Hope you have a friendlier relationship with stress following last weeks blog post. As we discussed, stress is activated when we think a thought of separation or worry. Instead of being harmful it can help us energise, focus and come to the present. Another helpful gift the stress response brings us, is a nudge to connect to others.. Lets explore how stress can help us connect.
Studies have shown us that during the stress response a neuro-trnsmitter or hormone called oxytocin is released. This hormone fine tunes the brain's social instincts. It gets us ready to do things to strengthen close relationships. It enhances empathy, makes us crave physical contact with family and friends and even makes us more willing to help and support those we care about. Sounds like a pretty good hormone to me;,naturally enhancing our compassion and kindness. Oxytocin is released by the pituitary gland and is as much a part of the stress response as the adrenaline that makes our hearts pump faster.
So when we experience the stress response oxytocin is released to motivate us to seek support or to offer it to others. Oxytocin also acts on our body and protects and strengthens our cardiovascular system. When we reach out to others under stress, either to seek support or to help them, we release more of this hormone.
So our stress response has an inbuilt human connection mechanism, for stress resilience.
An interesting study looked at people's perceived level of stress and how much time they spent helping others. This study showed showed people who spent time caring for others displayed absolutely no, stress-related increase in dying, even though they had undergone a major stressful life experience. It seems caring for and connecting to others is protective against the health effects of major stress. How we act in relation to stress can transform our experience of stress. When we choose to connect with others as a response to stress we create resilience.
So here is my ABCD to help us remember what to do when we feel stress - I would love to hear how you go.
Stress is not inevitably harmful - we can transform it by
1. How we think about it.
When we choose to view our stress as helpful we can create the biology of courage and joy (remember those non-constricted blood vessels)
2. How we act in relation to it
When we choose to connect with others as a response to stress we create resilience. Understanding that our own happiness comes from seeing ourselves trying to help others and that our unhappiness comes from worry and stress about ourselves all the time, motivates us to connect with kindness to help and be grateful for others. A friend of mine attributes his great VCE results, especially in maths, to setting himself up as the class tutor and helping his friends who were having difficulties.
Thank you subscribers
If anyone you know would benefit from receiving these blogs please ask them to subscribe to pom-melbourne here.
Have a peaceful fun and happy week
Kind regards
Maree xx
Studies have shown us that during the stress response a neuro-trnsmitter or hormone called oxytocin is released. This hormone fine tunes the brain's social instincts. It gets us ready to do things to strengthen close relationships. It enhances empathy, makes us crave physical contact with family and friends and even makes us more willing to help and support those we care about. Sounds like a pretty good hormone to me;,naturally enhancing our compassion and kindness. Oxytocin is released by the pituitary gland and is as much a part of the stress response as the adrenaline that makes our hearts pump faster.
So when we experience the stress response oxytocin is released to motivate us to seek support or to offer it to others. Oxytocin also acts on our body and protects and strengthens our cardiovascular system. When we reach out to others under stress, either to seek support or to help them, we release more of this hormone.
So our stress response has an inbuilt human connection mechanism, for stress resilience.
An interesting study looked at people's perceived level of stress and how much time they spent helping others. This study showed showed people who spent time caring for others displayed absolutely no, stress-related increase in dying, even though they had undergone a major stressful life experience. It seems caring for and connecting to others is protective against the health effects of major stress. How we act in relation to stress can transform our experience of stress. When we choose to connect with others as a response to stress we create resilience.
So here is my ABCD to help us remember what to do when we feel stress - I would love to hear how you go.
- Awareness: Feel the stress and remember - My friend stress is here to help me to remember to ......
- Breathe - into the present. Take three mindful breaths into the present. Don't hop on the negative thought train and believe untrue and unkind thoughts like - I am a nervous wreck, I am going to fail??? STOP AND DONT BELIEVE THOSE thoughts and keep BREATHING and
- Connect with yourself and other kindly. Be that kind encouraging friend. Oxytocin is there to give you a nudge to connect to others - to reach out to others for help and to help them.
- Do your best, to do what presents to do. So how can we do something to help others? instead of being stressed you might want to..............
- Do your best for others. Get your 'stressed self' out of the way and do what needs to be done for others - your teachers, family and friends and all those who have supported you along the way, those examiners that need to mark your paper, the person who needs to interview you, the client that needs the job done.
- Breathe, Repeat, Breathe
- Give a smile to yourself or someone near
- Think about what you are grateful for and give thanks
- Ask for some help or see if someone needs your assistance.
- Send someone a kind, encouraging text, thought or message
- Get organised and tidy your work space
- Take the dog for a walk
- Give reassurance to those who are concerned about you - you are doing your best, a smile
- Sit down to study for ten minutes. Usually this helps us get over the hump of getting started, if you are having trouble with motivation.
Stress is not inevitably harmful - we can transform it by
1. How we think about it.
When we choose to view our stress as helpful we can create the biology of courage and joy (remember those non-constricted blood vessels)
2. How we act in relation to it
When we choose to connect with others as a response to stress we create resilience. Understanding that our own happiness comes from seeing ourselves trying to help others and that our unhappiness comes from worry and stress about ourselves all the time, motivates us to connect with kindness to help and be grateful for others. A friend of mine attributes his great VCE results, especially in maths, to setting himself up as the class tutor and helping his friends who were having difficulties.
Thank you subscribers
If anyone you know would benefit from receiving these blogs please ask them to subscribe to pom-melbourne here.
Have a peaceful fun and happy week
Kind regards
Maree xx