"Ready to Love Your Stress?"

Stress is something we all have to deal with, and, for most of us, it is not a pleasant experience. But what if I told you it could be?

Ask anyone to help you because you are stressing out, and almost every time, she or he will tell you to, "take a deep breath and try to relax." However, research shows, that may not be the best way to deal with it.

I recently read an inspiring article by Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D. in IDEA Fitness Journal for ACE Certified Professionals titled "Ready to Love Your Stress?". In the article, she outlines 3 strategies for dealing with stress that consists of harnessing its energy, rather than trying to dissipate it. Kelly says, "In my work as a psychologist and fitness professional, I've found that expanding our repertoire of strategies for dealing with stress is enormously helpful. When we can't calm down, we can harness the energy of stress to fuel peak performance. When we're stuck in a difficult situation, we can choose to learn from the experience. And when we feel hopeless or overwhelmed, we can connect to something bigger than ourselves."

Kelly cites a Harvard Business School study comparing two very different ways of dealing with stress: Two groups of participants facing two different stressful situations were instructed to, either, try to calm down, or embrace their nerves and tell themselves they were not anxious, but, rather, they were excited. Who do you think fared better?

According to the study, trying to calm down didn't reduce the participants' anxiety. It just highlighted the gap between how people felt and how they thought they should feel. By contrast, those who tried to channel their anxiety into excitement felt more confident and, most importantly, they dealt with their situation better.

Stress Strategy #1: Harness the Energy of Stress

When your heart is racing and your palms are sweaty, tell yourself, "Hey, I'm excited! Let's do this!" Turn it into a positive.

Stress Strategy #2: Choose a Growth Mindset

When you're in a rocky situation, don't look at it as a negative. Look at it as a learning experience that you will gain something from.

Stress Strategy #3: Make it About Something Bigger Than Yourself

Think about how you can use the experience to help the people you care about. Providing support in a stressful situation lowers our stress even more than receiving support does. Knowing that you are able to make valuable contributions to those that you care about and your community gives you an incredible sense of importance and belonging and is one of the most rewarding experiences that one can have.

McGonigal, Kelly, PhD. "Ready to Love Your Stress?" IDEA Fitness Journal Feb. 2017: 72-75. Print.