Why Stress is Awesome!

Welcome Back Sapiosexual Readers. I Recently Discovered this word and I like what it means . Its been a long time since I wrote here on my Blog and I Realize how directly that has impacted how much selective reading I do. So before you ask me when's the Next time I'm gonna write again ?, Its gonna be by next weekend.

On 16th September ,2010 I wrote a post on Why Pain is Necessary, That post has changed my life and attitude towards pain in any form. Off late I have been thinking my stress levels have been going high and I found enough reasons for why I thought I am stressed out, there's so much (negative ) written about stress. ( In fact I hate it when they make a Villain out of anything for some Reasons) and I have a couple of beliefs to look at any thing/person/incident. 

1. There's always another way to Look at Everything.

2. Anything (Only) in Excess is Bad for you.   Corollary : A Little of Everything is Good for you.

Considering the above I made some startling discoveries about the commonly misunderstandings about Stress . Is there a good Part to it?  Hell YEAH! Am I gonna Share it with you ? OF COURSE YES!.

Finding Ways to Know You're Stressed.

The Belief of What Stress Does to You is more Harmful than Stress Itself.

Cant believe me? Watch  Kelly McGonigal's  :How to Make your Stress your Friend . But Wait , Do come back here because that's not the only thing I'm talking about . Now for those who really can't wait to know and think spending 14:25 Mins over that video could cut into your face-booking schedule.. Alright here's is what It Says in her words :

"This study tracked 30,000 adults in the United States for eight years, and they started by asking people, "How much stress have you experienced in the last year?" They also asked, "Do you believe that stress is harmful for your health?" And then they used public death records to find out who died.

Okay. Some bad news first. People who experienced a lot of stress in the previous year had a 43 percent increased risk of dying. But that was only true for the people who also believed that stress is harmful for your health. (Laughter) People who experienced a lot of stress but did not view stress as harmful were no more likely to die. In fact, they had the lowest risk of dying of anyone in the study, including people who had relatively little stress."

According to McGonigal, the first study found that over 20,000 adults in the USA people die a year because of, not stress, but believing that stress is harmful.

Stress releases a Number of Hormones Which Help your Body in being Prepared for the Event. 

The Image beside talks about the Physical reactions in the body 

They call it the Fight or Flight or Freeze Mode. The more you are exposed to such situations the body will adapt and make you ready to face. Appreciate the subtle changes stress brings to your body and Fight back instead of making Stress the Demon.
So when your Profs/ Bosses / Wild Animals /Clients/Laymen Scream at you : You choose to do one of the Three options.. 
Fight Back with something to say or Throw a punch.
Run Away from the Situation.
Freeze Right There.

Ever Wondered why when we are asked for sudden answers by the Profs/ Bosses /Clients you freeze and cant bloody remember?
Excessive Cortisol Impairs your Memory.If being stressed out is usual for you, you could start to realize what it is doing to your memory.


Imagine if your Brain was Jarvis ( the AI of IronMan) How would it look at stress if you were a machine ?

"Stress is a Feedback Mechanism Sir.
This is another rare experience we are about to have. Lets Fight this one out. Once Dealt with the Body wont look at this the same way. Releasing Necessary Chemicals in your Body. All the best to you. Powering up . " 
Now go Fight that shit out ! Stop Believing Stress is Harmful!

Cortisol is one of the Main Chemicals released in the Event of the Release and is also commonly called. As the Stress Hormone. Before we come into the Awesomeness of Cortisol, Id like to introduce to you the Girly hormone you got ( Yes including you men )  Oxytocin - also called Love /Cuddle Hormone . 

Oxytocin is Pumped out as a response to  Stress and when it is out in your body, you crave Physical contact with Friends and Family ( Okay  this also applies to your Girl/Boyfriend as well ;) ) Meaning When life is difficult, your stress response wants you to be surrounded by people who care about you. Meaning this Hormone makes your more socially interactive.  Helps you Enhance Emphathy. 
Ie. Brings out the Cute side in you. 

Also Oxytocin as a chemical acts as an anti Inflammatory , relaxes blood vessels and the best part.. helps the heart heal from Stress Damage ( Now you know why Break ups Make you crave.. Ahem! Ahem! )

Coming back to Cortisol Around last week I came across another Talk by Daniel Goleman .Yes the Author of FOCUS and EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. For those who dont know , Dont let the size of his books scare you. read them anyway. and yes the Thoughts may seem complex at first , But you will know as the wise man unfolds his understandings to you slowly.

The above Graph is what Caught  my attention . Let me give you another picture to explain if you get the brilliant thought behind this graph. 

The Study Plotted the release of Cortisol in the Body and the effect on Performance.

The Peak or Optimal State is Right at the Center of the Bell Curve and is also known as the FLOW State. or the state of Peak Performance.

It is the State where you work effortlessly and are Motivated to Perform at highest levels that you are trained for. This is when you feel good about being in office for work related reasons.

This chart should help you determine where on the bell curve is your stress taking you and what you can do about it.

Boredom is a sign that you do not have any challenges. Fatigue means you've taken up more challenges than you think you can deliver. Nevertheless both can be managed optimally if you know what to do with the Cortisol behind it.

What do I experience if i am in the Peak Performance State? Very Good Question . Im sure each one of you reading this has experienced the below while working on a particular activity/Project.

1.Strong Concentration , Unmatched Automated Focus.

2.Distorted Sense of Time . When you are working on Something You love. You lose track of time. That's when you are in the state of Peak Performance or Flow.

3.Lack of Physical Needs. hunger and pain go for a swim when you are in Peak state.

4.Consciously Striking a balance between skill level and the challenge presented.

5.Ideas Flow .Alternatives come forth.Things seem Effortless.

Bottom Line : 

Cortisol Secretion to Optimum Levels is Good for the Brain to reach peak performance State. Any lesser secretion and it could lead to Boredom and too much secretion could lead to Fatigue and Crashing phenomena. Secretion also has a direct relationship with the motivation levels of the individual . More on this in my next blog post on Attention Economics.

 These Hormones ( Chemicals) are so so Interesting that one could comic book out of them. That Reminds me I have to watch Pixar's Inside Out Movie

So How do I Maintain the Cortisol Levels ?

.

1. Challenges are good. Take them up. Motivate yourself enough to be under positive pressure.Get out of Routine Stuff you do at work. Try doing what your Manager does , Pick up another region that you always dreaded to work for. The more you deal with it .. the better your state is to deal with bigger stuff.

2. Breathe..Deep. One of the Natural ways to Regulate Cortisol is to breathe deep. Physiologically the brain does what the body does and vice versa. So when Cortisol is secreted .. you breathe shallow.. consciously do the reverse ie. Breathing deep when you're stressed as hell and the secretions lower down.  Ever heard Highly stressed people cant have a desire for sex? Cortisol is the Culprit. Just breathe deep and then you are good to go!

3. Other ways to Bring down Cortisol Levels are : An Awesome Playlist on your Music Player, Or hanging out with a funny Friend, Take a nap , Schedule a massage. If nothing else works, You Know which muscle to flex.

On a lighter note :

Here's is a list of Awesome Drugs our body makes on its own when its happy.. and secrets it whenever it feels it needs some dope.  Shall Write about them Soon . 

Happy Peak Performing .

Stay Tuned and Keep coming back to Rams Realizations.







Knowledge Courtesy :
 
Daniel Goleman and Kelly McGoingal (Must watch her Presentations)

Image Courtesy :

1.www.canstockphoto.com/illustration/stress.html

2.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response

3.ironman.wikia.com/wiki/J.A.R.V.I.S

4.www.ulifeline.org/articles/450-good-stress-bad-stres

5.www.forbes.com/sites/.../2014/02/06/how-successful-people-stay-calm

6. https://in.pinterest.com/hedleyrocks247/50-s-housewife-humor/

7. Someone Sent me in an Email.