This post has been a long time coming, but finally it's here! I've wanted to describe the relationship between our thought patterns and the effect they have on our body for a while and I've figured out just how to do it...
I came across a TED Talk that featured a health psychologist by the name of Kelly McGonigal. I am convinced that if there was one video you were to watch this year, you'd do well to watch this one below.
McGonigal describes the interrelation between the way we think about stress, and its effect on our body.
For people that experience super high stress levels, altering the perception of this stress has been deemed to lower your risk of death by upwards of 40%!
Take the following for example:
You're at home, on Facebook. You're scrolling through your news feed. Lo and behold, you come across a post that's been commented on by a number of your friends. This post has made reference to you in a derogatory way. You're steaming! You feel your shoulders tensing up. Your heart's beating hard. Your hands are sweating. You find your mouth dry, and you're losing breath. You're down right stressed now. How could this be any good for you?
Well, here's how...
When we learn to understand our stress response as something that could be seen in a positive light, we learn to change our psychology towards a courage-orientation.
How does this look?
When you feel your heart's beating quicker, you can tell yourself "Hey, that's okay. My body's preparing me for action." When you're breathing quicker say to yourself "It's fine, that just means my body's getting more oxygen to my brain." You see, when we understand our response not as something that's going to put us through the rough and tumble physiologically, but something that's preparing us to stand for what we value (in the latter instance, our reputation) we're able to take our body into our own hands. We're able to stand up and say "I'm in control, and I know where to go."
Your blood vessels, instead of constricting (a determinant to cardiovascular disease in extremely anxious people) remain healthy. Your body's not on the down and out, but getting ready to up and go!
Our evolutionary ancestors, when confronted by a wild animal could definitely understand how this would look like. With their body ceasing digestion, their adrenalin pumping, heart pacing, and mind fixed they're either able to escape the predator, or defeat it. You'll either fly (run away) from your problems; fight (choose to tackle them head on); or freeze (not know what to do or where to go).
The path is up to you!
One final tidbit before we end will be the fact that anxiety makes us social! Yes, you got it right, it gives us the opportunity to be social.
Let's talk about oxytocin. It's a stress hormone. It's as much a part of the stress response as the adrenalin released to get us ready for tackling stress. But here's the kicker... It's a hormone that fine tunes our social habits. It's released when cuddling, having sex, talking to others, being close - essentially, it's a hormone that allows our sense of self be surrounded by those we love.
Studies have shown that when we reach out to others in times of stress rather than bottling it in we're better equipped to handle life's challenges. In fact, when we reach out to others we're significantly less likely to end up dead than when we don't! When oxytocin's released it works not only to make us feel good, but also to heal damaged heart cells. You see, the heart has special receptors for these hormones, and they act in such a way to repair the heart-hurt previously experienced.
There's a potential, by changing the way you think about stress and reaching out to others in times of stress, to reverse the thrashing our heart has taken in the past. Our body's got a built-in mechanism to combat hurt in the toughest times. What is it? It's being social!
Images and video received from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcGyVTAoXEU
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Oxytocin-neurophysin.png
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-reUH0C6K_Bg/UilzlELj14I/AAAAAAAAJvk/NwD2zxsBmmY/s1600/Happiness.jpg
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