Stress is a natural and functional response to imminent physical danger. It allows us to quickly and efficiently respond to a critical situation giving us the necessary super-powers to either get out of a burning building safely, saving a few people in the process, completely freeze if a confronted with bear or fight someone 3 times our size to get out of harm's way. This is called the fight, flight or freeze response.

 

Under fight, flight or freeze, the oldest and most instinctual part of our brain, called the reptilian brain, takes over. It releases specific hormones and enzymes to increase heart rate, muscle power, tunnel vision and oxygen intake. This is great if we are in a life threatening situation.

 

Not so great if the perceived danger or cause of stress is emotional or  psychological. 

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Our fast paced lives, demanding jobs, family and social pressures, loss of connection with nature and even the unexpected killer virus, have all given way to a dysfunctional kind of stress response, called di-stress. It activates the same response as functional stress, but since the stressors are frequent and mostly psychological, our body's response is inadequate. This constant state of "alarm" causes an overload of hormones that, over time can cause tremendous damage. Scientific studies consistently trace back most chronic, inflammatory and degenerative illnesses to stress and anxiety. 

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While under stress, (functional or dysfunctional) our reptilian brain inhibits our other 2 brains: the limbic brain (emotions and judgment) and neo-cortex (language, learning and imagination), essentially making us stupid... This is why we can forget our tickets or passports when we rush. 

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Stress management helps you implement strategies and life hacks to efficiently respond to problems in a clear and focused way using your more evolved brain centres.

 

 You can't always control what happens or how people behave, but can always choose how you react. 

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Viktor E. Frankl said it best:

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom"

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Learn to linger in that space ...

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Watch this brief video about Stress Management and get in touch with me to know more