{"id":4058,"date":"2019-07-16T01:29:59","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T01:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.mindforlife.org.au\/staging_test\/?p=4058"},"modified":"2019-07-16T03:58:13","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T03:58:13","slug":"managing-every-day-stress-more-effectively","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.mindforlife.org.au\/staging_test\/managing-every-day-stress-more-effectively\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing Every Day Stress More Effectively"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Although<\/strong> often thought of as a negative thing, the stress response is critical to survival, as it helps the organism adapt to challenge and maintain the balance of our physiological processes. It helped our ancestors to escape from predators or fight enemies. Good stress can help us react in an emergency or successfully present an end-of-year report in front of the board.  There is another kind of stress known as tolerable, which is not so helpful, but can be managed before it becomes chronic \/ toxic stress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Stress<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On<\/strong>\nany given day, we can be exposed to stressors in many different ways. They can\nrange from negative interactions with colleagues or relatives, being stuck in\ntraffic, and caring for a sick loved one, to the unexpected beep of a phone\nmessage or watching bad news. When one experiences acute stress- a stimulus,\nthe sympathetic nervous system is rapidly activated.  This acute activation is often referred to as\nthe \u2018fight or flight\u2019 response, which results in increased respiration, blood\npressure, and heart rate, and activates hormonal pathways\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The <\/strong>stimulus that disrupts our balance doesn\u2019t have to be real; it can also be our thoughts.The evil of modern stress is grounded in the details of how we perceive everyday life events. Psychological distress is the way we think about what is happening rather than what is actually happening to us. It is all about perception, pure and simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In<\/strong>\nhealthy people, the stress response is rapidly counterbalanced by the\nparasympathetic nervous system \u2013 \u2018rest and digest\u2019.The number of hormones and neurotransmitters decreases once the event is no longer perceived as a threat by our brains.However, disease can arise when there is long-term exposure these substances, as it leads to a toxic inflammatory state, mostly in vulnerable individuals, that can adversely affect the brain\u2019s structure and other numerous aspects of health.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although\n<\/strong>undoubtedly a subjective measure, most people consider\nthemselves \u2018stressed\u2019, typically due to the stories they tell themselves and others\nabout their life experiences. \n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Stress<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some<\/strong>\nresearchers at Sandford have developed the concepts of  \u2018breaks, buffers and protective factors\u2019,\nwhich can be understood as rest areas between periods of stress, just like  we push the breaks of a car when we feel it\u2019s\ngoing to fast, to keep it under control. We can create our own breaks to bring\ndown the stress to a lower level, like peaks and valleys, which could be\nmanageable.  This is probably the best\nway to deal with stress in everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Stress<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

  It<\/strong>\nmight sound difficult to live in peaks in valleys, but it is possible, and it\nwill greatly improve our well-being, feeling like we can live a life that\ninevitably will have stressors.  We can\nteach our brain new ways to deal with situations that are perceived as\nthreatening, so it starts perceiving them as \u2018those situations again\u2019 and lets\nthem pass without generating a great deal of discomfort and all the\nphysiological reactions mentioned above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mindfulness<\/strong> is\na practice rooted in Buddhism that empirically has been proven to be associated\nwith psychological well-being. It has been adapted so that the elements of\nmindfulness – awareness and nonjudgmental acceptance of one’s moment-to-moment\nexperience, are regarded as potentially effective antidotes against common\nforms of inflammatory states or psychological distress, namely anxiety, fear,\nanger, depression, etc. \n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It <\/strong>is\nusually practised along with different types of psychotherapy, leading an\nindividual to focus on the present moment on purpose, by observing and\ndescribing it without any judgements or attachments \u2013 seeing situations as they\nare and not the conception we have of them. \nBy learning how to describe events without judgements, our \u2018fight or flight\u2019\nresponse will not be triggered always, but only when it is helpful to survive.\nIn this way we can develop protective factors for future difficult emotions or\nchallenging interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many ways in which\nmindfulness can be practised, including:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Breathing paying careful attention to what happens to our body while we inhale and exhale, observing how every part feels and learning to describe those feelings;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    • Breathing trying to observe the thoughts in our minds and letting them pass, as clouds in the sky; <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      • Observing with curiosity the places where we live and work becoming aware of all the details in them;  <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        • Doing the regular housework feeling all the sensations that come into our body through our senses.  <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
          • Every day while we eat, we may do it less automatically, as often happens, and become more aware of the food by looking at it, identifying different smells and flavours, noticing the moment we salivate while we continue with the next bite; the same when we drive or walk to a certain place.  Usually we become so used to going along the same road that we don\u2019t even notice signs, trees, etc.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

            <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Research <\/strong>has\nexamined the relationship between mindfulness practices and psychological\nwell-being. Scientists have compared meditators and non-meditators on several\nindices of psychological well-being. Individuals who practice meditation have\nreported significantly higher levels of mindfulness, self-compassion and\noverall sense of well-being, and significantly lower levels of psychological\nsymptoms, and difficulties with emotion regulation, compared to those who do\nnot.  Changes in these variables were\ndirectly associated with extent of meditation practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            By<\/strong>\nbecoming more mindful of our everyday life, we can identify our own thoughts\nand emotions, and can check the facts of every situation we experience. We will\nalso become more aware of the people and places around us; will be able to\nenjoy them more; and therefore, enhance our well-being within a context of\ntolerable stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Although often thought of as a negative thing, the stress response is critical to survival, as it helps the organism adapt to challenge and maintain the balance of our physiological 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