When I’m stressed out, my body tells me before my to-do list does. My heart rate goes sky high and stays elevated. My chest feels tight. Adrenaline can make my fingers so shaky that I start making typos as I peck away on my laptop. It’s hard to fall asleep. I might develop a headache. I may even feel a little nauseated, which affects my appetite.
Each of those reactions is a physical manifestation of my body hanging out in fight-or-flight mode, and each one flares along its own spectrum. The symptoms and their severity depend on whether something acute has happened—you know the triggers, your boss Slacks you “Can you meet at 10 a.m. tomorrow?” with no context—or whether I’m simply overworked and overwhelmed.
You’ve heard me on the five pillars of well-being before: fitness, nutrition, prioritizing sleep, connection with other humans, and yes, stress management. They fuel one another; it’s a never-ending feedback loop. When my sleep is good, I eat better and I’m more dialed in during workouts. When I’m hanging with my friends more often, I’m calmer.
At some point it becomes a chicken and egg situation. Am I tense today because I didn’t sleep well last night? Because I haven’t hugged a friend or a family member? And so on.
But even when I’m doing everything right, there are times I still feel like a live wire. This post is about that feeling.
You can’t simply think your way into being less stressed out, in my experience. So I collect alternative techniques like tiny treasures. Full disclosure: some of them are weird. One involves a bowl of ice water. Another came straight from my therapist. All of them soothe me when my nervous system is going haywire.
Gold Star readers, let’s get regulated…
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