Stress 101 - What it is and how mindfulness can help - by Curt Woolford, MA, ACC

by Curt Woolford, MA, ACC

 

Over the past 10 years I have had the honor to teach mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) to hundreds of students. Based on Jon Kabat-Zinn’s pioneering research, MBSR teaches science-proven stress reduction strategies.

As a mindfulness professional, I have noticed the following about stress:

• We all struggle with stress and sometimes it is severe.
• How we experience stress is pretty much the same.
• No one likes how stress feels in the body or the thoughts and feelings that accompany stress. 
• We can develop skills to improve our relationship with stress, i.e. our reactivity to triggers and the time it takes us to recover.
• Mindfulness strategies reduce stress and increase quality of life. It requires persistent practice to become skillful and more aware (as it is with mastering anything).
• It is empowering to have a set of tools in our stress management toolbox that we can pull out as needed.

 

Stress research is significant in scope and includes the many benefits of mindfulness. The scientific community is interested in what happens to the body and the brain when we are stressed. The fight-flight response is hard-wired into us to protect us from a significant threat. The challenge in our modern world is to moderate stress reactivity and increase our awareness that most stressful events are not life threatening.

 

An element of stress management is understanding the physiological changes that occur with the fight or flight response and the relaxation response:

 

Physiological Changes with Stress and Relaxation

	Fight or Flight Response (Sympathetic Activation)	Relaxation Response (Parasympathetic Activation)
Heart Rate	increase	decrease
Blood Pressure	increase	decrease
Breathing Rate	increase	decrease
Muscle Tension	increase	decrease
Blood Clotting	increase	----
Sweating	increase	----
Adrenaline Release	increase	----
Digestive Functions	decrease	increase
Immune Functions	decrease	increase

 

Many of these physiological changes can be felt in the body - we all notice muscle tension as it comes and goes with stress and relaxation. The fight-flight response is hard wired into us for a reason; the sympathetic nervous system is designed for emergency survival. These physiological changes can give us a rapid boost in strength and energy so we can fight the “sabertooth tiger” or run from it. The challenge we all face in our modern world is that our fight-flight response is activated too frequently and sustained for too long. Our bodies are not designed for the sympathetic nervous system to be activated every day.

 

The good news is that relaxation has the opposite physiological effect. With practice, we can learn to stimulate the relaxation response with a variety of mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques, including mindful exercise and mindful eating.

 

Let’s explore a simple mindfulness practice that you can enjoy right now:

 

Mindful Sigh Breaths

The sigh breaths practice stimulates the relaxation response through activation of the parasympathetic nervous system. 

Technique

• Focus - deliberately stop everything else that you are doing.
• Inhale through the nose and exhale slowly through the mouth making a sigh sound.
• Allow the exhale to be twice the duration of the inhale (count to 2 on he inhale and 4 on the exhale).

 

Awareness

• Bring your full attention to meet each breath. Notice sensations and sounds with each inhale and exhale. 
• As you exhale, feel a sense of letting go with each sigh.

 

Enjoy the mindful sigh-breaths practice several times daily. As soon as you feel a bit stressed, just sigh that tension away!

 

About the author:

 

Curt Woolford, MA, ACC

Curt is an educational psychologist, mindfulness consultant, trainer and coach. He specializes in customized mindfulness programs in healthcare, business, and education. Curt’s coaching integrates mindfulness strategies to reduce stress and increase awareness, focus, and productivity.

 

Integrate mindfulness strategies into your daily life with the professional support of Mindfulness Coaching. Explore how mindfulness coaching can support you during these challenging times.

 

Schedule a 15 minute Virtual Coffee to learn more today!

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