Stress can actually be fun.

Did you know that you actually LOVE stress?

It’s true…sometimes.

If you have ever:

• Competed at game night

• Watched horror movies

• Ridden a rollercoaster

• Played Mario Cart

• Watched playoff football

• Gone to spin class

• Jumped out of airplane 

• Did an escape room 

...then you have stressed yourself out on purpose.  For fun.

To be clear, these activities did create a stress response in your body--your pulse raced, your breath quickened and adrenaline pumped through your veins--and yet you probably didn’t assume any of those things would make you sick or give you long-term health problems.  

Why is that? Isn’t stress supposed to be the silent killer?

Two reasons.  

1. You embraced the sensation of stress 

When you feel your heart race in a haunted house, you don’t question why it’s racing, you actually lean into the sensation and enjoy it. The stress response feels like a normal reaction to the thrill of the activity and it can be exciting to be so amped up and full of adrenaline.  It can help you feel alive.

Compare that to the experience of feeling your heart race when nerves hit before an important meeting—do you embrace that feeling then?  Do you enjoy the adrenaline pulsing through you, or view it as a sign that something will go wrong?

 The sensations and stress responses can be nearly identical and yet it’s easy to put a negative narrative on the “nerves" and a positive narrative on the “thrill.”  

It’s in this tiny mental framing where stress can move from totally normal to unhealthy. 

 2. You do not suppress, or ruminate on "fun" stress.

When a stress response hits you and you think it shouldn’t be there, most people spend a lot of mental focus and energy trying to make it go away. And unfortunately, unless you are exceptional at breathwork or mindfulness reframing, this typically doesn’t work very well and can just create more tension.  

You can actually stress yourself out trying to stop being stressed. 

Think about the haunted house again—when you allow your stress response to be big, powerful and you embrace the sensation, your nervous systems typically finds a way to come back to equilibrium faster. You can almost feel high coming down from the experience.  

"In a fully functional organism, an emotion has a very short life span. It is like a momentary ripple or wave on the surface of your being." 

-Eckhart Tolle

By contrast, when you try to dampen down the sensations and never fully experience the stress, it can prolong it and lead to hours, or days of rumination. 

So what do you do about it?

Start small. 

The next time you notice a wave of stress coming your way at work, take a moment to notice the sensation before you try to change it or get upset that you're stressed.  

• Where do you notice it in your body?

• What is the sensation? 

• How is it changing your breathing?  

Once you've done that, open up the possibility that this stress response could actually be trying to HELP you rather than harm you.  Rather than viewing your body's stress response as an impediment to success, acknowledge that it can be fueling you for the challenge. 

This isn't just magic "positive thinking" woo woo. This type of mindset leads to what researchers call a “challenge response.” When we are able to view our own stress response as beneficial, it actually shifts how our physiology responds. Your blood vessels stay dilated, much like during exercise, and there are a different ratio of stress hormones released when you have a “challenge response,” which over a lifetime can help prevent negative outcomes, like heart attacks and premature death.

Multiple studies indicate that people who are able to view stress more like a challenge and less like a threat report less depression and anxiety, higher levels of energy, work performance, and life satisfaction.

So the next time you feel your pulse race, pause, notice and take confidence that your body is fueling you for the challenge.

If this resonates with you and you want to learn how to harness your mindset and breath to dramatically improve your stress and anxiety, sign up for your FREE 20 minute strategy session, and let me create an individualized program to support your goals.