Stress is inevitable in life; we cannot avoid it. It involves the overuse of our adjustment capacities and results in the loss of perception, loss of options, depression, fatigue, physical illness and limits our adjustment capacities. That’s why we need some ways to help us in dealing with it.
Stress Management Relaxation
Letting Go
Stess can show up as both positive stress or negative stress.
- Positive stress is called “Eustress”. Examples of eustress include things such as: getting married, winning a prize or the lottery, doing daring things, getting a promotion, having a new baby, etc.
- Negative stress is called “Distress”. Distress drains your emotional system and depletes your energy. Emotions such as anger, rejection, guilt, shame and fear are examples of distress.
When we are caught up in a stressful situation, we tend to zoom in on the problem and focus all our mental, emotional and physical energy on it. This is called “convergent thinking” and it exacerbates the problem because we aren’t able to step far enough away from it to get perspective. Our mental focus gets stuck in the intense mode.
It is helpful if we can focus outside and beyond ourselves. We call this “divergent thinking” and it helps us to temporarily step outside our problem. When we get stressed, we tend to get filled up with too much emotion. Focusing outside or beyond ourselves (or focusing on the present moment)can help reduce some of this emotion. This will help us to return to and connect back with our rational thinking. We always make better choices when we can use both our thoughts and emotions in dealing with a stressful situation.
