What is Stress?

By Ben Harper

Statesman Benjamin Franklin once said:

‘Two things are certain in life; death and taxes’.

Maybe the third certainty is stress. Stress is a normal part of our lived experience, and in the right doses, can be really helpful.

If we’re being chased by a tiger, or have a deadline to meet, it will give us the necessary impetus we need to get going. (I have more experience of the later than the former, and expect you have too!)

But too much stress, can be at best unpleasant, and at worse damaging to us mentally, physically and spiritually. It’s important that we understand more about what stress is, what causes it and how we might best manage it. We hope our Well? content over the next month will do this.

Stress is the feeling we have when we are pushed, pulled or poked by life’s circumstances. It’s what happens when our bodies and minds are being asked to manage too much at once. Stress can be the result of one big event that saps our capacity, or more often due to too many different things happening at the same time.

Stress tends to build up in the body and mind, and show up in our behaviour. Our body may feel tense, our stomach unsettled or we may get a headache. Our mind may feel overwhelmed, we may be very distractable, or we may be more forgetful than usual. Our behaviour can become irritable, we can find ourselves seeking out unhealthy treats or we might try and avoid certain places and people. Whilst stress is a certainty, the way we experience it is not as set, and will vary from person to person. It’s important to work out what stress looks like in your body, mind and behaviour so you can notice it when it’s happening.

Often stress slows us down or even gives us a sense of paralysis. With too long a to-do list to do, or the overwhelmed-ness of a recent tragedy, we’re less able to think clearly, rationally or practically. We often make poor decisions or avoid making any decisions at all. This can often compound our stress, and make us feel worse.

The important thing about stress, is not to be stressed about it!

Easier said than done, I know. But often ‘manage stress’ becomes another thing on our to-do list which we haven’t got time or capacity to complete in the first place. Accepting that stress is normal, everyone feels it, and that it’s ok to feel like you feel is an important step in the process of managing it.

Sometimes we need a kind of circuit breaker for our stress; something that interrupts to loop or moves us from our paralysis. We’re going to share some tools, techniques and tricks that help to break the stress cycle over the next month. All of them are tried and tested and aimed at giving you back some sense of control over that which feels out of control. Some of our tools will focus on the body, some on the mind, some on actions you can take to move you out of stress. Work out what works best for you, and let us know.

Stress is a certainty but being trapped in a stress cycle doesn’t have to be.

Ben Harper is our Education Lead at Space to Breathe. You can start a conversation with him on Twitter @wellbeingteach.