We have always thought that stress is caused by lack of time and overwork, but when we analyze it, we discover that this is not the reason.
Yes, you read correctly, stress does not occur because we are saturated with work. In this article you will see how stress occurs and what you can do to manage it, not to eliminate it, because stress in the right doses is necessary.
How is it produced?
When we watch the news or read the newspaper, we are often presented with a scenario full of threats, we constantly send ourselves urgent messages, saying things like "faster" "it must be perfect" "strive".
Stress is a response of our body to a dangerous situation. Primitive man reacted with stress when he bumped into a mammoth, we do when we wait for a complicated call or a traffic jam appears on the way to the office, but the cause of the stress is independent of the results.
The physiological response
Our brain is designed so that we can survive, when the stimuli are too much, a response similar to what can be produced in a computer when it has too many open windows manifests itself, we want to do everything at once, we are not capable and we collapse.
Our mind is very capable of detecting threats that can put us in danger according to its interpretation and responds by generating cortisol, the stress hormone, to provide us with the resources and energy necessary to face them. It reacts the same way today as it did twenty thousand years ago.
Cortisol makes our breathing accelerate, sweating increases, the heart pumps more blood, our muscles tense… this answer made sense when, indeed, we were in a dangerous situation that threatened our life, for example, a predator, and our body needed an extra energy to get out of this situation as soon as possible. But today, the dangers we face are of a different kind and we do not need to put our physiological emergency mechanisms into action.
The consequences of stress can seriously affect our health. When your condition is very advanced or excessively intense, it is necessary to consult a medical specialist to take the appropriate measures.
What stresses us?
Not all of us feel threatened by the same things, but it is true that stressful moments fulfill some or all of these characteristics: it is a new, unpredictable situation, it escapes our control and threatens our personality or our ego.
Our stress level will be higher the more characteristics are present.
Understanding how stress mechanisms work, their physiology and what situations trigger it in our specific case is the first step in managing it, that is, creating a strategy to cope with it and carry it out.
The antidote to stress
As I said at the beginning, it is impossible to get rid of stress, even the happiest and calmest people set goals and challenges that put them under some tension, the difference is that they know when to brake and how to do it.
And is that stress in its proper measure is necessary and has benefits, for example, increases our level of memory, on the other hand, when it is excessive, our memory decreases completely.
Our body manufactures substances that counteract the stress hormone (cortisol), one of the most important is oxytocin, this hormone helps us to relax, to feel calm, satisfied, it increases our level of confidence and helps us to relate. better with other people which, in turn, is key to reducing stress.
What favors the emission of oxytocin?
It could be summed up in two ideas, on the one hand, betting on QUALITY in our lives, we live in a world in which quantity (many friends, many trips, many clothes) prevails over quality.
And on the other hand, learn to ENJOY, that is, live the present, the "here and now", put love in everything we do, relate to other people, laugh, give and receive massages, exercise, help others, share moments… enjoying life in general will help us generate more oxytocin and combat stress, although it seems like the formula to build a happy life and a better world. What do you think?
Would you like to apply these ideas in your life?
What actions can you take to start?
Remember that you are the owner of your life, convert your freedom into value.
