The many faces of stress
Stress is the body's way of coping with threats. How and what kind of threats are we supposed to react to? The thought that we should be on full alert doesn't sound nice and still our minds is scanning continuously our environment, keeping us safe when the threat is imminent.
There are several reactions to stress:
- Fight
- Flight
- Freeze
All these primitive reactions are supposed to keep us alive in any situations. It's a good thing, isn't it? We are looked after all the time, without our conscious awareness?
You don't choose how you react
That's it. Your personal way of reacting in any situation isn't up to you, it's unconscious. The good thing is that you don't need to start thinking what to do and is it the best way for you?
Your body reacts to fire by pulling away from it before you have time to think about it and/ of the possible danger of it.
What comes to relation ships, the bad part is that you probably react in a similar way you did before - like for ex. shouting or sulking - regardless of your decisions of being nice and kind and speaking politely. And maybe that didn't work out, regardless of your decisions?
The body language is non-verbal and international
The woman in the picture above "shows you the finger"is very common, known worldwide, expressing resentment, isn't it? You may have seen it too - or maybe used it when you couldn't find the right words?
Most commonly it is interpreted as an expression of irritation, contempt or even hostility.
We pick up signs and gestures much faster than spoken words, and they stick to our memory bank much better than accusations. So we are being effected very easily with facial expressions and gestures.
I have heard that the people who don't understand the spoken language - like for example when travelling to a foreign country? - you notice the body language really fast and cannot be fooled with words. The body language tells you much more than a thousand words in here too!
Different stress reactions
First we react by fightingWe are prepared to defend ourselves, or our children/ pups.
In the modern day society we don't actually go on fistfighting with each others - although it's been done - but we show fight reactions in other ways, which can be for example:
- aggressive behaviour
- hyperactivity
- blaming
- gossiping
(next blog will be about flight reaction.)
The behavior is been saved in our subconscious mind.
It's based on life experiences and the perception you have about them.
Because the subconscious mind gets information via environmental signals, that are saved into the memory, we make a shortcut of them to be used for the future use. So, the next time you face similar situations, you react according to how safe you feel in that particular situation subconsciously.
The behavior is automatic in stressful situations, and cannot be changed then, but later on yes. Your reaction is just an answer to the perceived threat. By changing the perception of the situation your reaction - and behavior - changes automatically next time.
Here methods like PSYCH-K®are brilliant.
Decision making is easy but not recommended
Under stress we are capable of making decisions quickly, we are ready to either fight or flight and to defend ourselves against an enemy!
We don't have access to all the areas of the brain at that moment so the decisions are not based on rational thinking but instead most likely hasty conclusions.
So any long term planning or decisions aren't recommended when under acute - or long term - stress. Their time comes later on. The effect of stress on our brains is well explained by the brain researcher Minna Huotilainen (in Finnish)
Human beings make decisions subconsciously by counting the pros and the cons about the matter in question. Although we think that we make wise and well justifiable decisions, they were born long before we realize it, unconsciously. The subconscious mind processes information million times faster than we are capable of doing consciously.
Do you need extra help with your behavior?
If you think/feel that there might be some adjustment needed with your behavior, and you haven't succeeded to do on your own, PSYCH-K® is a great tool for you!
The PSYCH-K®Balance removes the resistance off the mind, helping you to think more clearly and your reaction to stressful issues.
Under stress we may become aggressive, blaming ourselves or others, nagging or hyperactive without being able to relax. The stress is visible in the brain, that cannot use its full capacity in every day life.
Other people's well-meaning advice of relaxing, sleeping well and taking a leave maybe don't work out?
To get your life back on track, why don't you try PSYCH-K®!
More information about PSYCH-K® in Finnish in free information introduction evenings every 1. of the month. using this link to do a personal session
EN 
FI