Stress. Change your mind, change your experience.

Stress. Change your mind, change your experience by Robindra Mohar

I get asked all the time now I handle the stress of hosting the #itstimetobloom festival, to me it feels and occurs like an incredible challenge to rise to and one of service so the stress to me is mostly joyful! But honestly, not always joyful, there are times when the stress is overwhelming and its in those moments where I do my best to get present, be mindful and act with kindness and compassion. 

According to Kelly McGonigal author of the book The Upside of Stress If you asked most people what is one word that you associate with the word stress, most people will say bad or unhealthy. What if there is good and bad stress? We have been told that stress is bad for our health, that it isolates us, drains us and is bad for our health... but what if it can provide us with strength, propel us forward and provide us with increased levels of concentration, focus and energy? 

There is no such version of your life where it can be stress free. I used to view that stress as a toxic state, and I remember that I even believed I wasn't "good enough" at life and thats why I felt so much stress. It took some slowing down and being with this thinking process for me to realize that I’m not a failure for feeling stress, it just means that I am a human being. 
 

We have been sold an extreme version of stress. We have been led to believe that stress is very harmful for your health. The key to managing stress is not to reduce or avoid it, but the rethink and embrace it. 

According to Kelly Mcgonical, most people associate stress with just one response, flight or fight. 

However there are many stress responses that produce a positive response, there are many responses that can cause a positive outcome.  There is the tend and be friend - motivates you to protect the people in your community, challenge response, athletes are familiar, enhances our mental and physical resources, hear better, move quicker, increases confidence, concentration and peak performance. 

The solution is not to avoid the stress, the solution is to transform it.  

The useful ways to transform stress, is to begin to pay attention when you are feeling stress, this is too much, I can’t handle it, whatever your responses are, ask yourself, why do I care? who do I care about? what do I care about? 

In moments of stress, if you think about your core values that are most important to you, it begins to transform stress,  remembering your values, can help you transform stress, from something that is happening against your will and outside your control, to something that invites you to honour and deepen your priorities. 

Change your mind, change your experience.  If you really want to get into the science behind stress and how to transform it for yourself, I highly recommend that you read the book "The Upside of Stress" by Kelly Mcgonical.

If you are interested in diving into these types of conversations, join me for the upcoming Yogi Entrepreneur Workshop hosted in Edmonton which begins November 14th. Click here to learn more about Yogi Entrepreneur.