Many of us find life extremely stressful at the moment. And while some stress is a normal part of life, intense stress can create significant disruptions. It can seem overwhelming and relentless, making us feel as if we are stuck in permanent survival mode. This can lead to insomnia, loss of focus, a feeling of hopelessness, and difficulty in completing even small tasks. If you’re experiencing this kind of stress, you’re definitely not alone. The good news is that there are ways to work with stress instead of fighting it.

The Impact of Intense Stress

When we are anxious or stressed, we go into a temporary “fight, flight, or freeze” response. But when stress is extreme or becomes chronic, the nervous system can get locked into this response. It can show up as racing thoughts or constant worry, muscle tension, headaches, or stomach issues, irritability or emotional numbness, trouble sleeping or restlessness, and a sense of being on edge even when nothing causes it. Over time, intense stress can move beyond mental impact and begin to affect physical health, relationships, and sense of self. Managing stress can help your nervous system learn that it is safe to slow down, which is important for mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

Ways to Manage Stress

Stress can be managed in a number of ways:

• Stop taking on more stress – managing and limiting the triggers is a very important part of self-care. You need to become aware when your mind and body have reached their capacity and cannot process any more stress. When you are at that point or are approaching it, make an intentional effort to remove yourself from the triggers – shut off your phone, turn off the TV, walk away from people and situations that you find triggering or draining. Just stop everything and let your mind, body, and spirit process and rest. You cannot fix anything by absorbing more than you can handle.
• Release what has been absorbed – scan your body for any areas of tightness, pressure, or constriction. Soften and unwind your body to move it out of the “fighting” stance. Imagine yourself connecting with the Earth and sending any stress, fear, or discomfort from your body, through your feet, and down into the ground. Engage in activities that help you process emotions and move them out of your system (for example, journaling, physical exercise, talking to a therapist).
• Maintain a more peaceful state – do things that help you create peace and calm within your body – taking a walk, doing yoga, meditating, working in the garden, taking a nap, reading a book, taking a bath, listening to relaxing music. Everyone is different. Figure out what works best for you.
• Change your response to triggers – do something that help you develop long-term changes by working on the automatic stress responses happening beneath conscious awareness. This can be done through hypnotherapy or other modalities that work with you holistically and at different levels.

How Hypnosis Can Help With Stress

Hypnosis is a state of focused attention and deep relaxation, which can be used to calm the nervous system and gently reshape stress patterns at a subconscious level. Many clients come out of hypnosis feeling calm and peaceful, even if they came into the session with a high degree of stress and anxiety. Hypnosis is routinely used to produce the following results:

• Reducing physical tension. The body can experience an immediate and noticeable relief, which allows it to exit the survival mode.
• Quieting mental overload. The individual’s racing thoughts can be slowed down and gently shifted in a healthier direction.
• Reframing stress triggers. Trance allows people to shift perspectives on the things that trigger them in daily life, reducing or removing their threatening power.
• Building inner safety. Developing an inner sense of control over one’s experience gives people a lasting sense of peace.
• Improving sleep and recovery. A calmer mind allows people to experience deeper recuperative sleep, which helps the mind and body to repair themselves after periods of stress.

Of course, hypnotherapy is not a magic fix, and it’s not a replacement for medical or psychological care when those are needed. However, it is a powerful modality that can be part of a broader stress-management approach and with a trained, ethical practitioner. Hypnotherapy may not be able to erase stress from your life, but it can change how your mind and body respond to it and recover from it.

Proactive Ways to Limit Stress

If you’re dealing with intense stress, you don’t need to “toughen up” or push harder. Stress is not a personal failure—it is a signal that you are perceiving a threat and need to prepare for appropriate action. The reality of life is that some stress is inevitable, and we cannot eliminate it by simply wishing it so. We can, however, take some appropriate actions to manage stress more effectively:

• Develop self-awareness to know when you are becoming overloaded and need to pull back.
• Practice self-compassion instead of self-criticism. Give yourself the time and care that you need to recover.
• Identify and use the tools that work for you (for example, breathing or walking in nature).
• Limit exposure to stimulation and triggers. Decide how much exposure is acceptable before you experience stress.
• Let go of the “God complex.” Accept that you can neither control the world nor are you single-handedly responsible for fixing it.
• Select small, actionable items you can do without stressing out. Do them!

When it feels like stress is running the show, become your own advocate. Stand up for your nervous system and your body’s health. Give yourself a break so you can recover. Speak to someone who can give you the support that you need, and most of all, whatever you are going through, don’t lose hope.

By Natalie Candela, PhD

Certified Hypnotherapist and Transformation Coach

Awakened Hypnosis (https://awakenedhypnosis.com)