How to Overcome Deep Health Stressors
- BINDZONE
- Dec 4, 2024
- 5 min read
There are 6 branches of our deep health, and stress can occur in all of them. Our deep health consists of our: physical, mental, emotional, social, existential, and environmental being.
At some point in our lives, we have likely experienced stress in all 6 of these dimensions of health, whether we have realized it or not.
Let's start with our physical being. Stressors that may occur here are injury, illness, overtraining, poor sleep, and toxins that are in our bodies.
Seasonal allergies, the common cold, or even more extreme illness - those are all a physical stressor. Your immune system is under attack, and your body is using energy to fight against a virus. This causes more stress on your body; causing you to become tired, lack energy, etc.
POOR SLEEP - something everyone has likely struggled with. Poor sleep causes a weakened immune system, especially those who struggle with insomnia. Your body doesn't have the opportunity to properly recover if you're never getting sufficient sleep.
WAYS TO HELP PHYSICAL RECOVERY
proper nutrition to support recovery processes - using food as fuel, eating enough carbs and protein, getting your micronutrients
giving your body time to rest and recover, taking rest days from training
getting enough sleep for your needs
proprioceptive movement - helps injury prevention by improving stability
Our social being may experience stress with relationships, inequality, social exclusion, loneliness, lack of community, and interpersonal conflicts.
If you're finding that a relationship you have is causing more drama than it is peace, or maybe you experience more judgement than acceptance, and you've had discussions pertaining to the issue at hand, but feel nothing has changed, then protect your social health by distancing or cutting off that person. You cannot thrive in a platonic or romantic relationship if you are trying more than the other person to keep the waters calm.
WAYS TO HELP SOCIAL RECOVERY
healthy, affirming communication
conflict resolution
an inclusive and welcoming community
safety and security
discussing challenges
Our existential being can experience stress via feelings of hopelessness, lack of meaning and purpose, despair, being unable to cope with death, and struggling to adjust to change.
If you feel you struggle with your spiritual side, your existential health may be at risk. Find a purpose, find guidance of some sort - whether it be religious or another realm, find what you're most passionate about. Having a sense of purpose is so important for many people to thrive. Sometimes having a sense of purpose can help you understand yourself and others so much more. Having a form of guidance from whatever you choose to believe in can help you understand the world so much more.
WAYS TO HELP EXISTENTIAL RECOVERY
participate in meaningful activities
being of service
observing your mental and emotional processes
self-reflection
giving yourself a purpose
Emotional stress can surface via grief, poor coping skills, anger, emotional labour, disgust, poor emotional self-regulation, shame, fear, or trouble expressing and recognizing emotions.
If you are constantly holding your feelings back, and have nobody (including yourself) that you can comfortably be vulnerable with ... your emotional health is likely struggling. You should also be able to (uncomfortably, but healthily) sit with your feelings and try to find exactly why you might be feeling this way. Figuring out and/or knowing where your emotions are stemming from is a form of emotional intelligence, and it is a great tool to better understand yourself and others. Figuring out ways that help you self-regulate your emotions can be so helpful in the long run.
WAYS TO HELP EMOTIONAL RECOVERY
appropriate self-expression
temporarily step away from difficult emotions
find a state of peace
breath work
evoke positive moods
mindfulness
Mental stressors consist of decision fatigue, multiple tasks, information overload, perfectionism, switching languages, and unsupported neurodivergence or cognitive impairment(s).
Sometimes our minds can become so overwhelmed by focusing on one specific task for an extended period. You might feel frustrated and/or overstimulated over an extended period of time. Knowing how to take a step back and analyze the situation, the task, etc. can help lessen mental stress load. Taking small breaks to do something else for 5 minutes, and then resuming the original task, can also help your mind feel less stressed.
WAYS TO HELP MENTAL RECOVERY
build thinking and problem solving skills
engage in mental tasks
deep inner work
partake in creativity
intervals of focus and mental recovery
Lastly, let's talk about environmental stressors: noise, light, inaccessibility, lack of safety, pollution, discrimination, temperature, distractions, and toxicity.
If you're living in a toxic situation, or an area where there isn't much to do around you, you may experience environmental stress. Having your home environment be your safe space is honestly a privilege, and if you don't have that, you should find places that you can turn into your safe space. Whether it's moving, having a friend's home to go to, work, a place to partake in a hobby, a therapist's office ... find your safe space.
If you stay in an environment that you feel is constantly working against you, then you are not going to ever feel at ease, or confident. Try to surround yourself with an environment that allows you to take care of your needs.
WAYS TO HELP ENVIRONMENTAL RECOVERY
create a space to support needs
create, or find, safety and security
eliminate distractions
access to healthcare
move yourself away from toxicity and into a healthy environment
Overcoming stressors can be difficult. Some stressors, you may not be able to overcome. The most important thing is focusing on what is in your control.
What stressors could you change? Which ones would be easiest to improve on? Hardest to improve on?
Make sure you are focusing on the ones that you know you can change first. If you're a highly stressed person, you likely have a ton of different things that are altering your stress load. Repeat after me: focus on what is in my control. Being able to change one or two things for the better can immensely lessen stress in some areas of your life.
You may not be able to resolve all of your stress, and that's okay. It's actually very normal to not be able to live stress-free. But again, changing and working on the stressors that are 100% in your control will help you feel less stress on a day-to-day basis. That is what's most important.
Less stress leads to improved immunity, improved sleep, improved overall health. Less stress will help you be able to feel more mindful, to move slower, to relax.
Start with one area you'd like to improve on. Work on that stressor. Continue working on it until you feel a sense of peace. You may need to go through lifestyle changes, go through discomfort, experience trial and error with this stressor. That's okay ... find what works best for you to overcome it. You can do hard things, and you cannot grow where you are comfortable.
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