Change how you think about stress…

We have believed for a long time that stress makes you sick and that stress is definitely the enemy.

Health psychologist Kelly McGonigal blows this myth for us by her illuminating TED talk.  She explains that “If you believe stress is harmful to your health it will be”.  If we think and act differently when stress occurs different things begin to happen.

We know that when our anxiety rises our heart beat gets faster and then our blood vessels contract.  This leads to less oxygen in the brain and we feel the stress which has a direct impact on our health and our biology.

Upon entering a stressful situation we could think and act differently to alter the responses.  If we feel the heart beat increase is our body feeling energised then our blood vessels relax and whilst we still have an increase heart rate we will not restrict the oxygen to the brain.  Your body can rise to the challenge this is the biology of courage.

There is statistical evidence to support the way we think and act around stress can have noticeable differences.  We should make life choices around what matters most not around whether there is more stress involved.  So when making your next career choice you must decide whether the new position gives more meaning to your life and you will cope with added stress levels.

Please do get in touch to book a workshop on Managing Pressure with nuggets of learning.   bev@nuggetsoflearning.co.uk