Everyone knows that this modern world is incredibly stressful. We know that stress threatens our health, weakens our performance and interferes with our pleasure in life.
What is less well-known are the ultimate causes of stress and what we can do to minimize the impacts. This study is uniquely interesting because it lies right at the intersection between mind and body. Stress isn't like a pathogen or an alien invader; it has more to do with our experience, our perceptions and our interpretations of events.
The field is fascinating and rich, but the fundamentals are simple. According to neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky, author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, people are more vulnerable to the effects of stress if they
- feel as if they have minimal control
- feel as if they have no predictive information
- have few outlets for their frustration
- interpret the stressor as evidence of worsening circumstances
- lack social support
These observations are backed up by research with non-human animals. They immediately suggest strategies for both personal, organizational and cultural transformation.
Stress education also overlaps strongly with the work of Martin Seligman on learned helplessness. Seligman discovered that our vulnerability to adversity is strongly linked to our explanatory style, the way that we talk about the events in our lives.
Ultimately, once we learn some stress fundamentals, we find that we can harness stress and learn to benefit from it. Good stress (eustress) can in fact be a very good thing for mind, body and tribe.
by: www.exuberantanimal.com
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1 comment:
Great post Ila. There is also a fabulous article on stress in the November, 2008 issue of Yoga Journal.
It's the first detailed discussion I've read that goes into the neurological adaptations the body goes through in changing the way a person responds to stress while participating in Yoga (What can be said about yoga can also be said about Tai chi in this regard).
There the author sites a study published in 2007 in the journal "Evidence-Based Complimentary and Alternative Medicine" suggesting that "even a single session of yoga practice can encourage the nervous system to find flexibility and balance."
It's actually a very good article and, like I said, the first to go into those details in depth. I think you would enjoy it.
DrD
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