Today we're talking about stress. What it is, is not, and how it manifests, fests. Stress is a pervasive thing that floats into our minds, bodies, and lives. There are so many things that create stress that we, as humans, are unaware of until symptoms start showing up in our bodies and our lives and our minds. By then, our, bodies have carried that stress for far too long. Stress, to me, is anything that does not feel good to you, mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually,
and physiologically. The Cambridge Dictionary defines stress as worry caused by a difficult situation or something that causes that condition. It's also defined as a force that tends to change the shape or strength of an object or special importance or emphasis that is given to something. The Oxford Dictionary defines stress in these ways. A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding
circumstances. Something that causes a state of strain or tension physiological disturbance or damage caused to an organism by adverse circumstances subject to pressure or tension. Cause of mental or emotional strain or tension in or to become tense or anxious or worry. When you are stressed, your body launches a physical response, and this is from webmd.com. Your nervous system releases hormones that result in a fight or flight response. Your heartbeat may speed up. Your breathing may get
faster. You may even hold your breath or breathe shallowly, like I do. Your muscles tense for me. It's in my neck and shoulders, and you may even get cold or sweat. These are some examples of physiological symptoms. There are many, and in many cases, they're unique in combination or how they show up for you. This kind of stress, however, is short term, and our amazing bodies really do recover from that kind of stress quickly.
However, if the stress system remains activated or the stress is present for a longer period of time, it can result in deeper things like depression, frequent, headaches, high blood pressure, an abnormal heartbeat, hardening of the arteries, heart disease, and other diseases like asthma. Getting sick more often. And these are just some examples. There are many, many examples. I'm not a believer in managing our stress or in stress management, as many advocate for,
because those provide. While they're helpful, don't get me wrong, they're very helpful. They provide you and me with coping skills on how to live with stress in our lives if we can't change it or shift it. I am, however, a believer in handling and removing the things and situations that create stress in our lives. In talking about it. In having consistent, constant support to feel better in the moment. And also making choices that honor, respect, love and feel good to and for ourselves.
This takes self awareness and a willingness to acknowledge the choices we made contributed to that stress creation or presence. And also what contributes to it is the choices that we're not making. In, my life, it's often the choices that I'm not making that's creating this stress, not the choices that I am making. And sometimes it's both together. I believe that stress can truly be a gift. If we pay attention very early on and take action by making different choices, if you can and are able.
And I also believe that these choices don't have to be extreme. I feel like in our world today, everything's got to be about achievement or overachievement. Or going from a to z instead of a small step from a to b. As we navigate, feel and process that change and different choices in baby steps. so that we can see if it's alleviating, resolving or creating a space for us to feel good or
not. But what we do is we go from a to z, quickly, rapidly, and then create another cycle of stress and, discontent and unhappiness or whatever. Because we leaped or made a leap so quickly and so fast. That we didn't give ourselves time to process it, to navigate it step by step, and be able to make shifts in the process from a to b to z on the way to z. That align with who we are and what works for us
and what feels good to us. I also think that, stress is something that sometimes we don't see a different choice or a path or want to make a change. Because we've invested so much time in something or someone or a place. That making a different choice is something we're unwilling to do in that moment. So we stay in it, continuing to try and change it. Or we just accept it and continue to be stressed, denying it's present or not even
being aware that it's present. And our bodies will let us know at some point that something is going on. for me, I've had two near death experiences. And I am now learning and have learned to, see that the asthma I live with, the allergies I live with are gifts. They are gifts to me to let me know when stress is present, when things aren't feeling good. To me, it's an early warning detection system for me or my radar. And, I've learned how to
use it and leverage it and channel it. So that I can, use it as a gift, as a guidepost for me in moment to moment in my life. Stress management, by definition, in the Oxford Dictionary, is a method of limiting stress and its effects by learning ways of behaving and thinking that reduces it. As I was looking through the definitions of stress management, I do see that they're
coping skills when we are stressed. But I'm not seeing a whole lot of information about directly handling the stress and making different choices and letting you know and informing you that, oh my gosh, you have this wonderful superpower called your free will and choice, and that there are five things that are either motivating you to make choices that you're making or triggering
you to make the choices that you're making. And if you want to know more about what those are, please do go to my website, drdar.com, and take the quiz, and you'll receive some emails that will share more about your superpower unique to you based on the scores in the quiz that you take. I also believe that if each person had less stress in their lives,
our world would be more harmonious. To me, stress is the source of all that is wrong, does not feel good, and causes people to be mean to each other or m mistreat each other. I know when I'm stressed, my emotions are off kilter. I don't communicate well. I don't make the best choices or even act or respond in the way that produces the results I seek or want, and it makes others around me not feel good. My invitation to you for today's episode is to take this step in your
life. When you feel unwell or unbalanced in any way, ask yourself, where am I feeling stress, anxiety, or worry? You may not be aware of it, or you may not be able to see or feel it, and your body's compensating for it and taking it on so you can function. So ask yourself the question and then just be quiet. Allow time. You might want to go through your day. Just keep doing whatever you've got planned, or choose something that you
want to do next. And at some point, as you keep asking yourself the question, you will get an answer. It will show up. Secondly, when you feel pain, emotionally, mentally, physically, or spiritually, ask yourself, what is the source or my favorite, what is the root cause for this pain? Then ask yourself, what choices can I make now, tiny
or larger, that can relieve this stress? Now and with time going forward, I, then invite you to take small actions to alleviate the root cause of this stress or pain whenever you can. Sometimes we take the leap, and the leap is, for me, when I'm feeling pain, I will go through this process, and then the headache is just what it is. It hurts. And I, then make a conscious and self aware choice to go take a
Tylenol or an advil. But I am noticing that since I've, implemented these steps that I'm sharing with you, I know I'm calling them one step, but it's a series of things to do in a moment. since I've been using this model, I'm noticing a shift, and that is a separation from medication. I am not taking it as frequently. I'm not needing it as frequently. I'm able to process mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally what's going on that my body's trying to tell me
and what the root cause is. And using my superpower of choice, which you're going to learn more if you choose to take the quiz@drdar.com. I can then use those tools to navigate what's going on as well. Stress, pain, worry, and anxiety are all gifts for us to look within. Instead, I feel like we shut it out or drown it with an intense need to feel good as fast as we can, not realizing that ultimately that doesn't remove the
stress. Now, I'm not talking about, the extreme or exaggerated versions of stress, worry, anxiety, and depression, or any of, those things that require medical attention. What I'm sharing here is not a replacement for licensed professionals. As an intuitive life and business coach, I am not providing healthcare, medical or nutritional therapy services or even attempting to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any physical, mental, or emotional issue,
disease or condition. The information that I'm providing in my podcast pertains to really any aspect of your life and is not intended to be a substitute for the professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment provided by your own trusted medical provider, clergy, or mental health
provider. I'm here to help you understand what stress is, and how to leverage it, how to use it as a tool and how to recognize when it's happening for you and whether it's good, negative, or neutral, and then what to do about it, if anything, before it starts manifesting in your body.