Stressed Out: Using Play as the Antidote to Modern Life Stress
Stress has become a ubiquitous part of modern life and is often seen as a necessary evil. It often feels unavoidable in our modern, busy, digital lives. As smartphones ding with notifications and longer work hours bleed into personal time, it’s no wonder that this constant pressure leads to mental and physical consequences.
The real issue arises when we have to deal with long term chronic stress, rather than the daily stressors that can often be managed. Long term stress can have a huge negative impact on our bodies - increasing things like inflammation, and also by affecting our ability to make healthy choices.
Of course, removing all stress is often impossible and impractical - so how do we cope with this epidemic?
Enter, Play.
Playful approaches to stress can help us develop a positive attitude towards it, meaning we are more likely to dedicate time to managing it rather than avoiding it completely. Rather than viewing stress as an inevitable threat to well-being, we can reframe it as something to play with rather than succumb to.
Beyond shifting mindsets, establishing healthy stress management techniques and habits helps us prevent stress accumulation and build up over time.
It’s also worth mentioning that the usual foundations of good health can’t be overlooked: sleep quality, nutrition, exercise, breathing, and mindfulness all play a huge role in our ability to cope with and manage stress. For example - if you’ve been sleeping badly for a week or longer, your bandwidth for coping with triggers goes way down. Equally, if you’re not properly nourished or exercising regularly, your nervous system will take longer to come down from it’s fight or flight state.
It’s never to late to start managing your stress levels.
I’ve developed this process after working with many clients experiencing stress and burnout, and have also adopted many of these habits into my own lifestyle:
KNOW YOUR TRIGGERS: what are the things that typically cause you to feel stressed? Once you know what your triggers are, you can start to develop strategies for coping with them in a healthier way.
START TO CHALLENGE YOUR THOUGHTS: when you feel stressed it’s easy to get caught up in negative thoughts. However, these thoughts are often unfounded and unhelpful. Experiment with challenging your negative thoughts by asking yourself if there is any evidence to support them. If not try to replace them with more positive and realistic thoughts.
FIND HEALTHY ANTIDOTES: there are many ways to manage stress such as exercise, relaxation techniques, and spending time with loved ones. Find what works best for you and make it a regular part of your routine. (I’ve added my favourite examples below)
ASK FOR SUPPORT: if you are struggling to manage stress on your own don’t be afraid to ask for help from a friend, family, member, Coach or Therapist.
Now on to the fun part! Activities and habits you can integrate into your life right away. Even if you’re not feeling super stressed, these things can be powerful preventative measures as well as healthy coping mechanisms.
Here are my top fun things to do when you’re stressed:
WATCH A FUNNY SHOW - It’s so simple but it works! Watching a funny TV show or movie can instantly help your body relax by focusing on something other than yourself. Some research has shown that laughter can decrease the number of molecules in the body that make people stressed* *AskDrUniverse.
LISTEN TO A PODCAST - I love listening to comedy podcasts when I feel overwhelmed because they quickly bring me out of myself and help me come back into the moment. Dopamine (the ‘happy’ hormone) is released when you listen to a joke that you find funny, so you can replace the stress you’re feeling with a nice emotion and sensation in your body.
READ A FUNNY BOOK - David Sedaris cracks me up! Find a book that brings a smile to your face every time you read it. Reading can relax the muscles in your face, decrease your blood pressure, and help the neurons in your brain fire*. Reading can also be a great choice for when you aren’t someone who loved meditation or yoga - it’s a way to switch off whilst still giving your brain something to focus on. *PanMacMillan.
DO A CARICATURE - Sometimes the antidote to something challenging is to introduce some fun - that’s visual - the visual element is the key here. Our pupils dilate when we see something funny which has a positive knock-on effect - more light can enter the eye which is also helpful with balancing our circadian rhythm and increasing our vitamin D levels. A win-win situation all round.
HAVE LAUGHTER DAYS - Don’t wait for fun things to happen, make time for them now. Gather some of your friends once a month and have yourself a ‘laughter day’! Dare each other to do stuff, I find that all of Jimmy Fallon's jokes are hilarious (the whisper challenge is quite funny) .
Of course, life will always have its moments of stress, it’s ups and downs - and everything in between! And the key here is not to try and eliminate stress completely - but to better equip yourself to deal with and manage it effectively.
Changing difficulties and challenges into opportunities for growth and playfulness can help you reimagine these situations and approach them with a more positive outlook. The human experience will always leave room for obstacles, but you get to decide how you tackle them.
