The ABC's of Stress Management
What's ironic is we talk about body and mind like they are two separate entities ... but the reality is the two are in constant communication that we are not even aware of!
A recent course offered me a new articulation on the physical impact of stress; image if you will that our body is a house (not a stretch since our soul lives there right?) several rooms in the house are dedicated to long term health and healing, and one room is designated to immediate survival.
Long term health and healing rooms include digestion, reproduction, growth, immunity, healing, and when we are relaxed, which translates to feeling safe; our energy flows through all the rooms in our house ... all is well!
Enter stress, or feeling unsafe; and all the energy flowing in our house is directed to immediate survival ... all the other rooms are constricted, or shut down entirely.
Think about that for a minute ... health and healing is on bypass when you are stressed.
To qualify here, stress response in our body is all handled the same way; whether you are running from a bear, or fretting about whether your outfit is appropriate, your body is sending the same signals to your brain ... we aren't safe!
Being unsafe elicits several things in our bodies; first there is the hormonal releases which include cortisol; which our bodies need at regulated levels - but at elevated and chronic levels wreaks havoc on our health, disrupting sleep and increasing risks of a whole host of diseases including heart disease!
Then there is the communication with the psoas muscle... the first muscle that is on high alert for fight, flight or freeze! A tight, or on alert psoas, may present with back pain; but on chronic levels can lead to digestive problems and an overall sense of unwell both physically and emotionally.
Stress is stored in our bodies as tension; and while we may not be able to eliminate stress in our lives we can certainly release the tension in our bodies! Which brings me to my ABC's!
A = Awareness, Attention, (don't) Add on
Many clients I deal with have been running on an elevated stress level for so long they don't even recognize it as stress anymore! Awareness requires slowing down, paying attention to what is happening in our mind and our body, and not adding on to it!
For example when we are chronically stressed, our survival response to it is to mentally add on ... 'traffic is backing up', may be our first observation; we then add on with I'm going to be late, my boss is going to lose it on me, I'm not going to get my bonus, My spouse is going to be disappointed ... and so the stress of excess traffic on our commute gets added on to, which ultimately only serves to increase our stress!
From an awareness perspective we can feel the initial 'traffic is backing up' and sit with that ... no add on's, no super sizing our stress. In that moment we are aware that traffic is building up but we are also aware that it is out of our control and the end result will not be altered by our 'added' stress! When we are aware and pay attention we can sit with a situation, even an uncomfortable situation, and not add on ... we can just be.
Which brings me to B = Breathe
Our breath is the first thing that comes to us in life and the last thing to leave in death; it is ours for our whole life and it is far greater medicinally than most of us give it credit for!
The simple, automatic inhale and exhale goes unnoticed by most of us, for most of the time ... but what if I told you to draw attention to it; bring your awareness to inhale, exhale?
Our psoas, yeah that tightened up muscle that attaches our legs to our spine, attaches at the top to our diaphragm ... think tightened psoas and constricted breathing ... think added stress!
Bring your attention to your breath; breathe mindfully with your full attention ... deep and thoughtful inhales and full and relaxing exhales. Feels so good right? I call it luxurious breathing, but consider this, those deep mindful breaths are sending 'we are safe' messages to your psoas, relaxing and releasing tension from your body!
Tension is the internal response that external stress (perceived danger) creates; and by bringing awareness to our breath we can learn to release it ... can I get an Amen over here?
I have a daily meditation practice, but it is different than being aware of stress and bringing attention to your breath; the later is something you can do anywhere, anytime you are feeling 'unsafe' ... drop into inhale, exhale, bring that 'we are safe' message into your body and fell the tension drain into the earth as your ground!
In our grounded state we embrace awareness and don't resort to add on's ... be aware and breathe.
C = Control
Control is a powerful feeling, and something most of us would like to feel in our lives and within our bodies! Most certainly being able to control our reaction to stress would be awesome ... right?
Control is the direct result of being aware that we are stressed and breathing our way through it. When we are aware and in tune with our bodies response to stress (real or perceived) we are offered the opportunity to deal with it.
If we just allow ourselves to keep running on the proverbial wheel, mindlessly running to the next achievement, the next goal, we become victims to stress. The lifestyle choice of 'be better, do more' is a VIP pass to stress and tension!
These ABC's offer you a VIP pass to a lifestyle of 'be here, right now'; you are still achieving and doing, but your are aware, in your body, with your breath, and in control .... sound good?
Try this... inhale with 'I am', exhale with 'here now' ... for 5 full breaths the next time you are adding on to a stressful situation ... check in with how you feel afterwards!
Stress is a part of life, while we can't control it we can be aware of how and where it sits in our body, we can breathe to release tension and create a grounded and safe feeling of control in our lives ... inhale/exhale ... I am/here now! Do less - Be here! ABC
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