Feeling stressed? What stress actually means and how life coaching can help you

We live in a society where stressors permeate in our everyday living from a young age, the constant life pressures and demands can result in a constant state of stress that can have lasting effects on our emotional, mental and physical health. Firstly, what are these stressors? Stressors are defined as the triggers in life that cause stress, for example, having a baby, the pressure to pass exams, excessive work load, a philandering spouse or diagnosis of a terminal illness. Some stressors in life can be perceived as good and some as bad; we welcome the good stressors in life as they motivate us to overcome a challenge and achieve a goal over a short time period, however, we often feel overwhelmed by bad stressors in life leading to ongoing chronic stress levels which can elevate stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenalin, and compromise our immune, digestive and reproductive systems.

Stressors or triggers in life become stressful when the demands in life outweigh our resources, when we feel as though everything is out of our control and when we can’t comprehend the reasons behind and meaning of our life challenges. The degree of stress experienced therefore lies in how we view these stressors or triggers, we often can’t remove stressors in life and so it’s important we establish self-awareness, take control of our perceptions and responses, find meaning amidst adversity and build our resilience.

Life coaching can help shift our view and perception of current life stressors and reduce stress levels by increasing awareness of negative thought patterns, feelings and behaviours enabling a fresh perspective and facilitating a change both internally and externally in areas of life including relationships, health and wellbeing and career. By shifting the way we view and perceive stressors we can ultimately determine how we respond to disruptions and adversity from an emotional and behavioural perspective and therefore build resilience during those inevitable stressful times in life.