We all have these tiring days where we just want to escape from everyday life because of emotionally stressful situations. Most people cannot deal with this kind of stress and find themselves in therapies or even worse, doing drugs to calm down. While many believe stress is harmful to the body, it actually has the opposite effect. In a 14-minute video of TED Talks, called ‘How to make stress your friend’ released in June 2013, Kelly McGonigal explains how stress can be healthy and save lives.
Kelly McGonigal is a health psychologist who is known for her scientific research on achieving personal goals despite inner conflicts. With her willpower techniques and her stress-coping strategies, she enhances the patients’ quality of life, making it enjoyable again. The emphasis of her work is primarily directed towards people with less self-esteem and self-confidence.
Before I go over to the part where I tell you how to embrace stress, I want to explain several important terms that I find necessary to know in life.
Cardiovascular disease is a term for several other diseases that involves heart or blood vessels, such as heart attack, stroke, arrhythmia, etc. The most common way how to get it is probably by suffering from chronic stress.
Oxytocin is a hormone that is being released when we hug or kiss our loved ones. It can also be released when we help someone out or support people, increasing our empathy and compassion. When it comes to stress-induced damage, this hormone regenerates and heals heart-cells.
Stress-induced heart attack means that the heart attack was caused by stress.
Complementary therapy is being used for treatments without traditional Western medicine. For example, acupuncture.
Alternative therapy is being used for treatments without traditional medicine, i.e. chiropractic, homeopathy, faith healing, etc.
Stress is known as the 15th largest cause of death in the world. However, this applies only to people who believe that stress is harmful to one’s body. After finding yourself in a situation where the heart pounds vigorously and the uncontrollable urge to breathe faster appears, it is important to see these sensations as energy rather than bad feelings. Your body is preparing you for a challenge that you need to succeed. The way how to make stress your friend is to change your attitude towards stress. What truly matters is how you think about it.
The problem with mental pressure is that it not only affects my milieu, but also everyone else’s. Everyone experiences stress differently, for example, I do when giving presentations. The next time I experience stress, I will recall the discussion with Kenny McGonigal which will help me to succeed not only when presenting, but also in life.
Her presenting techniques are just brilliant. In the beginning, she asks a question and tries to interact with the audience which makes her charismatic. Moreover, her jokes draw the crowd’s attention and, therefore, it increases her self-confidence. With these techniques, it shouldn’t be a problem to give a presentation the next time.
Remember: See the stress-induced sensations as energy, not as a weakness.
or watch it here:
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