On Tuesday 6th April, as part of Stress Awareness month and to welcome this NEW class onto the timetable, Heather Yoga would like to offer this class to everyone for FREE! Book your slot HERE.
Stress Awareness Month
The term ‘Micro Stress’ is gaining popularity in the wellness industry. Micro stresses are or can be an accumulation of mini irritations that build up throughout the day, often without us even knowing. They are things like burning the toast, getting stuck in traffic, an overwhelming inbox, a difficult colleague, followed by an overrun zoom meeting, work not saving, etc. – the series of events can go on…
The idea is that one or two of these little annoyances/mini stresses found in isolation are easy to handle, but the build up of several can lead to overwhelm and they have a huge effect on our day to day experience.
‘In many scenarios, we’re getting hit with 20-30 micro-stressors a day.’ – Harvard Business Review
Unrelieved stress can lead to burnout and this is something which is incredibly hard to define; at what point are we actually burnt out, or are we functioning continuously in our sympathetic nervous system (fight and flight) through these experiences of stimulation, stress and anxiety, rather than feeling like we are steady and thriving. Are we actually a little exhausted but also just caffeinated at the same time?!
We all know that stress isn’t good for us, but most of us seem to accept that these micro stresses are just part of human existence and perhaps they are always going to be there, after all, an inbox is an intrinsic part of a working day…However our relationship to these micro stresses and our ability to press pause on them can be different, here are a few ways how…
- Work on one or two stresses at a time. List writing or journaling can be helpful.
- Practice mindful activities to keep the feelings of overwhelm at bay and to put things into perspective e.g. meditation and yoga!
- Step back or say no to stress inducing activities when you need to.
This month is about raising awareness to the causes and treatments of modern stress. Stress can catch up on us but how can we tackle it?
So many of us are experiencing high levels of stress which can play havoc to our health and because we can’t necessarily always notice it physically or we understand the way it can evolve, then it’s sometimes something we often don’t address. So it’s important to talk about it.
We are all negotiating these mini stresses on a day to day basis and in addition, we’re finding our way through a global pandemic, which has led to experiences of isolation, lack of connection, and shared feelings of uncertainty about the future. The effects of COVID 19 has therefore increased the stress of an already stressed nation. So let’s get together and share our experience and help one another to find a place of greater calm, connection, spaciousness and overall health.
Join us for Stress Awareness month this April on our Place of Space Heather Yoga Online Community Group
Ref: https://hbr.org/2020/07/dont-let-micro-stresses-burn-you-out