无压力，无烦恼

什么是压力？

The WHO defines stress as “a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation. Stress is a natural human response that prompts us to address challenges and threats in our lives.” That is a very valid definition: something happens in our life that is a problem for us, and consequently we feel stressed about it, causing a stress response. Stress is also a necessary part of life, without which we wouldn’t have many of our bodily functions—it’s all really about the level, our response, recovery time, and the outcome.

So, when we talk about stress, we are mainly talking about the big, mental stuff – stuff that can hurt us emotionally and physically. But stress on our body is not limited to our emotional life; stress can come from our diet, or from many of our lifestyle choices. It can also come from environmental exposure, e.g., chemicals, temperature extremes, or noise, or it can come from microbial imbalances on or in the body. And, interestingly, prolonged exposure to physical stressors can lead to poor mental function, tiredness, and lowered emotional resilience, causing us to start perceiving things in a more negative way, leading to increased emotional stress, which can further decrease resilience to physical stress, and so on and so forth, in an endless and vicious cycle (that sentence was almost too stressful to write!!). In fact, prolonged or compound stress of any kind leads to increased oxidative stress, which results in poorer health outcomes. Compound stress is implicated in most of the major health conditions that plague us today.

什么是压力反应？

Also known as the fight-or-flight (or freeze) response, the stress response is a series of biochemical reactions, managed by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), that help the body cope with a perceived threat. When we sense imminent danger, the amygdala, an area of the brain that contributes to emotional processing, sends a signal to the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is like a command centre in the brain, which tells the relevant parts of the body to provide more energy so that it can fight or flee. Increased secretion of stress hormones occurs, and blood sugar rises. Heart rate and breathing get faster, our senses get sharper, and energy production in the muscles increases.

Although the SNS and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) are always “on” in some capacity, during stressful moments, the SNS will dominate, and the more PNS activities will decrease. Energy and blood flow devoted to digestion and reproduction get diverted away to the muscles, heart, and brain. Because of this, we might feel slightly sick and have discomfort in our muscles or itchy skin. We might feel our palms get sweaty and feel nervous, scared, or angry. That’s immediate stress: the type you might feel before an exam or presentation. But what about long-term stress—the type that can negatively impact your life and health? That might feel like changes in your mood—feeling more irritable all the time or a bit blue more regularly; changes in appetite, often with digestive disturbances; difficulty concentrating or having frequent head tension; having trouble with sleep; being unable to relax; being constantly tired; growing extra belly fat; and/or having frequent ills and chills.

Strangely enough, the stress response can also cause us to freeze, which is also known as the fawn, or possum, response and is usually only implemented when fighting or fleeing are not good options. Incidentally, the freeze response is a very common default nervous system position for many who have suffered major trauma in the past.

The stress response developed as a survival mechanism, enabling us to react effectively to life-threatening situations. Unfortunately, we also tend to react to stressors that are not life-threatening, such as work and family pressures. And then, on top of that, you have immediate and long-term physical responses to those environmental or nutritional factors mentioned earlier. These more physical stressors do not necessarily follow the same physiological stress response pathways, but the toll on the body is similar. If the stress response occurs too often for too long, it can compound and result in damage to the body, especially the nervous, reproductive, digestive, and cardiovascular systems, and the brain.

紧张时刻的感知与现实

The word “perception” is very important because emotional stress is related to how we see the world and how we process the events that happen around us. To be more exact, if we 觉得 那么我们就会认为它是一件坏事。 觉得 它是好的，那么我们就认为它是好的。正是在这个层面上，我们将情感附着在我们所感知的事物上，我们才有能力让自己从我们所感受到的大部分情绪压力中解脱出来。现在的科学表明，我们的思想可以改变我们的生理机能，积极调节压力反应。这并不是说，当发生不公正的事情或不好的事情时，我们就不能感到不安、愤怒或悲伤；只是在每种情况下都看到最坏的一面，或迟迟不能从中恢复过来的倾向，最终会伤害我们。

And as for the other stressors in our life, dietary, lifestyle, etc., many will be manageable through making changes to what we eat and how we live. We may even find herbs and specific nutrients to support us. There will be other stressors that we cannot control, which come from our surroundings. Even with those things, we can either choose to remove ourselves from a toxic environment, for example, or we can support our well-being through making ourselves more resilient, both physically and mentally. It’s a full-circle moment!

我们该如何支持健康的压力反应？

As already mentioned, where possible we can remove or avoid many physical stressors—chemical, environmental, etc. This can include making positive changes to our diet or switching to using natural skincare and cleaning products or non-plastic homewares and clothing, for example. But it’s the emotional stress that most of us struggle with that is harder to know how to manage. We are simply not taught strategies to cope with the stress we may feel at work or in a difficult living situation. We might also be sensitive and feel stressed more readily than our easy-going sibling, partner, or colleague. Reactivity is also a source of emotional stress for us—if we get upset easily or are quick to anger, it can cause a stress response in our body.

 呼吸法和内在联系

There are many techniques we can learn to help us cope with perceived/emotional stress. Breathwork is possibly the easiest and most effective way of dealing with a stressful situation. It’s free, you can do it anywhere, and you don’t even have to know what you’re doing! Just taking a series of slow, deep breaths can help you calm down. Breathing techniques have been well studied for their benefits—just google “breathwork” or “breathing for stress,” and you’ll get a plethora of information from which to choose or see 用呼吸摆脱压力.

You can simply learn a couple of simple destressing breathing practices or take a deep dive into how to use the breath during meditation and/or visualisation. You can find out how breath holding works and how breathing techniques can support the oxygen/carbon dioxide balance in cells. From there you can learn how the breath applies to deeper nervous system practices or inner bonding work, where you reintegrate your mind and body and reconnect with your inner child and subconscious (known in psychology circles as “inner bonding”) to support your health and powers of manifestation and creativity. Many of us, especially those who are the product of traumatic pasts, are driven by our “shadow,” reactive and hurt “inner child” (the subconscious), with the impersonal and non-reactive “adult” (the conscious mind) struggling to remain in control.

正念与临在

Mindfulness is another powerful tool to support stress management. Mindfulness is about being present, in the moment, focused on what you are doing, with a calm and unworried mind. Eckhart Tolle says, “Stress is caused by being ‘here’ but wanting to be ‘there.’” If we do not accept what is happening in the here and now, we may become upset by it, and this causes us to feel stressed. This doesn’t mean that we should sail blindly and uncaringly through when something truly sad is happening, but applying stress management and mindfulness techniques, especially when we have grief or loss, can help us recover faster and move on without being stuck in the past or having memories that consistently trigger us.

自然支持疗法、营养素和草药

While breathwork and mindfulness can help us to cope with stress or even support us to not feel the stress in the first place, there are other ways to support stress relief, including being in nature or with animals, listening to or playing music, choosing a nutrient-rich, brain- and nervous-system-supporting diet, and having familial and social support networks. For more detailed tips on how to support a healthy stress response, see 自然缓解压力的 10 个小窍门。

Constant stress can deplete us of supportive nutrients, including B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, vitamin C, iron, and omega 3s, and making sure those nutrients are in our diet can support us to feel calm. There are other nutrients, like L-Theanine (in 倍轻松泡腾片), that can be supportive as well. If you are worried about dietary intake, there are supportive supplements available. Additionally, many traditional herbs have been shown to support a healthy stress response. For supplemental support of stress, see the 良好的健康状况 压力、睡眠和情绪 类产品。如果您希望为忧虑的心灵和繁忙不堪的日子提供支持，请参阅 生活是否变得有点太快了？

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