Practical Solutions for Stress Management

Blake dives into the difference between 
- Good stress and Bad stress
- How mindset plays into the outcome of stress on the body
- How the Body biologically functions off stress 


And 

Practical ways to manage stress. 

Transcript

0:02

Welcome to the finish site podcast. I'm Blake, I'm your host. And I'm excited to be back with you guys. It's just me today. What we're going for here is we're going to talk about stress today. And I feel like before he is stop and move on to the next podcast, because you're like, yup. Heard everything about stress, tired of hearing about stress. It stresses me out to hear about stress. I want to re I want to give you a big picture, what I'm going to try to do today. And that is, I want to explain from a scientific perspective, and then give quick practical stress management tips. Cause I feel like I've heard so many people talk about, you gotta manage your stress, you gotta manage your stress. And what does that mean clearly or at least more helpful. And how to apply that I feel like is what I'm going to try to tackle today. So one of my biggest podcast downloads was on sleep and it just told me that people are struggling with sleep, struggling with stress. And people want to know more practical ways on how to deal with that. So I'm kind of giving it from a different angle. We will talk a little bit about how sleep is one of them. Best stress managers we can do, but today we're just going to dive right into it. So, so let's get after it, about three and a half years ago, I listened to an audio book that was really good called why zebras don't get ulcers by, um, Robert that's who it was Robert And so Passkey. I believe he's a doctor at Stanford. I might be wrong on that. Um, but neither here nor there, he kind of argues in the book that you can essentially tie every Western disease back to stress. And he gives this really unique analogy with the nervous system about how zebras don't get ulcers. Uh, even though they have a stress of surviving a lot. Right. That's a huge stressor. They have this survival stressor, but once they're done being chased by line, if they survive, they go right back into a rest and digest state or what we call parasympathetic state. And because of that, they don't get ulcers or all these other, diseases that we're seeing in the west. You compare that to the Western human experience with all these compound stresses. What do I mean by that? What does a compound stress? Well, I mean, you wake up in the morning, your first thought is you're running late. That distress, right? Second thing, uh, forgot to set coffee. Now you're going to be even more late. Cause you need your coffee and you're running late. So you're stressed about that. Then you get into. Um, traffic on the way to work and you're getting angry because these people are slowing you down and you need to get to work and you're already running late. And so there there's three stresses already, but then you get to work and you get a couple new emails that you didn't realize. This person's quitting, uh, and no longer going to be working for you or, uh, your boss emails, you that your job performance is going down and they need that. You need to meet. So now it's, you know, it's nine 30 and you've already gotten four big stressors. And then you, you decide that you're going to check out. I need to take a break. Uh, I go to the bathroom random, um, I'm chilling. I bring my phone with me. I'm getting on social media and I see that. You know, my friend is killing it at work and he's posting his new job promotion and now I'm envious and jealous and I have this other stress going on. Humans are complex. Okay. I just made all that up. It was just kind of spur of the moment. Not bad though. I already feel kind of like my blood. Pressure's going up from just talking about that. Here's the deal that was just 10 o'clock and that's what somebody was going through that day. And let's just say that was a terrible day, but that's not abnormal for a lot of people. There are things going on in people's lives that are stressing them out like that compound. And yes, it's not life or death, but our bodies respond to that stress. And then you start realizing, gosh, like, Everything has kind of a, a gauge of stress to it. Like stress is everywhere. So that brings us to our big opening question. How do we decide what is good stress versus bad stress? How do we decide? This is a stress worth going through, and this is a stress not going through or trying to minimize and manage that stress, which is, which is the point of this podcast today. And so really we would break those words into what is distress, right? Bad stress. And what is you stress like? This is a stressor, but it actually brings me life. So let's kind of break those down in a couple examples. So you stress would be like exercise or hiking. Um, it is something that is going to put the body into what we call a fight or flight or a sympathetic, response. Yet it could be very rewarding and enjoyable, and there's going to be a couple of things that go into this one is going to be. Kind of from the mind, right. It's going to be a mental perspective. So perspective really does matter here. So if I take someone who loves going hiking and say, Hey, we're going to go for a five mile hike up this mountain and we're going to bring a 50 pound back and we're going to bring some water and some food, and we're going to camp out. And they'd be like, that's awesome. I love the adventure. I love being in nature. I love, I enjoy being outside. I'm excited for the challenge that stress on their body because perceived enjoyment and the challenge and the excitement of it would be a good stress, right? As long as we'll get into the biology of that afterwards, right? The recovery matches the intensity. Now let's take that same example and let's get somebody who's hates nature right there. They're an inside person. They don't want to go outside, but you say, Hey, I'm gonna talk this person into, let's go. We're going to go on this five mile, hike up this mountain, you bring a 50 pound pack, bring water and some food. And they spend the night and they're like, oh my gosh, this is terrifying. I'm not excited about this, but I'm going to, I'm going to push myself to do it. Cause I think it might be good. But they're not enjoying it. They hate bugs. They're sweating, they're getting blisters on their feet that are frustrated. And so their perception is like, I knew this was a bad idea. This is not good. That is going to become more distress for that person. Then you stress. Right? So the mental perspective of it matters. Um, and so that's a mindset focus. Now that's kind of a little bit of a, a very particularly. Example I gave there, but for most people, something that is willful stress is a good stress. And for most people, something that is out of their control, stress is something they're going to have to manage. Uh, pretty simple, but your perspective of those things really matter to how you manage it. So for instance, and this is kind of practical tip number one, even though I didn't want to lay it out like this, but really like changing your mindset of the workout or changing your mindset of the stressor that you're going through. Uh that's out of your control. Let's say to be man, this is going to make me better. Like, I don't like that. But it's not going to last forever and it's going to be something that is going to help me become better. Right. I kind of have a more spiritual perspective. I not, I know not everyone shares that. Right. But I have this idea that everything happens to me, for my good and that good might have any eternal purpose, or it might have a, a purpose that is helpful in the here and now, but either way, it's going to be for the good, you know, I get that from like a scripture that I memorized as a kid that I. Uh, with my heart that, you know, Romans 8, 28, that all things work to the good of those who are called according to his purpose. So I have a mindset. I have a, a worldview that allows me to think that way, and that helps me in those moments of extreme challenge and stress. You might not share my beliefs. That's totally fine, but you need something that helps you kind of fight against that mindset. If you're going to help manage those stressors right now, let's talk about. Biology is going to be extremely important to understand, because if your intensity let's say that it's a willful stress, it's a youth stress. You're going for the hike up the mountain or the exercise. If you continue to do that, even if you have a great mindset and even if you have a great. Perspective on doing those things. If you do not feed yourself proper food hygiene, so good whole foods that are gonna have great nutrients and micronutrients and vitamins and minerals. They're going to help replenish you from what you've been depleted in that intensity. Then you're going to slowly burn the body out, even if it's an enjoyable. Stress a great example of this people who love CrossFit. Okay. People love CrossFit. They love the intensity. They love the endorphin rush at the end of the workout. They love the sense of completing something extremely challenging that lots of people can't do. And they, they come back for more and more and more of it. But. If they don't match that intensity of the training they love to do with good nutrition and good sleep. Right. And good resting. So getting back into that parasympathetic state so that the rest of their life is not extremely stressful, they will burn out, they will get more back pain, they will get more injuries. They will have more. Um, probably mental outbursts of anger or sadness or emotion, um, because this is going to be a biological issue at some point, that is extremely important to understand, um, because lots of people get addicted to hard work pays off and hard work does pay off, but stupid hard work does not pay off right. Doing something that is unintended. For long periods of time, even with a lot of intensity will always lead to something bad. Uh, whether it be an injury, whether it be kind of a mental breakdown, whether it be just a burnout and you hate what you used to love, um, those things all matter, so right. Mindset matters. Biology matters. So what do we do about this practically though? The three big ones I've already listed, right. Sleep food. And then I would say the last one is, focus on a positive mindset, which I've kind of alluded to, but let's give some real practical ones because I've kind of gotten, uh, very specific. And so I want to get a little more general so that I can try to hit a broader audience here and hopefully be helpful. So let's start with sleep. It's super important. To get your sleep. It's the most important ones. That's why I'll start there because sleep is where your metabolism gets kicked on. And does its, its main things and that's the second brain of the body, right? It's the M and Teric nervous system. And that's basically what runs our mood. 90% of our serotonin comes out of our gut. So we need our gut or metabolism to work efficiently and effectively. Regulates this and helps it run effectively and efficiently. We also lose fat and sleep. We gain muscle and sleep. We recover and repair and sleep. Um, sleep helps us regulate our blood sugar and our blood lipids. Sleep helps regulate our hormones. Sleep, help reg sleeps. Uh, It helps regulate our appetites. Uh, so you know, when you're not getting enough sleep, your cortisol is going to get jacked up more. You're you're going to fight off melatonin and have a harder time falling asleep. And then you're going to mess up your circadian rhythm, which is going to mess up your hormone release time and your body's going to be out of whack. And when your body's out of whack, your digestive system is going to be out of whack. And that just leads to a bunch of problems. So everything I just listed, all the good happens. Think about when you have bad sleep, all the bad happens. Now food, quality, more veggies, more fruits, more meats, more, less processed foods, more water. Those things are all going to, as I said earlier, add to the replenishment of what you just used up. You need energy and energy out. We think about that in weight loss terms, but we sh we tend to not think about that in a good fuel, right? If you put bad fuel in a really nice car, That car is not going to run as smooth and as effective. And it's, uh, it's eventually going to start breaking that engine down. Same thing applies to human bodies. And then last one focus on positive mindset. So gratitude lists, right? Something simple as that, just starting out, having a positive mindset will gear your mind off of your stressors and onto the things that are going well. Right. A lot of times, our perspective, as I've said, a lot in this podcast already really dictates our mood and our mood dictates how our body interprets and feels. So gratitude lists are great way to kind of fight against that. Um, again, from a spiritual perspective, I think being grateful only can. Be towards somebody. It can't just be about some thing, because something has to be given to you to be grateful. Um, so you have to be thinking something or some one. So think about that from a spiritual perspective, just to get a little bit more existential because that's fun for me, positive community, get yourself around good people. If you find that you're constantly at a, in a job environment or a. Or some sort of community that's negative or talking bad about people are filled with gossip or other things like try to change that. And I know that that takes, uh, that takes an effort because there's a, there's a tendency for us all to be tribal and want to be connected. And so we can fall into some negative patterns. I struggle with this too, uh, of, you know, gossiping or talking bad about people or things like that, but that really does bring down. Even the person who's doing that, uh, psyche and morale. So you want to, you want to avoid that practically journaling, meditation, breathing techniques. These are all really good, helpful ways to regulate the body. Get your mind connected to feeling your body calm down. What is not good is scrolling on YouTube or Tik TOK or any other social media platform. And just letting your mind Ram up. It's an idea that your brain is detached from the rest of your body when you live like that. So you have to regulate your mind in order to let your body calm. That's the biggest takeaway I want you to take from this, that, that I think is applicable to people in the west. So we started this whole podcast with the idea from you know, why does zebras not get ulcers? Right? They don't have an imagination or a content machine in front of them that makes their brain go at speeds that are, that the human brain has never gone before. Right? We are multitasking and multitasking and information at a speed that is never been seen in human history. And part of regulating that is really just having to have habits and disciplines of turning off your electronics before bed. Right. Doing some sort of practices, whether it's breathing techniques, yoga, meditation, prayer. That allows your brain to slow down and get ready for repair, just like your body needs to slow down and get ready for repair. So those are my best tips. Um, I will tell you that I don't do this. Perfect. This is something that I aspire to do better at when I have done really well in seasons of this, it has made a tremendous impact on my body when I was at the lowest body fat, which was around eight and a half percent. I would say that I was doing breathing techniques every night. I was watching something funny in the evenings to get myself into a, uh, a relaxed state. I find laughter to be a great way to relax you. And. I was making sure that I turned the lights off, no electronics, 30 minutes before bed and a hot shower. Those things were just great habits. There were still seasons where it was still hard to sleep and it might take you a couple of weeks or longer to figure it out, but continue to build the habits and the process. And the outcomes will follow so hope. This is helpful. Look forward to hearing back from some of you and, uh, please share with me anything that was was great. Um, cause I'm in this to help make changes in people's lives and make an impact. So I love that's always encouraging and, uh, please share with anyone you think this would be helpful. Thanks.