STRESS
Is stress taking over your life? If so, try some of these strategies from psychologist Dr Meg Arroll, who helps people minimise stress in their everyday lives.
THE WORD “STRESS” IS mostly used in psychological terms these days, but it comes from physics, and means to push a material beyond its tolerance level. When we think about this definition of stress, it starts to make sense. Take a paper clip for example– it’s possible to bend back the metal reasonably far and it will spring back into its original form. But if you push the clip beyond its tolerance, it will be overextended and cannot revert to how it once was. We often view stress in this way – when the straining and twisting we sometimes do in life leaves us feeling rather bent out of shape.
But before this shapeshifting happens, there is quite a lot of wiggle room in the paper clip – and in ourselves. Our bodies are well equipped to deal with difficult situations via our autonomic nervous system, which has two opposing, yet complementary arms: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system is what controls how we respond to stress, often called the “stress response” or “fight, flflflight or freeze response”. But, just as the paper clip always wants to ping back into its original shape, physiologically our bodies and minds also instinctively want to return to a state of homeostasis – where everything is ticking along nicely. This is where the parasympathetic nervous system comes in, and acts like a counterweight to the stress response, essentially switching back from fight, flight or freeze to the state of “rest and digest”, in which we repair, restore and grow.
Overleaf are some of my top ways to deal with stress in the moment and over time, so you have strategies to call on when stress strikes, and which also help you create habits to maintain inner calm. The first four help you deal with a present threat, association or trigger of the stress response, whereas the last three are longer-term strategies, and get more effective the more you practise them
1. SHORTCUT STRESS WITH SENSES
Our senses are our superpowers, and we can use them to override the stress response. This is an excellent type of distraction for a short-term fix, just before or after a stressful situation, to help you snap yourself out of the stress response and its unpleasant manifestations. The key is to shock your senses so your attention is moved from the stressor to one of the below sensations. But you can also think up your own.
● TOUCH: Plunge your hand into a bag of ice and hold it there for a few moments.
● SOUND: Blast some loud music – using earphones is usually best so as not to annoy those around you!
● SMELL: Put your nose in a paper bag of very strong blue cheese or another pungent food and quickly bre
