When the Stress Bucket Runneth Over
Oct 17, 2016 Elaina Curran
Stress. We all know that feeling of being in a pressure cooker at times. Life puts more and more demands on us until we feel we are losing control to some extent. Sadly, even children are not immune and life’s pressures can take a toll on them as much as on adults.
We can’t completely eliminate stress from our lives, but then, nor should we under certain circumstances. In moderation, stress can actually be beneficial for us as it keeps us on our toes. Potential threats on the busy streets of a city centre can heighten the senses enough to keep you aware of, and safe, in a hectic environment. Stress can help us power our way through deadlines at work, give athletes that extra boost in competition or enhance an actor’s or musician’s stage performance. For students, stress can even help provide the motivation to study for upcoming exams.
Stress was a survival tool used by our ancestors to keep them alert and aware in a potentially threatening situation. Once the “fight or flight” moment has passed, our bodies should return to a natural, normal state. Everyone has a different threshold for coping with stress, but when we go beyond our limit, or when we experience chronic or sustained stress, the effects can be overwhelming. There are a number of ways it can manifest in our daily lives:
- Persistent negative thinking
- Fatigue
- Sleeping problems
- Irritability
- Anger and frustration
- Feeling of anxiety
- Emotional outbursts
Stress affects both mind and body. Continued exposure can lead to physical health problems or exacerbate current health issues, as so many studies have shown. You may even have noticed that you succumb to the common cold or flu more easily when feeling run down and stressed.
From the time we wake up in the morning until we go to bed, stresses and worries accumulate in our Stress Bucket. The morning rush to get the children to school, getting stuck in traffic and knowing you will be late for work, disagreements with a partner, the list is endless and that finite bucket keeps on filling. Thankfully the mind has a natural way of processing our emotional experiences and translating them into an intellectual memory that we have control over. That happens during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. That’s why “sleeping on it” can be so beneficial. We usually feel that we can handle things better the following morning. Unfortunately, if there is too much being piled into our bucket day after day, it will overflow.
There are a myriad of options to help get us back on top of things. How we empty our Stress Bucket is as individual as we are. For those who need a little help to conquer those high stress levels, hypnotherapy can be beneficial. Hypnosis works by bypassing all our analytical, negative and anxious thoughts to reach the subconscious. When we are calm and relaxed, the Stress Bucket begins to empty and the rational mind has a chance to “speak up” and find solutions to our problems. Stress may be unavoidable, but we all have the power and the capability within us to manage it. What a joy to be able to say, “I got this and I’m doing okay”.
By Elaina Curran, DSFH, CNHCreg, AfSFHreg
Published in BS35Local, October 2016 issue