Day 5 – How Does Your Stress Feel to You?
Today we are looking at the early warning signs of stress. Often we are not aware of the little stress triggers and before we know it, things have built up and we discover we’re really stressed. If you register when your body is sending you the signal then you can take action before you get to the straw that broke the camel’s back! Just because you are not registering you are stressed, doesn’t mean that you are not stressed.
The key to understanding when something is triggering your stress is by noticing how you feel in your body. Remember, stress starts when you perceive a situation to be threatening. That decision launches a cascade of reactions in your body that culminate in something helpful (for example, when things are going well) and something less helpful (for example when you’re tense but not in a life threatening situation).
Take some time to write down how you feel when you are stressed. It may help if you think of a stressful situation.
Now work backwards. Before that something happened, how did you feel in your body.
Keep working back and record that trail of feelings. Now you know what to look out for.
When you notice these feelings, check in with what you are thinking. If you can, change what you are thinking about. Also build in some of the tools that we have already talked about. Schedule in some extra relaxation time, map and release the tension in your body.
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