How to turn everyday stress into 'optimal stress' - part one

health mindset nlp Feb 20, 2022

How is your year starting out for you?  I am wondering if you recognise this story...one of my coachees hoped a recent vacation would be the reset they needed giving them a head of steam to fight against the growing feeling of frustration, anxiety and restlessness they had been feeling as the pandemic wore on.  It isn't working out that way and they are seeking help.

Many people are experiencing levels of stress that are overwhelming the coping strategies they have used in the past and not fully recognising it.  At the core of this challenge is a misguided view of stress itself - many see it as something to fight against or minimise it.  No meaningful life is stress-free of course.  However, there is a level of 'optimal stress' for each one of us that actually helps us to solve important problems and grow from our experiences.  In a normal stress response, when the threat passes, our heightened state is followed by the calming effects of our parasympathetic nervous system that acts as a natural break returning us to a healthy state of recovery and rest.  What is causing the problem at the moment is that too many people do not calm down in between episodes of stress.  This can lead to chronic stress and can go onto burnout. 

However, when managed well, stress can be a path to personal growth.  The key is to understand your own stress state so you can better harness a recovery state.  Through practice, we can all learn to move deliberately in between an engaged state and a recovery state.  How can you start to become aware of your own stress? These questions will help:

In a typical week, how often do you feel well rested? How often during the day do you seek moments of recovery versus 'powering through? 

What are the biggest sources of stress in your life? Do you recognise the triggers?

How do you cope with stress? What are your coping mechanisms?  Do they still work?

Using Neuro linguistic programming will help you to build personal resilience and learn to take greater control over your state from moment to moment.  Next week in part two i will describe some strategies that will help.  In the meantime, if anything today has resonated with you consider joining our next blended NLP Practitioner group starting on the 19th March 2022.  More details here:

https://www.teamnlp.co.uk/nlp-practitioner-course

Until next time.

Lindsey and the team at Team NLP x