What is stress?

We will all experience stress in varying degrees or forms throughout the course of our lives, but what is stress?

Stress happens when we feel overwhelmed and unable to cope with pressure. This pressure can come in many shapes and forms, and it can trigger physiological responses.

Your heart may beat faster, you may begin to sweat and your breathing may become fast and shallow. These are all signs of a stress response, also known as ‘fight or flight’, where your body goes into survival mode in reaction to perceived threats.

In early human life, when physical threats were more immediate, this instinct and response helped keep us alive. But in today’s modern society, we are largely safe from these life threats, yet the ‘fight or flight’ response remains. Instead, it can be triggered by many day-to-day situations, such as work pressures, divorce, separation, the demands of children, traffic jams and other challenges.

Many people become over-stressed because they are either unaware of, or unable to manage, their stress triggers. In earlier times, we would naturally have been ‘burning off’ the effects of our response by physically fighting or running for our lives. Nowadays, this often does not happen and, because many people don’t take enough exercise, the effects may not be released and can instead build up.

Unmanaged stress can accumulate and may have a very negative impact on your health. An individual can find themselves in an almost constant state of ‘fight or flight’, perceiving threats everywhere and then becoming irrational, oversensitive or aggressive, and unable to function properly.

So how can we manage and reduce our stress?

Mind

Become aware of and notice your own stress signals, then look at the thought or belief you are having about what is going on. This is often the trigger that has set off your stress response. At this point, you can choose to consider a different perspective or thought about the situation.

Body

Change your breathing to help release stress and relax your body. Try the 7/11 breathing exercise, which is simply to breathe in deeply for seven counts and then breathe out slowly for 11 counts. Do this three or four times and notice the difference.

Physical exercise

Short bursts of energy and physical exercise for just 20 minutes can be excellent for releasing stress from the body, such as walking, swimming or cross-training. If you are suffering from stress, see where you can bring regular exercise into your life.

Finally, remember that stress is internal and often linked to whether you perceive situations around you as threatening or overwhelming. By understanding what is going on, you can empower yourself to manage these responses.