Stressors Happen Awareness Shifts
Stress Happens!
Stressors happened every day. These stressors can cause us to be triggered. Our triggers activate stress reactions of the brain's fight, flight, and freeze response.
The stress response activates our adrenal glands, which release hormones including adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline will increase your heart rate, elevate your blood pressure, and boost energy for the moment. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, increases sugar in your bloodstream and enhances your brain glucose. Cortisol also suppresses your digestive system and reproductive system.
The Mayo clinic warns that long-term activation of these hormones can increase anxiety, depression, digestive problems, headaches, heart disease, sleep problems, weight gain, impaired memory and concentration impairment, and much more. So, it is of utmost importance for us to learn how to handle our stress.
The question that runs through people's minds is how we can stop this endless treadmill of chronic stress in a world filled with stressors? The better question is, "Stressors will happen but do we have to be triggered?"
The answer is "No." The stressors will occur. However, if we can find the ability to have awareness in the present moment, then we don't have to get on the treadmill of chronic stress. Even if we happen to be swept up onto the treadmill of chronic stress, but are being in the present moment with awareness, we will have the resiliency and the mindset to make a different choice.
The only place that awareness occurs is in the present moment. The power of awareness is when you're able to see, feel, and listen to what's going on in the moment without judgment of past worries or interference of thoughts regarding future anxieties.
The definition of mindfulness is being aware in the present moment without judgment. The key to mindfulness and reducing stress is the word aware. Awareness is a skill that we all can obtain with practice, patience, and perseverance.
Being Aware Reduces Stress
Being aware of how we personally cope with stressors can determine the impact they have on our bodies and minds. Quite often, when we are triggered, we run to old habits to cope. Many coping mechanisms people have included eating, happy hour, sleeping, shopping, or blaming.
We often use distractions, dismisses, or denials as coping mechanisms. These "D's" may relieve the stress trigger for the moment; however, in the long run, the trigger will come back and often even stronger than before. Being aware of these negative coping mechanisms is very important to facilitating change and positive growth. Awareness gives us the power to make a different choice in the present moment to enable us to act more healthily.
In the Journal of Research in Personality, Volume 65, December 2016, Pages 30-37, there is an article about a study showing daily stress and the benefits of mindfulness: Examining the daily and longitudinal relations between present-moment awareness and stress responses. The study had university students and staff complete an online mindful training course then measured the ability to cope with stress. Grace Bullock, Ph.D., summarized "Results of the study confirmed that those with greater present moment awareness were more likely to respond to stress with strategies that led to greater health and well-being. Specifically, being able to be present in the moment when stressed was directly linked to greater perceived ability to handle that stress, and more resilience of core values to navigate the stressful situation." The study suggests that being present and aware increases stress resiliency and serves to alleviate chronic harmful stress
There have been numerous other studies that link awareness in the present moment to lower levels of perceived stress, anxiety, improvement of mood, and overall a sense of improved well-being. Eckhart Tolle, teacher, and author who has been praised by, among many, Oprah, said, "With the awareness there comes choice. And so you can say: "I allow this moment to be as it is.” Suddenly, where before there was irritation, there is now a sense of aliveness and peace. And out of that comes right action."