Many of us have very full plates, with work, relationships, loved ones, unresolved conflicts or finances. Stress can sometimes just be day-to-day living.
This stress on the mind and body takes a physical toll. Simply having worrying thoughts activates stress responses in the body. While there isn’t an immediate threat, your body responds as if it is anticipating and preparing and releases your stress response hormones.
Adrenaline is a stress hormone that increases our heart rate, quickens our breathing, and directs blood to our muscles. Our bodies are designed this way to help us respond to stress with fight, flight or freeze. This is great if we are about to get attacked by that “proverbial sabre tooth tiger”… not so great if we are trying to manage day-to-day life.
This stress response can feel really bad and challenging at times when it is unwelcomed. Here are a few signs that you may have an imbalanced stress response:
Adrenaline symptoms and feelings of anxiety arise out of the blue when there is no immediate stressor present.
Every little mole hill feels like a mountain. Little things are making you irritable, angry, upset or blue when they typically wouldn’t. An imbalanced stress response can throw stressors way out of proportion. Getting control of the spiral of negative thoughts feels tough.
Your sleep is disrupted. Waking between 2:00 AM to 4:00 AM and having trouble falling back to sleep? No it’s not just a lucky guess. This is when stress hormones tend to surge in the night and wake you up. When you wake up, your mind starts racing.
You’re having vivid dreams or nightmares. When stress hormones surge in the night, your peaceful slumber may become fraught with vivid or bothersome dreams. It’s like your body is now acting out your stress in your sleep. Not so nice!
It can be very insightful to observe your response to stress.
Is this fight, flight or freeze?
Does this feel disproportionate to the circumstances at hand?
Is this sustainable?
How is this affecting my quality of life and day-to-day living activities?
If this resonates with you, delve into it and explore this with your favourite practitioner at Grassroots. We are here to help.
