Managing Stress in Today's Technological Society

Anyone here ever deal with Stress. Has stress ever led to anxiety or other health-related issues such as high-blood pressure, sleep apnea, depression, burn-out, etc?

Our society has become accustomed to an automated technologic environment allowing 24/7 access. How we handle the way we spend our days is up to us. We as humans become adaptive to our environment, schedules, and lifestyles. According to the National Academy of Sports Medicine, stress throws us off balance by interrupting our comfort zones. How we respond to stress can impact our overall health and well-being.

As a Certified Lifestyle Coach, I am here to share with you some steps taken to reduce the uncomfortable feelings (you know the gut-wrenching, heart-pumping feelings that sit in the pit of our stomachs that sometimes lead to emotional eating habits or low energy levels) so that we can identify and address those feelings in a healthier way. Some  stress is good as it challenges us and helps to promote self growth; however, when stress becomes chronic, it can have negative impacts on our overall health & how we live.

When we start to feel uncomfortable, the stress sensor light goes on. ALERT/ALERT this is not comfortable, what's happening? Some initial thoughts that enter our minds might be:

• What are they thinking?

• What if statements….

• How am I going to deal with this?

• My life is already complicated, I can't take more on.

• WHAT DO I DO?

Okay, I might have exaggerated a tad bit, but you get the picture, there's so many ideas that race through our mind when we get that ALERT message.

Here are some steps to manage those racing thoughts:

Step 1:

Feel the Stress in the Moment: Sit in your stress, identify the cause of this unknown feeling.

Step 2: Values and Beliefs. Tap into your values and beliefs: Our values and beliefs are what make us unique as individuals. They are the foundation of how we live our lives. They help guide us through this unknown territory. Examples: family-first mantra, honesty, dignity, religion, etc.

Step 3: The Calming Effect. Find those activities that calm you down ie deep breathing, working out, talking with your loved ones, a long hot bath, etc. As stress enters your life, determine those activities that will bring calmness to your life.

Step 4: Prioritize. We all have 24-hours in a day, how do you want to live your day? Prioritize those people/work/home responsibilities that are most important in your life. Determine a day/time slot to spend with your prioritized list to bring balance and happiness to your life. Example… Early on in my personal training journey, my personal trainer asked me in an assessment, how much time do you have to exercise? I let him know the question was a loaded question as we all have time, it's whether or not we choose to fit it into our schedules.

Step 5: Create Boundaries: What are your boundaries? It took me over 40 years to identify, I had none lol. I did everything for everybody else aka people-pleaser, BUT what was I doing for myself? Determine your non-negotiable boundaries and be intentional on keeping those boundaries whether it's spending time with those most important to us, working out, getting work/projects done without interruptions… Whatever the boundary is, be intentional on living by it.

Step 6: Live in the Moment. As stress comes and goes, we cannot change what happened in the past nor can we predict what's going to happen in the future. Choices and the work we put in TODAY is what is important as the decisions can alter our paths and feelings for the future. We can't control others but we can control how we react to situations.

By being intentional to our authentic selves in the 24-hours we have within a day through our values and beliefs, determining activities that can help calm us down, prioritizing and creating boundaries,  and living in the moment recognizing we cannot change the past or predict the future could assist with the ability to cope with the stress of the unknown in to live a healthier life.

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