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david posen

21 Day Challenge Day 18: What’s stress got to do with it?

by Robin on November 28, 2008

Its not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it. - Hans Selye

You might be wondering, why are most of these posts about stress if the 21 day challenge is about setting and reaching goals?  It’s because the number 1 reason people give for not being successful is …. you guessed it, STRESS. 

So finding ways to reduce stress and increase our stress relieving and resiliency strategies will help us reach our important goals that are often left to linger on the back burner.  One way my stress was relieved today came in the form of an email and an act of kindness.  A client typed out the quote I was looking for from her own copy of “the little book of stress relief”.  And so in order to pay that act of kindness forward I will include it here in this post. 

First, what if our bodies were programmed to withstand or experience a set number of stress reactions over our lifetime, and when we exceeded that number, our bodies would be overwhelmed and pack it in and die? The idea has a certain logic to it. Think of a car motor. After a certain number of piston thrusts, motors just wear out. It’s not all that big a leap to think that our bodies have a finite capacity as well–after so many heartbeats, so much wear and tear, our time would be up.

The second part of the theory is that each of us has a different capacity to withstand repeated stress–a set number of stress reactions programmed into our bodies. My number might be 281000, yours might be 308000, and so on

Finally, although we each have a finite number of stress reactions, no one knows our own quota. If we accept this theory, it would be smart to ask ourselves which situations warrant the expenditure of one of our precious stress reactions. Say the movie you’re going to is sold out.is that worth using up one of your stress reactions? If your preschooler spills his juice, does that warrant a stress reaction? The world starts to look different if we can choose what we allow to upset us. And that is exactly what we can do! (Pgs 40-41).

One additional bonus this book offers is simply the photo on the cover.  Scenic photos such as this one have been studied by psychologists and shown to have a positive effect on stress level (in that levels decrease).  No time to relax, reduce or become more resilient today?  Spend a few moments looking at this picture and practice your deep breathing. 

21 Day Challenge Day 17: Stress: Is it worth it?

by Robin on November 27, 2008

Several years ago I read something that forever changed the way I thought about stress.  It took a few more years but this very simple question has continued to have an impact on the way I deal with stress. 

David Posen is a Canadian physician who writes and speaks on the topic of stress and it’s effect on his patients.  The question he asked that had such an impact on me was “what if you only had a set number of stress responses, how would you use them?”.  Say you are allotted a specific number of times that you can tax your body through having a serious stress response before your body develops a serious problem, would you use one of those responses when your child spills juice on the new couch, when a tourist cuts you off on a morning you are running late, when your boss gives you an extra shift during the holidays?  The Little Book of Stress Relief  (I have misplaced my copy, or there would be an amazing quote here…now I need to re-read that organizing post…)

So now when something happens and I can feel my temperature rising, my heart starting to pound and the beads of sweat beginning to form, I try to take a minute and a breath and I ask myself “is this worth it”.  Of course you can choose to say YES and reel yourself right up tight, go for it.  But remember you get to choose whether you call out a five alarm fire or you go for a run, write in your journal or call a supportive friend.  Does it work every time?  Not for me, no way, but did it help?  In the immortal words of Sarah Palin…You betcha.  Give it a try see if it works for you.  With stress reduction and resiliency strategies…every little bit helps.