.png)
I believe that Wellbeing is all about addressing STRESS which will in turn affect your health and happiness.
Humans have not evolved quickly enough to keep up with modern day trends. Our bodies evolved as hunter gatherers and as such expected to have short bursts of stress (for example the chase before a kill). This is what our bodies are still designed to cope with.
Today’s lifestyles are full of constant stress. We are never away from our phones, we have 24/7 media telling us what we should look like, how we should behave, we compare ourselves unfavorably to the false lives we see on social media. We live in a busy, bustling world of traffic, deadlines, tests and financial pressures and unlike our prehistoric ancestors, we don’t stop! Even our modern eating habits can mean that we are causing our bodies stress as they are constantly working to digest and process the food we have access to throughout the day. Two generations ago meal times were the only time that we would be eating and the meals were more often social affairs and the food enjoyed more mindfully than the "food on the go" we have become used to today.
Prolonged periods of stress cause an overactive stress response. Cortisol is a stress response hormone which activates our sympathetic nervous system (our fight or flight response). When we are stressed our cortisol levels surge. In short bursts, this is normal and healthy. It becomes a problem when we are in a constant state of “fight or flight”.
In this state, your body goes in to crisis. Your body feels as if it is being attacked, your immune system goes in to an emergency state, sometimes causing chronic inflammation whilst energy is diverted away from important processes such as digestion and our immune system function.
The results of prolonged periods of stress can be catastrophic. Almost all mental and physical aspects of health will suffer and many chronic illnesses as well as depression are now being attributed to stress. Interestingly, recent studies have shown that depression brought on by stress, where the body shows high levels of chronic inflammation cannot be treated successfully with the anti-depressants often prescribed by GPs.
I believe that personal wellbeing can only occur when this stress imbalance is addressed.
How does Wellbeing coaching address stress?
An hour's coaching session is an opportunity for you and your coach to discover how to reduce stress levels in your life and how to cope with the inevitable stress which will remain.
Relaxation, Nutrition, Movement and Sleep are the main tools you will be encouraged to employ to feel better. Your feeling of self-worth is equally important and at all times you will be encouraged to consider your feelings around your identity and beliefs surrounding your self-worth.