Stress & The City

Not long ago, a friend with a funny bone said to me “Stress is when you wake up screaming and you realize you haven’t fallen asleep yet.” He spoke as he tried to feed his 10-month-old with one hand while sending an email via his smart phone using the other.

As a Mindset Coach, I speak to people with stress or stress-related issues on a regular basis it got me thinking ‘what is the real cause of this disease that is, well, stressing us out?’

The dictionary says that Stress is a mentally or emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences.

Upon further investigation into what are the biological reasons, I learnt that Stress hormones (such as Cortisol) act by mobilizing energy from storage to muscles, increasing heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rate and shutting down metabolic processes such as digestion, reproduction, growth and immunity.

You see, for the early man, the only reasons to ‘get stressed’ were life threatening, therefore, energy was required in his muscles to, for example, climb a tree to avoid being eaten by a lion. Unfortunately, in today’s world, the closest example would be to climb the stairs to avoid bumping into your CEO in the lift.

As these ‘perceived’ stressful scenarios keep increasing, so do our stress levels which, as many of us know, have an adverse effect on our body. Based on a study by the Health & Safety Executive in 2014/15, 440,000 people in the UK reported work-related stress at a level they believed was making them ill. That’s 40% of all work-related illness. This is reflected in ailments ranging anywhere from indigestion and ulcers to more serious conditions such as heart disease and diabetes to name a few.

It is important to understand that these ailments is actually caused by our own body, which is trying to help us deal with the distress signals that we constantly send it. How ironic.

We know the general prescription for dealing with stress too- Exercise, reduce work, indulge in activities that you enjoy (sport, meeting friends) and eating lots of fruits and vegetables. It is also important to seek professional help sooner rather than later. State of the art facilities such as Medicspot, an online platform that allows you to make instant appointments with a private GP & have immediate consultations in most major cities in the UK for a fraction of the cost, is one such service that makes seeing a health professional very convenient.

But isn’t there a way to prevent rather than to cure?

Getting back to the definition of Stress, the key words that got me thinking were ‘adverse external influences ‘

So we can safely say that whenever something that is beyond our control changes, this change influences us and thus causes a change within us.

One of my favourite quotes is by the American Philosopher William James who said “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another”

Realise this dear readers- the bills will keep coming, your career or family responsibilities will always be demanding and there will never be more hours in the day for all your errands. These events are usually out of your control because they are caused externally. What IS in your control is how you deal with these events, via your thoughts, your words and your actions.

The next time you have to be on time for a meeting and your flight has been delayed, first- become aware of your feelings associated with stress and maybe realise this: nothing you do can change this fact. So you have a choice- to climb up that tree for no real reason or to be happy that you do not have a lion chasing you. So look around you at your fellow passengers who are in the same position as you are (but may not have your awareness) and smile and maybe even a kind word.

The wise always say “Let peace live within you” and we are blessed with multiple avenues to let this happen; Having a positive dialogue with yourself, like writing a journal or saying something reassuring to yourself in the mirror every morning. It empowers you to tackle stressful situations with a sense of peace and inner strength

So to prevent stress, remember that it not the adverse external influence, but YOU who gets those stress hormones rushing. If you tackle the next stressful situation with RESPONSIBILITY OVER YOUR THOUGHTS and knowing that you have the POWER TO CHOOSE how you can react, I am confident that you get into that lift and give your CEO a smile and maybe even a kind word.