Being stressed is like being on a rollercoaster, (aka the stress rollercoaster). There are highs and lows depending on how long you choose to stay on the ride.

When we first get on a rollercoaster, we aren’t thinking too much about it, we’re just excited about what’s ahead and we riding the tracks.

But all of a sudden, the rollercoaster suddenly speeds up and tips us forward when we weren’t expecting it, creating the adrenaline rush.

When the initial rush of being tipped forward at high speed is over, we start to calm down.

If we chose to stay on the rollercoaster, the stress continues.

If we get off the rollercoaster, the stress will disappear.

When we stay on, we eventually get used it to the stress and adapt.

But too long on the rollercoaster will result in feeling sick and get to our tipping point.

Eventually we may even pass out, just like when we burnout in life from being stressed.

Nobody wants that, right?

Most people believe that their journey to being stress-free is unique, and no one holds this belief more than stressed-out individuals themselves. It’s can be a lonely place to be.

But in thinking that their own journey is completely different from anyone else’s, they get caught up in how they feel and miss the bigger picture because they’re too close to their own situation.

Stress shows up in different ways for different people, for example;

• Stomach-churning stress and anxiety
• Struggling to sleep, up all night tossing and turning, stressing about work, money, life or relationships.
• On the verge of literally exploding if life throws any more pressures
• Debilitating panic attacks
• Minds full of a million thoughts whizzing through causing constant distraction
• And not being able to relieve chronic pain which has been a struggle for years.

Even though stress manifests itself differently, the journey to recovery doesn’t need to be a lonely one, because underneath it all, we’re the same.

Having worked with so many stressed, anxious and overwhelmed people we’ve learned a lot about the ‘stress journey’ – particularly that it is, in fact, a lot more predictable than most people think.

What most people don’t realise is they’ve been on this ‘stress journey’ since they were born.

We were born with this inbuilt guidance system so that we remain safe and protected at all times, it’s our primal survival mechanism.

Over the years we’ve learned when to be stressed and when not to be, based on our life experiences.

We repeat similar patterns every day, physically, mentally and emotionally.

For example, we physically tend to get hungry or tired around the same time of day. We tend to think similar thoughts every day and we tend to fluctuate between similar emotions too.

We do the same with stress. To the extent that often we don’t even notice when we’re stressed until something significant happens.

We go through the motions of daily life and inevitably at some point we experience a significant stressful or emotional event.

It’s a natural part of life, however depending on how you navigate the stress-journey, you may be carrying stress with you from the past.

The onset of stress can look different to everyone as we’re all triggered by different things…

For example;

• Losing a loved one
• Being in an accident
• Losing a job
• Difficulties at work
• Starting a new job
• Entering a new relationship
• Pregnancy or health changes
• Moving house
• Changes in environment
• Meeting new people
• The list goes on….

Regardless of the trigger, internally we all follow the same blueprint.

We perceive a threat or a danger and it triggers our stress response. Our nervous system goes on high alert and gets ready to fight, freeze or flight.

Think back to the caveman days, we needed this mechanism to be active as there was a strong chance we could be eaten by a lion.

This stress response is innate within us and it enables us to act quickly. It’s intended to keep us out of harm’s way.

But in this modern day we don’t need to be worried about being chased by lions. Yet this in-built mechanism is still very active within us.

Unfortunately, we’ve learned to perceive stress from email notifications and conversations with our boss’ versus being chased by a lion.

Our perceptions of danger have been distorted greatly since the caveman days and more stress is being triggered than what’s truly needed.

The symptoms of stress create wear and tear physically, mentally and emotionally - especially if it persists.

Signs you might be acutely stressed:

• Heart rate increases
• Blood pressure increases
• Blood sugar levels rise
• Difficulty breathing
• Muscles tense up
• Sweating
• Pupils dilate
• Cooler skin
• Dry mouth
• Nausea
• Anxiety
• Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
• Racing thoughts or worry
• Making poor decisions
• Irritable
• Restlessness

Our stress can be our ally or our enemy, it depends how we choose to respond.

The navigation stage is where we have the opportunity to recover. It’s also known as the resistance phase in the work of medical doctor and researcher, Hans Seyle.

After the initial shock of a stressful event, the body begins to repair itself and tries to return to normal again.

We experience a ‘come down’ physiologically from our stressor.

Typical symptoms experienced here are irritability, frustration and poor concentration whilst we assimilate and try to find our balance again.

During this time, the body releases a lower amount of cortisol and the heart rate and blood pressure begin to normalise as the body starts to calm down.

Although it’s entering recovery, it will stay on high alert for a while.

The beauty of this stage, is that we can self-regulate and process stress in a healthy way.

When we do this, we can exit the stress journey with full recovery.

The body returns to a pre-stressed state where hormone levels, heart rate and blood pressure return to normal. The mind finds peace and emotions stabilise.

We can get on with life in a peaceful and resourceful way without any negative consequences of the stress trigger.

Unfortunately, the majority of us don’t do this. We stay on the stress journey as we haven’t learned how to self-regulate. The stress persists and we stay activated in high alert.

Instead of learning to process stress and thrive, we’ve learned to ‘cope’.

These are known as coping mechanisms. Unhealthy coping mechanisms often look like this:

• Ignoring the signs and symptoms of stress
• Pretending everything’s ok
• Distracting from stress
• Exercising for relief
• Using food, alcohol and substances to assimilate
• Accepting stress
• Lashing out at others
• Thinking that we’re unable to improve it, so we have to just get on with it.
• Using stress as a badge of honour
• Withdrawing from others
• Looking for quick fixes like medication or smoking
• Being critical of self and others
• Escaping through entertainment, social media, tv, music etc
• Lower expectations of others
• Thinking it’ll go away by itself
• Believing it’s normal to suffer

During this stage the body continues to secrete the stress hormone and blood pressure remains elevated.

Unfortunately, a lot of people often think they’re managing stress well but their bodies mental, physical and emotional response tells a different story. Which leads us into stage 4.

Extended time in this stressed state leads to a stage of poor adaptation. Our mind-body remains in a constant state of stress which starts to have long term negative effects. Coupled with the symptoms mentioned earlier these also include:

• Low energy levels
• Low self-esteem
• Difficulty sleeping
• Unhealthy change in weight
• Difficulty managing emotions
• Panic attacks
• Rapid heartbeat
• Overthinking/Negative thinking
• Tiredness
• Repeated negative patterns

If we don’t take time to recover here, it can lead to chronic stress.

The mind-body cannot sustain this level of intensity for a prolonged period.

If due to circumstances or time frames, you’re unable to allow adequate recovery, it’s likely you’ll knowingly or unknowingly adapt to a heightened state of stress.

This heightened state of stress becomes the new normal. Until we get to stage 5.

If we continue to neglect our stress and don’t process it, it starts to add up over time.

We call this stress compounding.

When we repeat the early stages of this stress-journey over and over again, without recovery, stress compounds over the years.

We collect so much stress and it finally starts to rear its ugly head in ways in which we notice.

It’s like shaking up a champagne bottle full of stress and when we pop the cork, the stress overspills.

It tests us physically, mentally and emotionally and often leads to chronic stress.

We each have a limited capacity for stress which means everyone has a breaking point. Everything gets too much we are on the verge of tipping over the edge.

It often looks like this:

• Stress explosions and emotional outbursts
• Questioning everything
• Chronic pain
• Snapping at loved ones
• Impulsive decision making
• Emotionally unresponsive
• Flash backs from trauma
• Relationships suffer
• Obsessive compulsive behaviours
• Feeling like you’re drowning
• Onset of depression and helplessness

Our tipping point is another opportunity for us to process our stress before further suffering.

It’s our chance to deal with stress before it deals with us…

When we choose to ignore our tipping point, our mind-body deteriorates even more.

This is commonly described as ‘rock-bottom’.

As stress continues the body depletes its resources and the resulting wear and tear suppresses the immune system and cause our humanly functions to deteriorate.

This can lead to a variety of health issues and illnesses, including heart disease, digestive problems, depression and diabetes.

Other symptoms include:

• Fatigue
• Severe exhaustion
• Cynicism
• Emotionally drained
• Negativity
• Intrusive thoughts
• Extreme or unusual irritability
• Difficulty concentrating
• Changes in appetite
• Helplessness
• Poor memory
• Headaches and migraines
• Feeling out of control
• Detachment from others
• Low self-esteem
• Depression
• Adrenal fatigue
• Decreased stress tolerance

Stress is a normal part of life. We all experience it, and there are many ways to let go of unhealthy stress and process it so we can perform at our best and avoid burnout all together even in challenging times.

Our job is to do our best to get off of the stress journey as early as possible. Stage 1 and 2 is inevitable, at stage 3 we have the choice. Beyond stage 4 will require more care and attention but it IS possible to recover from stress no matter which stage you’re in.

Take a moment and reflect honestly, where are you on your Journey?

Remember, you’re in charge of how you respond to stress.

The key is knowing where you are on the journey so you can look ahead and see the path to a healthy and happy stress-free life.

Stress relief can be easy when we intervene on this journey and decide to take the off ramp.

It’s an easy option to keep coasting and burying our stress symptoms, thinking that it’ll work itself out.

But that’s like putting a band aid over a bullet wound and hoping the bleeding will stop itself. Yet we know we have a finite amount of blood and eventually if not addressed effectively we bleed out.

We have a finite capacity for stress and when we hit rock bottom it’s a lot harder to bounce back.

Which means more time suffering, less time enjoying life.

What would your life look like without stress? Without a constant feeling of tension or anxiety?

For our clients who’ve navigated their stress-journey they’ve found peace of mind, they now go through life feeling resilient, confident and motivated to go after (and get) what they want in life.

Their relationships have improved, they’re excelling in the careers and loving their new-found zest for life… and you can too.

The good news is, no matter where you are on the journey there is a way to move from stress and into peace.

If you resonate with being on this stress journey then you’ll love to join us in our upcoming workshop:

Click here to learn more…

Until next time,

Be Well, Mean Well, Make a Difference that Lasts,

Love Charlotte and Jonathan