Stress.

If you don’t know how to manage the stress in your life it honestly doesn’t matter how well you’re maintaining other parts of your health. From my experience being able to balance your stress levels is the most important aspect of health and performance. Unmanaged stress is kind of like those late 90s Lakers teams with Kobe & Shaq before Phil Jackson stepped in as coach. If you go back and look, the Lakers were actually more talented before Phil got there. In my opinion, the biggest thing Phil brought to the table was not the triangle offense, it was teaching the mental side of the game. He taught them ways to manage their mental and emotional stress on and off the court, and modeled it himself. Up 20 or down 20, those championship Lakers teams stayed even keel, and could handle adversity very well. How you are in relation to your Self is no different. You could be fueling your body with the right foods, getting good exercise, and taking your vitamins, but if you’re not managing your life’s stressors, it won’t matter. Stress management is the glue, without it everything has a greater chance of falling apart.

From about age 15-23 I trained at a very high level, ate a clean diet, took tons of vitamins and supplements, had a great social life, etc., yet behind closed doors I felt terrible. Because I didn’t know how to manage my stress the only thing I knew to do was either stay busy or numb myself. In high school I would over train, even in the midst of having 4 knee surgeries before I graduated, because working out was my escape. In college most nights I had to smoke a joint just to fall asleep, and my weekends were spent getting drunk and partying in order to escape the mental and emotional stress I was under. I would get sick often, experienced chronic pain, fatigue, depression, constipation, and more. At the time none of this made sense to me as a Division-1 athlete in the best physical shape I’d ever been in.

I believe that stress management begins with awareness. If we are not aware of the root of our stressors, they essentially run on auto-pilot. This isn’t easy because stress brings up lifelong programming and belief systems that can be very difficult to accept let alone change. Getting curious about why certain things trigger stress within us can also be challenging because it forces us to be more present and slow down a bit. But, one thing I’ve learned from surgery is that if we don’t slow down and give our inner world attention, our outer world will force us to stop, and usually abruptly. It has been my experience that everything is connected. Our physical well-being is a direct reflection of our mental and emotional well-being (“as above, so below”). We all have dreams and aspirations we’d like to achieve, but are they worth neglecting our health? Would you consider that you can still “move up the ladder” while also prioritizing the management of your stress and health at large?

Not all stress is bad, we do need a certain amount of stress in our lives to grow, but if we’re always stressed out there’s going to be a tipping point. There are 6 different types of stress with a light and shadow side. Physical stress(1), Mental stress(2), Nutritional stress(3), Chemical stress(4), Thermal stress(5), and Electromagnetic stress(6). Consider these questions to get a gauge on how these different types of stress are affecting your life.

  1. Do you move your body an adequate amount for your stress levels? Too much? Not enough?

  2. Is your outlook on life a positive one or are you constantly experiencing negative thought patterns?

  3. Do you eat high quality food according to your metabolic type? Eating too much or not enough? Are you eating poor quality food?

  4. Are you eating organic food? Eating food filled with GMOs?

  5. Is your body temperature usually at a normal level (around 97-99 degrees F)? Do you feel too hot or too cold?

  6. Do you you get a good amount of natural sunlight? Are you constantly inside looking at screens?

We’re all going to process stress differently, but here are some practical suggestions on how you can manage the stressors in your life.

  • Become aware of your stressors and where they stem from

  • Learn how to say “no”

  • Move your body an adequate amount (for you) per week

  • Eat clean food and drink clean water

  • Ground yourself in nature

  • Practice EFT

  • Get daily “alone time”

  • Accept yourself for who you are and where you’re at in your journey

  • Find ways to add “play” into your life

  • Meditate

If you have any questions regarding stress management you are invited to set up an appointment to see if I can be of assistance.