Embrace Stress

Joy Schultz posted in The Work of Byron Katie

Joy Schultz 11:52pm Dec 13 Stress might just be our friend :-) Kelly McGonigal, a health scientist from Stanford University, warned about the dangers of stress for a full decade before she realized that maybe IT WAS HER ADVICE, RATHER THAN STRESS ITSELF, that was sending people to their graves faster. "I'm converting a stimulus (stress) that could be a strengthening people into a source of disease." With a breakthrough in her thinking , and some powerful new research, McGonigal made a complete turnaround. "Turns out stress might just be our friend. Just as you put stress on a muscle to make it stronger, emotional stress can make us physically and psychologically stronger too. McGonigal now highlights new research that shows when you change your mind about stress, you can literally change your body's reaction to it. In an 8 year study, adults who experienced "a lot of stress" and who believed stress was harmful to their health had a 43% increase in their risk of dying. People who experienced the same amount of stress but did not view stress as harmful were no more likely to die! McGonigal says physical signs of stress (pounding heart, faster breathing, sweating) aren't necessarily physical evidence of anxiety or signs that we aren't coping well with pressure. Instead we can interpret them as indications that our body is energized and preparing us to meet the next challenge. The bottom line is science has now proved that how you think about stress matters-- the story you attach to stress. Telling yourself IT'S GOOD FOR YOU instead of harmful could mean the difference between a stress-induced heart attack or living well into your 90s." (from Tony Robbin's new book, Money--Master the Game)