How Can We Better Manage Our Stress?
I am a huge advocate for taking time each day to decompress from the stress of modern living. It is a timeless wisdom that is more important today than ever. As we live through the digital age, it seems as though the pace of our lives are accelerating in tandem with every single update on our phones and computers.
When our day-to-day lives are so fast-paced, it becomes inevitable that stress is growing into a daily companion for all of us.
Most of us would agree that a certain amount of stress is beneficial. It inspires action. It creates excitement. It catalyses creativity. However, there will be a point when stress turns from ally to adversary. In fact, it has been scientifically shown that with just three days of immense stress, our brains can be reshaped into a structure that shows up as a symptom of impaired memory. Stress targets the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of our brains that store basic memories.
When there are progressive effects of stress and the cycle gets repeated frequently without control across multiple sleep-wake transition, it causes our hippocampus to shrink in size.
The more brain shrinkage, the poorer our spatial memories are. Some of us experience this from time to time when we have difficulty falling or staying asleep. Sleep is a non-stressed state that gives our brains and bodies a reprieve and a chance to repair. But if we can’t fall asleep or we can’t maintain being asleep, sleep does not have a restorative function.
When this happens over and over again, we start to have difficulty in positioning ourselves in the correct space and time.
Although it is obvious that stress have drastic impacts on our psychological and physical well-being, it seems like many of us are not aware of the cognitive strategies we can adopt to diminish the release of stress hormones. Apart from exercising (which some people have yet to find their favourite form of exercise), there are other simple ways to stimulate neuron regeneration too.
Think about the last time you actually daydreamed. Think about the last time you read a book. Or, the last time you took a stroll. How about the last time you were completely by your own listening to music? In order to find peace in our frenetic lives, we need to incorporate restful activities in our routine. Some of us may argue and say that we are completely exhausted after work, but the activities can be as effortless as enjoying a shower or taking delight in our favourite TV programme.
Let’s be honest with ourselves— when was the last time we really let loose?
Even if the world puts a premium on hustle and bustle nowadays, it doesn’t mean that we should feel guilty for resting. We will be very mistaken if we start to associate restful activities with laziness. Sometimes it isn’t just about looking at the total of hours spent resting or working, but we also need to take into serious consideration how the rhythm of our work and rest can actually compliment each other in terms of our well-being. Too much rest can backfire, so can too much work too.
