physical health.

Why does stress impact our health?

The reason why stress has become such a problem for our health is that the brain cannot tell the difference between the truth and a lie. Whether you have a tiger in front of you and feel your life is threatened, or you are worried about not being able to pay rent, the stress response is the same in your body. It is not life itself that causes our stress, but our thoughts about the situations we live through or could potentially live in the future that cause us stress. There is so much going on in our lives on a regular basis, that we have come to live in fight-or-flight mode almost perpetually.

Our body suffers greatly every time we have a stressful thought, whether we are aware of it or not. Anytime your sympathetic system is activated, you turn on your fight, flight, flee response, your body is affected, and thus your health. Stress has the power of inhibiting the efficacy of your immune system, so it becomes compromised when you not only feel under a lot of stress, but also when you simply experience some stressful thoughts. When your fight, flight, flee mode is on, your immune system does not work properly because the “safe mode” mechanism has been activated. The body enters into an emergency mode as a response to the stressful thought (i.e., the stimulus), and so it prioritizes saving your life instead of protecting you against disease. We are all faced with inner and outer conflict, and unless we learn how to identify the root cause and shift our response, it can begin to overwhelm us. If can achieve less stress or find ways to strengthen or shift our stress response, it allows our body to experience it’s preferred rest-and-digest state. When our body feels safe and less stressed, we experience greater well-being.

In order to overcome the health effects stemming from stress, it is important to learn -

what we can and cannot control in a situation,
when and how to ask for help,
how our own life circumstances and experiences influence our stress response, and
how to apply evidence-based tools and strategies to help strengthen our stress response.

I invite you to take a moment now to think about one stressor in your life right now? How have you dealt with it? Try to journal about ways you can shift your perspective and adopt a new response or strategy to deal with one of your stressors in a healthy way.

It is important that you identify the biggest stressors in your life: people, places, things - being aware of this allows you to take charge of it. Stress can lead to unhealthy behavior, and so it is important to acknowledge it and find a way to manage it. Many people end up eating junk or overeating when they are under stress, but this may happen when they do not do anything to handle stress properly. As you can see, it is essential to find a way to channel the pressure you may be feeling or the uncomfortable feelings you may be having due to a situation, so that you do not sabotage your effort to become healthier. A healthy way to deal with stress is to actually deal with it, instead of simply ignoring it or trying to bury it down. Developing a daily practice or routine that allows you to release stress is an ideal way to avoid bottling up to the point of explosion, and to find balance in your daily life.

One simple stress management technique to practice of deep breathing. You can start by simply sitting or lying down and placing a hand on your belly. Close your eyes and take deep breaths through your nose and allowing the air to fill up your abdomen. You should notice that your breath is causing your belly to rise and fall as opposed to your chest. As you focus on your breathing, gently notice any thoughts that arise and let them go. Continue to focus on your breath. You can start with just 10 seconds and then extend this mindfulness practice for several minutes. After completing a breathing exercise like this, pay attention to how you feel after. Be mindful of changes or physical sensations in the body. You may also experience a shift in your awareness, energy levels, or your ability to focus.

I want to encourage you that, with practice, you have a lot of power to help your mind and body and become more resilient to stress and the effects of stress.

If you are ready to deepen your mindfulness practice, you can partner with a True Living coach to address your personal and professional goals for health, leadership, and growth.