STRESSED?

When we exercise our muscles react and respond to the appropriate stress placed upon them to develop. Stress in other aspects of our lives behave in a very similar way.When the right kind of stress is applied to our working life, relationships, body and mind we often find that we thrive, feeling an overall sense of achievement and comfort in our health and wellness.But, therein lies the problem. The stress we deal with in our everyday lives can all too often be overwhelming and not managed well, leading to detrimental effects on our health.A very common question you’ll hear asked by our coaches at PEAK when talking with an athlete about their pain is “Have you been experiencing any additional stress recently?”We ask this vital question because we know that stress plays a significant role in how we feel and deal with pain. Managing stress effectively will positively impact your rehab, recovery and performance.Of course, our PEAK coaches are not immune to times of overwhelming stress, so here are a few techniques we use to keep our stress in check and keep performing at the highest level we can for our athletes.Tip 1: Reframing your perspective on StressA simple yet often overlooked strategy to tackle stress is to reframe our views and thoughts on the matter. As spoken about above, stress is not something to rid ourselves of completely. When used effectively stress can provide great growth and success where it is aimed towards, be it exercise, work or our education. This does require good prioritising of the situations in your life that are causing undue amounts of stress, which brings up the next tip.Tip 2: Getting OrganisedReframing your perspective on stress works particularly well when we put in equal effort to get our life organised. We have all had those moments of the last-minute dashes, pulling our hair out as we rush from one place to another, a million thoughts running through our minds and our stress levels through the roof. The coaches at PEAK work to be prepared with their days, which leaves less of those last-minute dashes and allows them to reduce the stress response created from stress inducing events. It can be as simple as planning your day by: · Not overbooking your time · Using something other than your head to keep track of your plans (a diary or your phone) · Not planning too many things in your day And remember it is always integral to take some time for some good ol’ R&R. Rest and relaxation will prove themselves vital to reducing stress and having you at 100% when focusing on the activities you do need done.Tip 3: Effective Prioritisation using the Snowball EffectSometimes though, the stress in our lives is often due to the overwhelming lack of control we feel we have in given situations. To tackle this, we can use an old tip from the financial world called the snowball method. We start by creating a list of the stressful situations in our lives and try to order them from least to most stressful. We then brainstorm ideas for the best ways to remove or feel in control of that stress. When you feel you have some of the lower stress items under control, you move on to the larger stress items focusing more attention on them. The idea that you have more control over the matters that are stressful for you gives you a better understanding of the stress in your life, and who knows you may find some of those lower stressful situations may not even be stressful at all!And finally a little chat on Mindfulness ManiaIt’s no secret that mindfulness and meditation is the latest technique people over the world are using to combat an overwhelming sense of stress and anxiety. And for good reason, as it has been shown that mindfulness will have a meaningful impact on reducing stress and anxiety of those who practice it. What we find at PEAK is that we respond well to different forms of meditation, while some of our coaches have tried evoking The Beatles with some transcendental meditation others like a more scientific approach and use the guided mindfulness techniques of the neuroscientist Sam Harris.There are also apps Calm and Headspace which sit in between the two. It is important to find the style that best suits you, as it seems it’s not the content that is integral to managing stress but the act of doing so.Unmanaged stress can have a lasting and resounding impact on not just our mental health but overall physical wellbeing. Like sleep, diet and exercise, having your stress managed successfully will undoubtedly lead to a greater quality of life and help you achieve experiences you may not have thought possible. If you would like to talk more about techniques and strategies to assist in managing your stress call us on (07) 3399 3318 to book an appointment with a PEAK coach.