How To De-stress In Distress
How To De-stress In Distress
Outsmarting certain puppies and all computers. 2-Minute Tip Sheet.
Our human mind is a ‘central processing unit’ much more intelligent than any Intel® CPU we built. We’d better be smarter than Pavlov’s dogs conditioned to drool to a bell even with no food. We can beat the stress that’s beating down on us. We’ve got this.
Stress in daily living was identified as a major root cause for their problems with health and happiness in the 2000-some patients and coworkers in my Healing Habits clinic program. Stress drove many to seek comfort from food and lose motivation for fitness. Dieting and denial failed to suppress it. Then they got themselves de-stressed.
Let me be clear:
Stressors are outside happenings that hit you.
They can be nasty or neutral. No, you cannot avoid them.Stress is your self-generated internal reactions to stressors.
It is harmful and hurtful. Yes, you can avert it.
Before the how let’s look at the what.
Stress Primer
Instant stress is a survival mechanism powered by a squirt of Adrenaline that arms the body to combat the occasional danger—a stressor, such as a tiger back in the day. This fight-or-flight response fizzles out once the threat passes. It saves us.
When you constantly perceive all stressors, like today’s traffic lights, as tigers, you get overrun by runaway Adrenaline storms that can give you a heart attack or at least a bad hair day. It slays you.
A flame can be nasty as a 4-alarm house fire or nice as a sing-song campfire. Water can be nice as a shower or nasty as a tsunami. It all depends—not only on the circumstances but also how you take it—in each instance. See each stressor clearly for what it really is before reacting. It’ll save you.
When you use your mind to process a real stressful event, you can find a solution or a resolution. But if you let any stressor short-circuit your ‘CPU’ and jump-trigger your mindless stress eruption, that’s when you get burnt. It’ll slay you.
Things can get even worse. Lingering or recurring stress soaks you in Cortisol. Your body makes this hormone only for short-term relief of inflammation. In these stressful modern times, Cortisol level gets cranked way up for days to years on end. It acts like a slow poison causing a host of crippling chronic medical disorders.
In this fast-paced world, some things must be rushed. But not all things. Still, people afflicted with today’s “Hurry Sickness” hurry, worry, scurry, and feel sorry just about everything all the time until they get sick and buried with “dis-ease”.
As you can see, almost all stress reactions to outside stressors are self-generated and, therefore, can be self-degradated. It only takes some mindset reset, preparation, and practice. With awareness and some re-programming, you won’t keep getting ‘knee-jerked’ around. You can snatch the “No-Bell Prize” off Dr. Pavlov’s hand.
Phantom problems in our heads can turn into interminable tyrants and terrorists. In contrast, you have survived the Covid pandemic or worse. Many stressors in life are, indeed, real and serious. Yet, humans are a species distinguished at dealing with disasters in real life and real-time. You got this.
Let’s look at some solutions my 2000+ Healing Habits participants have road-tested for effectiveness.
2-Minute Tip Sheet for Stress
In-n-Out
Stressors are “outside-in”, and you can’t avoid them all. Stress is “inside-out”, but you can avert it. Outdo it or it’ll do you in. You have a safety flip-switch in your central processing unit—mindfulness.
Fact from Fiction
Ask, “What the ‘f___’ is really going on?” Are your frightening foes factually flocking in your face or only fictionally flashing in your fantasy? Most often, after listing and lining up facts versus fears, you’ll lay back and LOL with relief.
No-Bell Prize
Most stressors are repeat offenders like Pavlov’s dog bell—RrrRrringing. Since they raid repeatedly, you can get well prepared. Between rings, you can reprocess, reset, and rehearse your reactions to be ready to repress your prior reflex when they restrike—and RRRRRRRR right back next time with the right response.
Hurry-Worry-Scurry-Sorry Sickness
It only takes a quick pause to sort out if this very instance calls for haste, waste, a race, or a slower pace.
Face It or Erase It
You must reach all real-life requirements but dismiss all delusional demands.
Don’t like it? Change it. Can’t change it? Change what you can—you.
Can’t make things better? Make yourself better.
Just do what you can. There's plenty.
If nothing is working…then do that—Nothing!
Do only what’s real and worthwhile.
“Don’t sweat the small stuff. And it’s all small stuff.” (Richard Carlson)An emergency needs you to be fast and focused.
An importance needs you to be calm and clear.
A distinction makes a difference.Prepare for the worst, then quit worrying.
You have readied yourself already. Now chill.Unless the milk is already spilled, milk all the good out of a bad “shituation” as “shift happens!” (Steve Bhaerman)
Getting lemons? Sell lemonade.
(No sugar, of course.)
When In Doubt, Air It Out
If you can breathe, you can de-stress. Millions of ordinary people over millennia had no pills or psychotherapy, often not even gin or gym. They only had their bodies. So they have devised a fail-safe always-here relaxation practice called breathing. Call it meditation if you wish.
Once under your belt, a few practiced breath cycles would do it. Remember it’s the slow, effortless outbreath that relaxes you the most. You’re also welcome to practice in our Breathing Room.
. . .
This post is only an introduction. Over 25 years, we’ve saved up plenty more sound and substantiated solutions for stress resilience. I’ll “tell all” in my future posts.
Bonus Podcast - Your Body’s Stress Resilience (Gratitude)
Each 2-3 minutes
This third stand-alone post is of a series, Healing Habits.
The top image is modified from an iStock graphic curated with subscription.