Last week, I identified chronic stress as being a big, if not the biggest, threat to our wellbeing in our busy, modern lives. Understanding why we struggle is key because it helps us take responsibility for our challenges and enables us to pre-empt and navigate them more effectively.

The modern world bombards us with all sorts of stressors - like work, relationships, information overload, processed foods, too much blue light, lack of movement and just trying to keep up. As we discussed last week, our bodies are fine handling stress in short, intense bursts (like being chased by a tiger or bear!), but they're not built for the constant barrage of micro-stressors in today's world.

How can we handle stress better? 

If chronic stress is the problem, then the trick is to deliberately break out of a stressed state by intentionally creating a cycle – going in and out of a stressed state and a non-stressed state. In a natural setting, stress would come and go. But in our modern world, we don’t have that rhythm anymore, instead, it’s constant to varying degrees. So, we've got to deliberately adjust how we deal with stress to match how our bodies are built to handle it.

Creating a stress cycle 

There are lots of ways to do this to help you move between a stressed and non-stressed state.

For example, after a tough day, a leisurely walk followed by a cosy night in and an early bedtime is just what you need. Or, after a stressful meeting, a quick breather outside can help you reset and get back to your desk feeling refreshed. Or, if you've been grinding away at a big project for weeks, make sure you give yourself a proper break when it's done.

There are also many specific tools and techniques that move the body into a non-stressed state - such as meditation, mindfulness, Emotional Freedom Technique and Trauma Release Exercise - hence why these techniques are so popular.

The key is in taking time to intentionally relax so you move out of the sympathetic nervous system state (aka 'fight or flight' state) into the parasympathetic nervous system state (aka 'rest and digest' state) to complete the stress cycle. To some degree, you want to try and match the level of relaxation with the level of stress you've been feeling. This cycling in and out of stress is not only essential for your health and wellbeing, but it’s also very relevant in enabling you to bounce back and stay on top of your game.

It’s also worth remembering that stress isn't always a bad thing - it can push us to achieve great things.  Also, see last month’s blog post on hormetic stress, the kind of stress that can foster positive bodily adaptations, such as increased physical resilience and longevity. 

But, even when stress is positive, exciting and driving us forward, we still need to take breaks so that we can come out of that state, to avoid burning out.

Removing stress as a ‘constant’

We can’t get rid of stress entirely, so we need to learn how to work it and the key to managing modern stress is not to allow it to become a constant. By intentionally creating a cycle of stress, with dedicated downtime and rest, we will be more resilient and ready to tackle whatever life throws our way. 

If this hasn’t convinced you to make time for ‘de-stressing’ then another expert tip to think about is that when we commit to actively reducing stress, it’s so often in these moments of rest and relaxation that we actually get some of our best ideas and insights!

Next week, I'll share some real-life practical examples of how I intentionally practise the stress cycle to handle stress in my own life.