Less Stress = Happier Showering!
In the first edition of her series on stress-busting, Rochele Hirsch talks about the five types of stress and some quick antidotes.
Sooner or later, we all deal with stress. In the middle of planning a Baby Shower, Bridal Shower or Bachelorette party – it can be sooner. There are so many details, so much to accomplish, and, let’s be honest, emotions are often running high. But one of your most important jobs as the hostess is to set the tone. Unless you are planning an "overwhelmed and exhausted theme," you need some practical ways to unravel and defuse stress and enhance your energy.
Stress is a universal human issue. Even the word stress makes us nod with understanding. We know how it feels to be stressed, and we usually don’t like it because it compromises our health and well-being. The CDC reports that 75-90% of doctor visits are due to stress.
During important life events, such as births and weddings, our level of stress affects our ability to celebrate. It’s just hard to have fun when you’re feeling overstressed!
The Five Types of Stressors:
1. |
Reactions to life stimuli that tend to "crunch" our flow of energy. |
2. |
Toxins and allergens |
3. |
Poor nutrition, poor hydration and low oxygen to your cells |
4. |
Too much exertion, pain or injury with insufficient rest and healing |
5. |
Extremes of heat and cold |
All 5 of these stressors add to your accumulating burden of stress, and they are self-reinforcing. For example:
Poor hydration can lead to an injury while you’re exercising; |
There are a lot of things we can blame for the stress we’re feeling. So much of it seems to be out of our control. In fact, FEELING out of control is quite a stressor itself; it falls into Type 1 – Reactions to Life Stimuli.
In order to work through issues of stress, I’ve developed a common-denominator definition for stress:
Stress is not enough flowing, good-feeling life-energy.
This understanding gives me a fast antidote to stress. I can choose to feel good. Choosing to feel good may not take away any of the stressors (I still have deadlines I need to meet and bills I need to pay… and more), but by adding in more good-feeling life energy, the level of stress I am feeling drops – and I have more energy to deal with stressors.
So, how do we choose to feel good when everything is seemingly falling apart around us? There are a number of solutions, but for a quick fix, try one of these techniques
Gratitude Breaks. Take 30 sec – 2 minute gratitude breaks – at least five per day – where you just stop and think of things that make you feel better. Your mind and imagination can give you comfort, energy – even love. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Look at a photo of a loved one
- Notice the beauty of Spring flowers
- Feel cozy with a cup of tea
- Imagine feeling the caress of the warm water in the shower
- Watch a child smiling
- Cuddle with your pet
Every time you stop for a gratitude break, you will feel some extra energy – auxiliary energy – which loosens the grip of stress. With more energy, you will have more resources to manage and defuse your stressors.
I’m sure you have heard "change your thoughts and change your life." The truth is, the instinctive thoughts and feelings we have are part of our innate being – and are not our fault. The more stressed we are, the more likely unloving thoughts and feelings will be triggered open and become what we say and do. However, we also have the built-in capability to interrupt those instinctive, reactive thoughts and feelings and change them to a healthier response.
For example, many very responsible people are accustomed to "doing it all." When they are stressed, they tend to take on even more. It is almost easier for them to keep working — and keep feeling intense — than to relax. If this sounds like you, practice interrupting and changing your reaction patterns.
Rewire your reaction patterns.
One effective way to interrupt this reactive, do-it-all nature is to stop and think: "Oh, I like to go rushing around at top speed juggling five things at once!" This might be true for you. It might simply be part of who you are. As you relax into accepting your own nature, it helps energy flow. Sometimes you can even laugh at yourself and the situation you’re in. This is an effective way to de-stress the "crunch" of the current schedule.
Of course, if or when you realize you really don’t like to be so pressured, you’ll be more ready to explore the reaction patterns that naturally put you into the do-it-all mode.
Remember, it is not what happens to us that causes the stress, but rather how we react to what happens that sets up the feeling of stress.
If your natural reaction "crunches" your energy, you can choose to add more energy -- and reduce the stress.
Next month we’ll explore the various stressors of putting on parties – stressors on the host, the guests and the guest of honor -- and more about what you can do to reduce the stress and increase success.
About Rochele Hirsch
Discovering the patterns behind "what is going on" and developing systems to improve effectiveness have been focal points throughout Rochele Hirsch’s life. In 1981, she began to draw on her background in physics, operations research, telecommunications, informative systems, marketing and sales, and organizational effectiveness to investigate the patterns of personal effectiveness that make or break success. What she discovered and tested in her own living laboratory may well change the way people understand and use the power of intention. She developed her Theory of How Come, and today helps her clients identify the preconscious "survival tactics" that lead to self-sabotaging behaviors, and eventually, disease or addiction. Rochele is the author of the e-book Emotions in the Workplace: Love the Noun vs. Love the Verb.
Learn more about Rochele online or by calling her at 1-800-467-0467.
