Let's Talk About Stress

I sat down to write a post about stress, I spent quite some time on it and felt pretty good about what I had written. I edited the post a few times to get it ‘just right’, then proceeded to transfer my word document onto my web page.  

Well, things did not go smoothly.
None of the formatting transferred across correctly,  the diagram I had spent over an hour putting together simply ceased to exist in the transfer, and the whole post took on a life of its own; seriously, the paragraphs and formatting was literally changing every two seconds right before my eyes.

For more than two hours I tried to ‘fix’ things without success.  As time went on I could feel myself getting more and more irritated, my body becoming tighter and tighter, a headache starting to form, jaw clenching.  You get the picture.  Ironic isn't it.

The good thing is I practice mindfulness.  As this whole stress response was taking over, I was thankfully able to be present enough in that moment to recognise what was going on and to then make a choice then and there.  Either I continue as I am and let this sympathetic stress response consume me or I can choose another path, a healthier path.  

For me that was turning off the computer and walking away.  I went outside and took some measured deep breaths. I focused only on my breath – in 1,2,3,4, hold 1,2,3,4, out 1,2,3,4, hold 1,2,3,4.  A very quick but effective exercise for bringing oneself back into parasympathetic dominance.  I stayed in this breath awareness for some time, then went off to a Christmas gathering with the intention of not spending one more moment thinking about what I had been working on all morning.

You see a part of the nervous system – the Autonomic Nervous System – is made up of two parts.  The ‘fight or flight’ sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and the ‘rest and digest’ parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS). The body jumps between these two as needed in order to maintain balance within the body (homeostasis).

SNS activation is supposed to be a short term quick response to perceived danger/threat diverting blood supply to skeletal muscles, the heart and lungs.  In this state the pulse, heart rate and blood pressure are all elevated.  Adrenal catecholamine’s (cortisol, adrenalin, and norepinephrine) kick in. 

PSNS dominance is all about supporting digestion, nourishment, healing, resting and restoring.  If you want to digest and absorb the nutrients in your food then you need to be in this state.  If you need healing to occur in your body, then you need to be in PSNS dominance.  Ideally one should be predominantly in a PSNS state and only jumping into SNS dominance in short bursts as needed.

At this time of year potential sources of stress are a plenty, everyone is tired, everyone needs and wants a break; to step out of the usual routine.  Sounds like the perfect time to start practicing some mindfulness; what better way to master a skill than when you’re thrown in the deep end!

Time to step off the hamster mill that is the "human doing" and embrace the "human being".  Take time to be, just be in this moment, not yesterday, not tomorrow, not five minutes from now, but right here right now.  Then choose. You have a choice right here in the present.  

I am not in charge of what others say, do, think or feel, but I am in charge of what I say, do, think and feel and I do have a choice.  I can make choices that are healthy and loving, or I can make choices that are not. 

So off I went to the Christmas gathering and had a wonderful time, I ran some errands after and made my way home.  Feeling relaxed and fantastic I sat down at the computer and wrote this.  This is the post that I was meant to share, it just didn't come about the way I had expected.  Life is like that isn’t it? We think we know what we want for ourselves, what will make us happy.  Perhaps those obstacles and irritations are actually beautiful opportunities just waiting for us to show up.  xx