The Personal Story Behind My Stress Management Training
I used to be terrible at managing stress.
In fact, for a long time my number one stress-management tactic was to avoid it all together; and when that didn’t work, I would call my mom (usually in tears) and hope that somehow she’d be able to take the stress away.
The impact it had on me was visceral. It ravaged my body and mind — making me feel physically ill and mentally/emotionally wrecked. Whenever I faced anything that was “too stressful,” my instinct was to run away.
Which makes sense (to a degree), because that’s what the stress response is for — it’s activated by the sympathetic nervous system, which is in charge of the fight or flight response.
It’s physiological, and specifically designed to help us get out of danger. The problem is, my sympathetic nervous system was operating on overdrive, clocking everyday stressors as life threatening, and signaling me to flee.
I was 25 when I discovered Dr. Richard J Davidson’s research on emotions and emotional style, and it changed my life.
Davidson’s research set me down the path of yoga where I hardwired the tools that he studied into my everyday life. Tools that helped me shift from a victim mindset to an empowered one. It didn’t happen overnight, but for me, it felt important enough that I stayed dedicated.
Now, when I experience stress, it no longer takes control over me. Instead, I notice the distress in my mind, which usually cues me to check in with my body — to observe the way my chest tightens, and my heartbeat quickens. The restriction of my breath. The sick feeling in my stomach. It’s mindfulness in action (one of the tricks taught in my program). Then, I turn to one (or more) of my tools to help calm the stress response and come back to a neutral state.
Once I’m regulated, I find it helpful to pinpoint what triggered my stress response (I don’t always know) and then talk through my concerns with my spouse, or write and reflect about it on my own (reflection through writing is another helpful tool). This usually helps me alleviate the stress, or at least, prepare myself to better manage it moving forward.
The important thing I want to point out here is exactly the thing that Dr. Davidson found through his research — our level of self awareness, emotional reactivity and resilience is not a permanent fixture of who we are, and we can in fact shift where we fall on these spectrums. We can become more self aware, less emotionally reactive and more resilient.
And that’s exactly the framework that my wellness trainings are based upon. But it doesn’t stop there. Whenever I work with an organization, I show them how to make stress management a part of their company culture, and provide tools to help employees fully integrate the things taught through my training, into their lives long term.
The result is more self awareness, better resilience, and less emotional reactivity among employees, which caters to workplace longevity and sustainable service. And that’s exactly why I created the training.
If you want to bring these tools to your team or organization, let's talk. Schedule a discovery call and take the first step toward sustainable wellness and mission-based work today.
