What do you think of when you think of someone being stressed? Do you have that image in your head of someone running around like a headless chicken, pulling their hair out and seeming like they’re on the brink of a breakdown?

Are you thinking to yourself, “well that’s not me”?

I said exactly that to the Dr when he told me the reason I wasn't sleeping and felt sick everytime I ate wasn’t because I had some rare disease, but in fact I was suffering from one of the most common modern day conditions; stress. I was shocked, mainly because on Googling my symptoms I had convinced myself I had a very rare stomach disease... but also because I would never have classed myself as a stressed individual. I was not that person running around, pulling their hair out and crying in the toilets…. well not every day anyway.

Sadly though, stress is so common these days that the classic “symptoms” aren’t as obvious anymore. Society has adapted to stress being such a big part of our lives that what used to be seen as high stress is now the baseline. In fact, most of us spend 75% of our day in a state of stress.

So what is stress? 

To put it simply, stress is our body’s response to a threat. Back in the caveman days, it was used for survival. We see a lion (the threat), the brain unconsciously sends hormonal signals to the body (the response) that we are under threat and we need to do one of two things. We either FIGHT or we FLIGHT (the behaviour).

Your heart will pound faster, muscles will tighten, breath quickens, and your senses will become sharper. These physiological changes are made to increase your strength, stamina and reaction time in order to survive the threat.

This response is crucial for survival and is completely normal. We need the stress response. In fact, every single organism in our bodies are designed to deal with short-term stress. The problem comes when the “threat” is not a lion but instead a co-worker, your boss, your partner, your kids. You are then in that heightened state of stress for a prolonged period of time (known as chronic stress) and all your energy is focused on survival and not on keeping you healthy. Whilst certain systems in the body are being heightened (e.g. muscular, cardiovascular) others are shut down opening you up to an array of health problems.

What’s more, chronic stress prevents you from making positive changes in your life. It stops you from stepping out of your comfort zone, from forming meaningful relationships and from trying new things. Your mind and body want to keep you “safe” because they believe you are under imminent threat. And no one's got time to better themselves when they're being chased by a lion!

Tune in tomorrow when we will discuss the 5 key areas of stress relief that we can address to bring you out of chronic stress and back into balance.

To find out more about what Ani does as a Mindset & Wellness Coach you can sent Ani an email via this link