On this episode of Being Well, Forrest and I take a deep dive into understanding and managing stress, how it functions, how it impacts our lives and bodies, and what we can do to repair from its effects.
We discuss how to distinguish stress from effort, the influence of the modern world on how stressed we feel, the various biological mechanisms involved in stress, and the challenges presented by chronic exposure to it. Then we consider what we can do to positively respond to our stressors even in the midst of limitations and uncertainty.
Key Topics:
- 0:00: Introduction
- 1:50: What is stress exactly?
- 3:30: Distinguishing stress from effort
- 7:25: Circles of concern and what we can actually influence
- 10:15: Zebras and the different levels of allostatic load
- 15:30: How the Endocrine system and Nervous system respond to stress
- 21:45: The Amygdala response
- 23:20: What is the cost of stress?
- 36:25: How do we positively adapt to stress?
- 41:35: The influence of basic lifestyle factors
- 43:50: Questions to ask yourself
- 45:30: Claiming agency while accepting limitations and uncertainty
- 51:05: What we can do to repair from the effects of our stress
- 57:40: Recap
