Am I stressed?
Do you flare up over small things? Get triggered easily? Do you doom scroll, procrastinate, and suffer from next level fatigue? Do you find it hard to concentrate and focus? Are you unhappy and finding it hard to connect with those around you? Do you overthink everything and doubt yourself? If you have trouble disconnecting from work and you can’t put your phone down, then you could be like me and 7\10 people who suffer with chronic stress.
Yes, that’s me but why am I like this?
It’s quite simple. Stress is much more of a problem then you think it is. It is more than a feeling in your body. It is a physiological state in your brain and can and will change the mechanics in your brain and body, in fact it hijacks it! When you can concentrate, be happy and present in the moment then your frontal cortex of your brain is in control. The second you get stressed (say for instance someone pinched your parking space) your brain goes into stress response (Fight or flight mode). This means the frontal cortex is no longer in control, The Amygdala part of your brain is. This is very important, it is there to detect danger and responsible for processing emotions, especially fear! It is also responsible for your memory and motivation. This is why you will react impulsively, send that text in anger then regret it, have a tantrum, and can’t think logically. It creates and automatic response ☹
Now I know this how do I change it?
Your body is not supposed to stay in fight or flight mode, but it gets stuck, so instead of the frontal cortex being back in control you are stuck in a permanent survival mode, exhausting right?
Firstly, we need to be aware when our stress response is switched on. Now you know what to look out for and now you know stress is just your body and brain switching between two functions you will be able to switch it back off.
Secondly, you need to acknowledge the stressful situation and realise it is nothing you can control, or its not that deep, you need to detach from the emotion. It may help to know an emotion is a chemical reaction in your body that last for only 6 seconds!
To take control back you must take slow deliberate deep breaths, I call them belly breaths! Breath in from the nose for a count of 6 and then breath in through your mouth for a count of 8. This tells your Vagus nerve you are calm which communicates this back to your frontal cortex flipping the switch! You may need a little practice but breathing exercises are so underestimated in my opinion.
Try exercising, grounding, and meditating! Take your control back!
Good Luck
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