how to stop being STRESSED! a 4-step process
read time: 6 minutes
disclaimer: This is not medical advice. This is intended to educate, inspire and support you in your self healing journey. Speak to your medical professional. Some content might be sensitive; I invite you to practice self-harmonizing.
The more the world talks about stress (chronic and traumtic), the more I hope you’re asking…
“How do I reduce the harmful impacts of stress on my body, mind, mood, emotions, and energy? How do I feel less chaotic and overwhelmed… and more clarity, confidence, and creativity to show up in life as my best self?!”
Great question, friend!
As a somatic coach, here’s the 4-step process I recommend to my students:
Recognize What Is
Relish in Safety
Release Stored Survival Stress
Resilience to Stress
Let’s go a little deeper, shall we?
recognize what is: practice acceptance
The purpose of life is to live and evolve. Evolve into a better version of ourselves, and that means changing.
The more rewarding growth is done with consciousness and intention… by first recognizing the truth of where we are at right now.
If not for this recognition, we would be resisting what is.
Resistance creates separation. We cannot heal in separation, disconnection, defense, fear, we cannot heal in stress mode.
So first we accept. I consider this kind of a pre-step before our foundation of safety.
relish in safety
Safety is the name of the game for the nervous system, friend!
Why? Because safety IS the purpose of the nervous system. The nervous system is responsible for keeping you safe (and alive) for survival of self (and species).
So we have to start with the foundation of feeling safe for our nervous system to free up energy to make positive changes.
ways to feel safe
This is by no means an exhaustive list, everyone will feel safe doing different things, and if you’ve experienced a lot of trauma please work with a qualified trauma professional… but here are a few ideas:
— Get professional support on your healing journey, spend quality time in nature (walking while talking on the phone doesn’t count), orient, hum or chant, restorative yoga, yoga nidra, be hugged by someone you trust (could be yourself or cuddled by a pet), reduce coffee intake (especially if you have elevated cortisol or feel prone to anxiety), Basic Exercise from Stanley Rosenberg’s Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve, red light therapy, gua sha and more.
release stored survival stress
Every single day stressors enter our field. When that happens the body mounts an unconscious response to adaptively deal with the stressor… and keep you alive!!!
But MOST of the time, the physiology mounts a response, and we do nothing. We don’t use the mobilizing energy to deal with the stressor…
Getting into a fist fight with our boss is a DEFINITE faux pas!
So the energy, in the form of adrenaline and cortisol, stays in the body, continuing to circulate and eventually elevate baseline levels of these stress hormones!!! Over the years we aren’t even consciously aware our physiology feels stressed!
ways to release stored survival stress
Not an exhaustive list, but here are some ideas to get you going:
— Tension & Trauma Release Exercise, tapping/EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), myofascial release, yin yoga, certain gentle breathworks like coherent breathing or lengthening the exhale, and more.
build resilience to stress
It’s not enough to let go of past stressors, we also want to widen the “window of tolerance” a term coined by Dan Siegel, MD, so we can handle new stressors with more ease.
ways to release stored survival stress
Again, not an exhaustive list but some ideas:
— Cold exposure, kundalini yoga, intense breathworks like box breath or holotropic breathwork or Wim Hof breathwork, strength training, and more.
how to work with this healing process
Although I recommend working with this order listed above as they build on each other…
Healing is not linear!
You won’t move from safety to release to resilience one by one by one. You’ll constantly be moving between the three depending what you are experiencing and feeling in the moment.
It’s not like you’ll say ok I feel safe, move on to release and NEVER go back to feeling safe practices. They are best in unison.
I invite you to share with us in the comments; where are you in your nervous system healing journey?
infinite health & growth,
Stephanie
