Transform Your Perceptions of Stress Through Mindfulness

When you read the word “stress,” what comes to mind?

Maybe you think about the sources of stress in your life, like finances or work, family stress, or stress about health. Maybe you think about a recent stressful situation that you've experienced or you think about the ways you manage or try to avoid stress in your life. For many, the word “stress” has a host of negative associations, but what if I told you that stress serves a very meaningful purpose in our lives?

Stress From an Evolutionary Perspective

Originally, stress wasn't meant to be an enemy, but rather the opposite! You are here reading this today because your ancestors experienced stress in critical moments that kept them alive. If I were being chased by a bear, I would want to have a stress response too! Stress gives us that drive to get up and go, helping us navigate potentially unsafe situations. However, this well-intentioned bodily response doesn't always fit well into situations we find ourselves in in the modern world.

Our body is designed to deal with stress acutely and infrequently, but many find themselves experiencing stress constantly as their body struggles to recognize that a situation is not truly life-or-death. For example, missing a deadline at work is not life-threatening, but our body is not able to perceive the difference between this and another more serious situation without our help. When we stay in a reactionary state for a prolonged period of time, physical manifestations of stress start to show up, like insomnia, poor digestion, changes in mood, fatigue, and body pain (Yale, n.d.).

Potential Impacts of Chronic Stress

Chronic stress is becoming increasingly prevalent and poses a significant risk to mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Societally, we value advancement, hard work, and dedication, which has translated into a world that normalizes stress for the sake of progress. Stress has impacts on the body's ability to detoxify and restore, which has long-term implications on immune function, digestion, hormone balance, sleep, and many other things. Stress can also have significant impacts on relationships with friends, family, coworkers, and most importantly, yourself.

We tend to be more self-critical and judgmental when experiencing stress, which has the potential to impact feelings of self-worth. But, learning how to approach stress mindfully through getting to know your stress and how it manifests in your body can be a significant step towards cultivating a better relationship with the stress in your life. When you approach stress mindfully, the experience of stress becomes less disruptive.

Case Study: Amy

Consider Amy, a 25-year-old who found herself feeling socially isolated after the COVID pandemic (a common experience for many). When she came to see me, she had just started going back to work following a long break. She noticed that she was experiencing high levels of stress when interacting with new people, specifically about how she was being perceived by them, which was becoming harder and harder to overcome. She was also frustrated that she felt unable to communicate in these situations, as her stress manifested largely as an inability to find words.

Amy wanted to approach stress mindfully and had confidence in her ability to do so, but was looking for support and guidance as she started the practice. Mindfulness is defined as noticing what is true in any given moment, without judging or trying to change your experience (Mayo, 2022). For Amy, this looked like taking a step away from the situation to gain perspective. The truth in her interaction with her coworker is what her coworker actually said at any given moment, and the rest is Amy's perception of the situation, which may or may not be rooted in truth. When Amy was able to look at it in this way, she was able to better assess her stress response and whether or not it was justified.

We will never be able to change others, but we can learn to change the way we perceive the actions of others. For Amy, this was most significant as she realized that when her coworker said something dismissive to her, it was likely because he himself was experiencing stress! Approaching stress mindfully through understanding her own stress response not only helped her feel more in control of her own stress but also helped her see stress in other people as well. This gave her a greater capacity to empathize with the experience of others and improved her ability to communicate.

To Conclude

Chronic stress, as it is not technically a medical condition, is often left untreated until it manifests physically, or shows up as clinically significant anxiety or depression. But this doesn't mean that you have to wait to approach stress mindfully in your day-to-day life. The next time you notice stress, take a moment to try the 5-4-3-2-1 exercise: list five things that you see, four things that you're touching, three things that you smell, two things that you hear, and one thing that you taste. When you finish the exercise, take a second to check in with yourself. What emotions are coming up? How does your body feel? What are your thought patterns like? Has your breathing changed? Taking a moment to notice the manifestations of your stress response is the first step in changing your relationship with stress. The Komi app can help you track and learn more about these manifestations over time with its “Logged Symptoms” feature, so you can approach stress management mindfully!

References

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2022, October 11). Mindfulness exercises. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/mindfulness-exercises/art-20046356w

Yale School of Medicine. (n.d.). Chronic Stress. Yale Medicine. https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/stress-disorder