Essential Strategies to Master Your Stress and Reduce Your Overwhelm

Overwhelmed, over extended, distressed, exhausted and burned out? Describe it any way you want - it is still STRESS! Stress is the disease that hits everyone in the 21st Century at some point in time.

What is stress?

Stress is the feeling of being overwhelmed or having difficulty with managing the demands of a situation or a change of circumstances. Stress is the perceived belief that you lack the resources and ability to cope and respond to the situation or circumstance and your mind, body and physiology acts as if you are experiencing a real or perceived threat.

The feelings of stress are real; they are an indicator that something is going on and that you had better pay attention.

What is happening is that our brain, the magnificent computer in our body, is sending signals that we are feeling under attack. This is regardless of whether the threat is actually real or not, because we perceive it to be so- it is so.

The Amygdala, located in the central part of the brain, is kicking into high gear and has released the potent stress hormones Cortisol and Adrenaline.

These hormones then begin the process of shutting down the creative parts of our brain; making it difficult for us to think clearly. We begin to feel overwhelmed, and in turn - immobilized.

These hormones affect your muscles, constrict your arteries and blood vessels and increase your blood pressure, consequently putting stress on your heart.

The hormones pour into the digestive system causing it to slow down and thereby increasing the potential for fat to be stored in the abdomen. Stress is real - there is something physiologically happening with our bodies.

Once we understand what is happening we can then start to take action, turn things around, knowledge is power - if you use it!

The number one method of addressing stress is to change your frame of reference; change your mind set. You are not powerless, even though you may feel like it. You can move from a sense of overwhelm and immobilization from what you CAN'T CONTROL - to that of taking action and focusing on what you can CONTROL.

Instead of GIVING UP on life and putting energies in to STRIVING CEASELESSLY to get what you want, you can determine where you need to LET GO and put your energies into finding ways to MASTER YOUR SITUATION.

We can move from

Giving up on Life to Letting Go

Ceaseless Striving to Mastering the Situation

Feeling helpless and acting as if you are a victim is a sign of GIVING UP. When you do not assert yourself, set limits and boundaries with others, communicate your feelings, and take responsibility for your actions and choices - you are giving away your personal power. These are all signs that you are GIVING UP.

This differs from LETTING GO which is more about practicing healthy detachment and LETTING GO of things you can't control. In doing this you respect and accept that others will have a different perspective than yours, which is okay - because you don't have to be in control.

STRIVING CEASELESSLY conjures up a picture of a mouse continuously going around in circles. An apt metaphor for somebody who stays stuck in the past and continuously worries about their future.

These are people who worry about what others are doing or not doing, they spend enormous amounts of energy on trying to get others to see things from their point of view; focusing on trying to change other people's behaviors rather than their own. They are easy to anger, becoming frustrated and resentful because things are not being done the way they think they should.

With SITUATION MASTERY the focus of control remains within you. You understand that you have control over what you do, what you say, and how you say it. You express your opinions, take risks and let people know how you feel. You set limits and boundaries and prioritize your needs. You practice good self care by exercising and eating well. You invest in self growth and strive to educate and update yourself.

In SITUATION MASTERY you strive to practice a good work/life balance whilst not taking yourself too seriously; taking time out to rest and play while also incorporating fun and humor into your life.

Stress is a fact of life that is with you whether you want it or not. Your situation or circumstances may not change however it is how you handle it that will make the difference. You can remain powerless by giving up and ceaselessly striving for things that are out of your control or you can develop a healthy detachment. You can do this by learning to let go of the outcome or better still focus on mastering that which is in your control; thereby gaining better mastery over yourself and the situation

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