Reframe that stress
There’s plenty of insight out there on how to manage stress, or mitigate it, or sometimes avoid it altogether (but let’s be real, that would probably mean you’re living under a rock). A less common topic of discussion is reframing stress.
I less common, yet it pops up at TED talks a fair bit. There's overlap, but the secret to this particular ramble was that back in August is I watched this on LinkedIn. There's some juicy info in both.
The idea of reframing is a sort of meta technique – which in this case addresses how you approach stress in your mind, to essentially retrain your body’s reaction. It’s not a sure-fire with every single kind of stress, but it can certainly go a long way with a lot of different stresses.
The first and, I think more common way is to think of a lot of stress – frustration when you can’t figure out a puzzle, a rush of nerves while at work, or navigating through an awkward situation on a social event – as a challenge. Something you can meet and overcome. It’s an opportunity to learn, do or try something new, or in a new way.
The benefit of changing how we think about situations like this is it can literally lead to a physiological change – there are different stresses which release different types of stress hormones – some of which, in large doses – can be more harmful than others.
The other major benefit is that this can help us train and manage our flight / fight / freeze responses. This is typically the way humans react to stress. Reframing helps us be better prepared and able to think our way through a situation, rather than simply reacting.
Now I said this wasn’t likely to work with every kind of stress, and that’s true. Some places state there are as few as three kinds of stress and as many as seven categories. Personally I like how the seven system looks. It's likely that chronic stress won’t likely be beaten this way, as that tends to be far beyond taking back control of a few key moments.
There is of course the positive stress (AKA eustress) situations, such as when you’re lifting heavy things, or under a time crunch such as an escape room or other sort of competition – these often inspire us, but that’s because we’re focused on the goals – we see the light at the end of the struggle tunnel. Reframing can help turn those surprises into small struggle tunnels
But for those moments, we can really change our internal landscape, maybe even making stress into an ally, rather than something we only come into contact with.
And I dunno about you, but I’m always happy to make new friends or allies!
What are your thoughts on stress as opportunities? Have you recently overcome any stressful situations, or reframed your challenges in any way? Let us know down below!
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