EP 354: Stress Awareness Starts with Body Awareness

With more than 77% of American adults experiencing chronic stress, it is one of the most common afflictions of our culture. Yet, ironically, it happens to be one of the most often misunderstood. Most of us attribute our stress to the external experiences of our lives. We think traffic is stress. We think our kids behavior is stress. We think work is stress. But the truth is that these external experiences are the things that cause our stress. To be clear, it’s our mental and emotional relationship to the outcomes of these things that cause our stress. Stress is the physical, embodied response to a mental and/or emotional experience. Therefore, the way to reduce stress is to become more familiar - more aware - of how it feels in our body. Developing this awareness allows us to address the stress before it hijacks our day. Check out the video for some simple practice suggestions. And if you’d like some more support, please drop a comment below or reach out with a message.