You’ve not slept well, you’ve got that deadline at work looming, the kids aren’t listening, you’ve scrambled out the door – massive queue at the coffee shop – and now, you’re in traffic, late for work.

If this was you, your stress levels would be through the roof – and you’d have only just started your day.

So what is stress?

Stress is a bodily response to perceived challenges and demands – which trigger a ‘fight or flight’ response in your body.

When your body perceives a challenge, your body starts to release cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that should help you with this challenge.

Cortisol starts a process:

• Heart rate is increased and is less variable
• Blood flows to big muscle groups ready to run
• Utilisation of energy goes up and alertness increases
• Mental focus becomes narrow

These responses have been perfected for years – and are incredibly important in response to stressful situations. However, our body has yet to differentiate the stress that needs this reaction versus stress that doesn’t.

We evolved to respond to real stress such as tribal war, chasing (and being chased) for food, weather events – whereas now, stress can be traffic, family, work.

The reasons this happens is that our brain has evolved with still a fairly primitive structure. We have a gland called the amygdala which hasn’t really changed – and is responsible for identify stress and responding to it. And when you see the list below you can understand why we end up stressed

• Work stress
• Financial
• Relationships
• Family
• Traffic
• Chronic exercise
• Lack of sleep
• Poor nutrition
• Alcohol (actually a huge stressor)
• Drugs
• Pain

Why Is Stress Bad?

Stress isn’t always a bad thing – small bouts of stress and the flow of cortisol can make us perform well – think sports performance or a work presentation. The clarity and blood flow are actually a good thing.

The problem is when stress becomes chronic. Chronic stress is when you have elevated to we levels of cortisol for a long period of time. This can have detrimental effects on both your psychological and physiological health.

Cardiovascular issues such as high blood pressure can increased due to the permanent increase in pressure caused by cortisol. Other health issues can be digestive issues, fat storage and a weakened immune system.

Chronic stress levels is also inexplicably linked to ill mental health. Anxiety and depression can increase when stress is chronic, but also general cognitive function can decrease also.

Stress can also have an effect on sleep, appetite and emotional wellbeing – it really is something to get on top off!

How Can You Get on Top of Stress?

This list can be big, so I will narrow it down to a couple of key things you can do, but will go into some of the others in time.

Firstly, exercise has a massive effect on your stress levels. Exercise can balance hormones by reducing stress hormones and replacing with endorphins. Chronic exercise though can elevate stress – so be mindful!

Meditation is a key building block for managing stress. Meditation reduces cortisol excretion which allows stress to reduce. Meditation also changes the brains structure and function and can alter brain activity. If you have never done it, you can get great guided meditations online and on apps. I currently use Calm!

Sleep is critical to the reduction of stress. Often we distract ourselves and binge watch tv or social media – this can bite into our sleep time. However, whilst sleeping, we give our brain time to regenerate, regulate our hormones and essentially detox our brain.

My final keystone is social support. I am huge believer that being around people and connecting with others can limit stress. And it’s backed by science – so not missing out on your social experiences can help in a host of ways – think that’ll need to be a blog at some point to!

Key Takeaways

• Our brain can’t interpret real requirements for fright or flight v non-life threatening stressors
• Stress can be beneficial, but chronic stress is a problem
• Exercise, meditation, sleep and social connection can reduce stress