I don’t mean to encourage you to make your life as complex and stressful as possible. Chronic stress, day in and day out definitely isn’t our friend. But neither is constantly trying to shy away from pressure, all suffering, and distress. Stress is in my view … an evolutionary gift.

If we view stress through a biological lens relating to evolution, stress could be argued as helpful. Being physiologically cued to sense external stressors such as predators and then fighting, hiding, or running away was a matter of life, and death in our not too distant past was a means of survival.

I’m sure you know the mechanisms that operate when we sense trouble or urgency …

“Your body releases the stress hormones adrenaline (epinephrine and norepinephrine) and cortisol. These hormones act as forerunners, enrolling energy (glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids) to prime your body for action and keep your brain alert so you can react quickly. Your heart rate, breathing and blood pressure, and breathing increase to speed the transport of nutrients and oxygen to your muscles and brain (to help protect your body). At the same time, energy normally used for longer-term processes—such as growth, digestion, and reproduction—is diverted to more immediate needs.

Your muscles tense to provide your body with extra speed and strength, your pupils dilate to sharpen your vision, and perspiration increases to prevent overheating from your increased metabolic rate.

Your immune function also gets a short boost of energy in anticipation of possible injury and infection.”

The stress response system can then be thought of as a set of tools your body uses to provide the energy you need to perform 💥

Why then do we choose to have such a negative view of stress?

Let me share with you a new repartee around stress …

The Biosphere 2 project provided research scientists with a tool that didn’t harm our planet, to study Earth’s living farming systems. But an unexpected novelty that had nothing to do with a new way of farming land had to do with the wind’s role in a tree’s life. The trees inside Biosphere 2 grew rapidly, more rapidly than they did outside of the dome 👏 but they also fell over before reaching maturation 🍂

Take a guess at what scientists realised after looking at the root systems? (my favourite topic in health - getting to the roots of the issue, symptom, dis-ease). That a lack of wind in Biosphere 2 caused a deficiency of stress wood.

Stress wood helps a tree position itself for optimal sun absorption and it also helps trees grow more solidly. Without stress wood, a tree can grow quickly, but it cannot support itself fully. It cannot withstand normal wear and tear, and survive. In other words, the trees needed some stress in order to thrive in the long run.

Hmm … this made me wonder about the impact that a change in our inner narration around stress could have on our health. Could the way we view stress impact our physical and mental responses?

Rather than look at what causes stress and figure out ways to avoid it, can we engage with stress - as it’s here to stay, and learn to make choices that produce a benefit for us? There is some science that suggests that those who believe stress to be productive show an increased memory and performance on standardised tests. They also have fewer headaches and backaches, and less insomnia and hypertension!

Below is a little survey that I found in my notes. I didn’t create it and I cannot credit who did as I didn’t keep those details but here it is …

Answer the following questions to help you reflect on your general beliefs about stress and how you tend to react to it. After you take the survey once, you might want to take it again focusing on specific types of stress, such as stress involving work performance, your partner, family, or health.

General beliefs about stress

The effects of stress in most cases are:

 a. negative and should be avoided

 b. positive and should be utilised

Experiencing stress in most cases:

 a. inhibits my learning and growth

 b. facilitates my learning and growth

Experiencing stress in most cases:

 a. depletes my health and vitality

 b. improves my health and vitality

Experiencing stress in most cases:

 a. hurts my performance and productivity

 b. enhances my performance and productivity

General reactions to stress

When I notice the physical responses of stress (such as increased heart rate, sweating, shaky hands or legs) I’m more likely to interpret it as:

 a. “I’m about to lose control.”

 b. “This is my body giving me the energy I need to perform.”

When under a lot of stress, I’m more likely to:

 a. get distracted by my negative thoughts or stuck focusing on things I can’t control

 b. reflect on what’s most important to me in the situation and take purposeful action to bring about my goal/value.

When I’m beginning to feel overwhelmed by stress I usually:

 a. try to escape and distract myself through social media, TV, alcohol, eating, etc.

 b. use a strategy like tactical breathing or mindfulness to centre myself and regain focus on the task at hand

When under a lot of stress, I’m more likely to:

 a. isolate myself

 b. reach out to others for help or go out of my way to help others

When under a lot of stress and someone comes to me to share unrelated good news, I’m more likely to:

 a. give them partial attention or dismiss them to get back to what I’m focused on

 b. stop what I’m doing and give my full attention to share in their joy

 

Now tally up your (a)’s and your (b)’s and let me know your totals below, for your Stress Viewpoint Score. Once your scores are up, I’ll keep this conversation going with material on how believing that your stress is beneficial and the way forward to allowing your stress to benefit you 🌈 🌈