Mindfulness & Stress

What is your STRESS Level?

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STRESS - can be defined as the way you feel when you’re under abnormal pressure.  Some STRESS can be positive. Research shows that a moderate level of stress makes us perform better. It also makes us more alert and focused  STRESS is only healthy if it is short-lived. Excessive or prolonged stress can lead to illness and physical and emotional exhaustion.

Taken to extremes, STRESS can be a killer.

STRESS Index assessment > 15 is moving into the ORANGE level (overload)

K10 STRESS Assessment > 15 is moving into the ORANGE level (overload)

 

* May 2021 Medical Research Study https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100037

 

9 Ways MINDFULNESS helps with STRESS

  1. You become more aware of your thoughts. You can then step back from them and not take them so literally. That way, your stress response is not initiated in the first place.

  2. You don’t immediately react to a situation. Instead, you have a moment to pause and then use your “wise mind” to come up with the best solution. Mindfulness helps you do this through the mindful exercises.

  3. Mindfulness switches on your “being” mode of mind, which is associated with relaxation. Your “doing” mode of mind is associated with action and the stress response.

  4. You are more aware and sensitive to the needs of your body. You may notice pains earlier and can then take appropriate action.

  5. You are more aware of the emotions of others. As your emotional intelligence rises, you are less likely to get into conflict.

  6. Your level of care and compassion for yourself and others rises. This compassionate mind soothes you and inhibits your stress response.

  7. Mindfulness practice reduces activity in the part of your brain called the amygdala. The amygdala is central to switching on your stress response, so effectively, your background level of stress is reduced.

  8. You are better able to focus. So you complete your work more efficiently, you have a greater sense of well-being, and this reduces the stress response. You are more likely to get into “the zone” or “flow,” as it’s termed in psychology by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

  9. You can switch your attitude to the stress. Rather than just seeing the negative consequences of feeling stressed, mindfulness offers you the space to think differently about the stress itself. Observing how the increased pressure helps energize you has a positive effect on your body and mind.

Pam Hauck