Stress: do you process it?
Anything to do with the mind - body connection captures my attention. I’m a big fan of Brené Brown and a podcast of hers from 2020 caught my eye (or ear). The topic of the podcast was about burnout and the way in which our body stores stress and how we do or do not process it. Since we’re living in extremely challenging times and we all have a body and a mind, some of us may be feeling frazzled right now. So I thought I'd share it.
Hmmm indeed. I drew this in 2020 (see below for the context!). As far as I can see, this still applies to 2021! I've used this emoji more during the last year more than any other I think!
Brené interviews Drs Emily and Amelia Nagoski who have written a book about burnout (called exactly that) and the physiological response in the body. The book particularly looks at how women process stress differently BUT the overarching theme remains the same for everyone.
Two points that come up from the podcast:
Stressors (work, people, deadlines, conversations, childhood trauma etc) activate the stress response. Stress is what happens in the body.
Emotions have a cycle. Did you know that there is a beginning, middle and end to an emotion? And that exhaustion happens when you get stuck in an emotion i.e. when you do not complete the stress cycle.
This makes sense that when we remove a stressor, we can still feel stress. For example have you experienced meeting a challenging deadline and then a week later getting ill? Our body cannot differentiate between a deadline finishing or knowing that difficult conversation is over.
“You have to do something that signals to your body you are safe, or else you’ll stay in that state, with neurons, chemicals and hormones degrading but never shifting to relaxation. Your digestive system, immune system, cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal system and reproduction system never get the signal they are safe.” Brené read this out as a quote from the book during the podcast.
The interesting thing I took away from this podcast was understanding that removing stressors is not the only answer (so much of the time we think it’s the only solution). Dealing with the stress is where we can focus our attention, on a daily basis. Here are ways for the body to process stress as listed in the podcast:
Physical activity
Breathing (I’m a fan)
Positive social interaction
Laughter
Physical human contact (a hug)
Cry
Creative expression (this even inspired my dodgy emoji drawing above!)
I love this list. It makes so much sense. So... I hope you’re managing ok. And if things feel really difficult right now, maybe turn to something from this list. My daily breathwork sessions are an absolute necessity to me. I know it makes a difference to me. Look after yourself.
And one of our own. Nessie made us all some chill out badges last year. You wear it either when you are chilling out or want to chill out. I really recommend getting one! It’s pretty serious business in this house!
