Stop Stress in 22 Minutes
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Transcript of Stop Stress in 22 Minutes
Usually we do trigger more because cortisol tells your higher intelligence to look for evidence of threat
1 minute of self-acceptance
20 minutes of distraction
1 minute of action planning
To free yourself from that awful cortisol feeling, do this when it comes:
- Accept the reality of your feelings (don’t deny your stress)
- Accept that you perceive a threat (don’t fault yourself for seeing it)
- Accept your urge to “do something” to relieve it (don’t act yet but accept your feelings of urgency)
#1 Accept
- Don’t look for evidence of threat while your cortisol is flowing
- Find a pleasant or neutral distraction (something without harmful long-term consequences)
- Don’t do anything that might frustrate you and trigger more cortisol
#2 Distract
- Action relieves cortisol
- A plan of action relieves cortisol if you believe in your plan
- Spend one minute believing in your ability to act in a way that makes you safe
#3 Act
Anything that turned on your cortisol in the past built a real physical pathway, which wires you to turn on thebad feeling again whenever you see anything similar.
Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
You can learn to accept your
cortisol surges instead
of believing they are real emergencies
Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
You may think this lizardis happily enjoying the sun,
but it is surging with cortisol
Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
It’s on high alert because a predator can eat it alive as long as it’s out in the open
It would ratherhide under a rock, but it would dieof cold if it did
Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
So it spends its whole life running between the threat of being out in the
open and the threat of being under a rock
Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
And it’s brain is perfectly designed for the job!
Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
Running from pain is the job your brain was designed for.
Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
A big human brainhas extra power to findand anticipate threats
Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
We create abstract mental images of potential future threatsinstead of justwaiting untila threat isright there
Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
We successfully prevent threats by anticipating them
Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
But the cortisol is metabolized and gone in20 minutesunless youtrigger more
- It’s hard to find something that feels good but doesn’t have bad side effects- And won’t lead to frustration- Something boring works if it absorbs your attention.- Be prepared with a variety of tools.
Collect info about a perceived threat
Express your concerns in new ways
Plan steps toward a solution
Possible actions:
Inaction feels awful when your mammal brain says “do something fast.”
But rushing into the old familiar action hurts you in the long run.
You can figure out a next step that’s just right when you’ve freed yourself from cortisol.
Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
You will build a new pathway for the electricity in your brain to flow
Habits of a Happy BrainRetrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin
Beyond CynicalTranscend Your Mammalian Negativity
I, MammalWhy Your Brain Links Status and Happiness
learn more
In the hours after a stressful experience, your brain builds new
wiring so you can avoid similar threats in the future
Stanford Professor Kelly McGonigal researchesthe benefits of embracing stress instead of
running from it. Here are 3 simple ways to enjoythe benefits of your stress:
1. View stress as evidence that you have a meaningful life, not as evidence that you have a flawed life.
Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
2. View stress as energy you can use,not as a debilitating affliction.
3. View stress as a freehigh-performance training program thatstrengthens yourather than weakens you.
Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
If you believe you need to escape stress,you are more likely to engage in behaviors
that increase stress in the long run.