Have you ever wondered what happens in your body when you are feeling stressed?

What causes the emotion of stress?

You may have heard about a concept called the “Fight or Flight Response.”  This is the response your body creates in order to protect you from stress.  Your primitive human brain interprets stress as danger.  The Fight of Flight Response protects you from danger.  You are either going fight this source of danger or you are going to run away.

Your brain creates a stress response in order to prepare all systems in your body to successfully overcome whatever source of danger comes into your path.

During this stress response, a hormone called Cortisol is produced in your body.

Cortisol is called “stress” or “fight or flight” hormone and is released when we anticipate pain.

Cortisol helps prepare your muscles to have great strength and agility to fight off or run away from a source of danger.  It also shuts down other “non-essential” functions (like digestion) within the other systems of your body in order to preserve the most energy.

The stress response is designed to be a short term solution to get you out of a dangerous situation.

This is great if an animal is chasing you, but a problem arises in today’s world because we often are not experiencing eminent danger when our stress response kicks in.   We live in a constant state of stress due to work deadlines, family demands, and the uncertainty of a year experiencing a global pandemic.

The stress response kicks in, but doesn’t go away for days, months, or years.  Living under a constant state of stress is having detrimental effects on our bodies and overall wellbeing.

If you can recognize that your brain is releasing cortisol because it feels a threat AND that this threat is not going to kill you, you can move past it. Managing your stress in an effective way will help you overcome the effects of cortisol and help you take control over your stress response.

How to Manage Your Stress

Recognize the Source

Recognizing the source of your stress is a key component to overcoming its effects.  When you realize you are experiencing your stress response (increase heart rate and breathing rate, feelings of anxiety, etc.), take a moment to ask yourself, “What is the source of my stress?”

Is it that you are running late to pick up your kids from school and now you’re stuck in a traffic jam?  Is it that your monthly income has been cut in half since losing your job and you’re worried about paying the rent?  Is it that you angry with your significant other for leaving their dishes out on the table again?

Identify your source of stress and decide if it is real danger or not.

Breathe

Take a few deep breaths, in and out, to slow your heart rate down.

Adrenaline produced in the stress response raises your heart rate to pump more blood throughout your body.  When you are experiencing a stressor that doesn’t require you to physically run away, the elevated heart rate is not helpful.

Try this exercise: Inhale for four seconds.  Hold the breath for two seconds.  Exhale for five seconds.  Repeat five times.

When you slow your breathing and heart rate, you can think more clearly about your next course of action.

Think Intentionally

Be intentional with your thoughts to help you overcome your stress response.  Often times, we react when faced with stress, and we do so without consciously thinking.

We reach for the wine bottle when we get home after a stressful day at the office.  We throw a pint of ice cream in the cart to combat our sadness.  We put on a Netflix marathon when we feel tired.

All of these actions mask the emotions of discomfort.  While it may feel good in the moment, these actions are not doing anything to help you truly manage your stress now or in the future.

Acknowledge your emotions.  It’s ok to feel discomfort.  In order to overcome it, you first must acknowledge that is exists.  Answer these questions:  “I feel ________ because…..”  “I want to feel _________.”  Then do something that will healthfully allow you to feel your desired emotion.  Read a book.  Be physically active.  Connect with a friend.

You have control over your thoughts.  Your thoughts create your emotions, which create your actions.  Decide on the thoughts you want to think, then create the actions that will allow you to feel your desired emotion.

Stress is something that every human experiences almost on a daily basis.  Sometimes the stress is big.  Most of the time the stress is small.  The key is to manage your stress effectively so that you are in control.  Your stress does not control you.

If you want to learn more about managing your stress effectively, sign up for a FREE 20-minute Discovery Call with me. 

We’ll talk all about the stressors in your life and what you can do to overcome your stress with ease.