A word about stress

Before I outline what stress is, I want to start by saying that although we should be concerned about the detrimental impact stress can have on us mentally, physically and emotionally not all stress is negative. 

A little stress, let's call it pressure, can be a great motivator to get us to focus and get something done.  However, too much can make us feel overwhelmed and experiencing it for too long can affect our mental and physical health. 

It's like carrying a backpack

Everyone responds to stress differently and each of us has a personal stress threshold, the point at which things start to feel too much. This is why what might cause an issue for one person may not bother another. 

I liken it to carrying a backpack.  

If it feels light then you can walk for a long while but as it gets heavier you are going to need to rest every now and then and if it’s really too heavy for you then you will struggle to move forward at all. 

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Related: Simple ways to lighten the load

I believe if we can learn what it feels like when the backpack is getting too heavy (recognise our personal symptoms of stress) then we can strengthen our resilience and take responsibility for our mental health.

How mindfulness can help

The stress response is a function of the body, in particular, the autonomic nervous system. This means we cannot stop it from happening.

We can, however, learn to recognise the symptoms of stress (sensations in the body, thoughts, feelings and behaviours) and then work with them so that we can bring ourselves back into balance. Thereby helping ourselves "feel safe" and turn the alarm down or off.

Part of this system calming includes managing our thoughts.

Much of our stress is caused by the thoughts we might have about a situation, as there is a feedback loop between thinking and bodily response.

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This means it is useful to be able to notice when our thinking is unhelpful. Let's call it stinking thinking.

Mindfulness helps us be present with our experience in an objective and non-judgmental way. We can check-in and observe what is going on inside of us.

We learn how to use our thoughts, sensations and feelings as early warning systems.

With practice this helps us to respond to stressful or challenging situations in ways that take care of us, as well as recognise those times when one more item will result in us needing to put the rucksack down or ask for help to carry it.

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Thinking learning mindfulness might be useful to you?

Click to arrange a free introductory session

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