Foundational Knowledge
How to Flow through Our Stress Zones with Agility
I'm going to say this upfront. The goal of stress is agility is NOT perfection. There will still be times when you feel overwhelmed, or bored, or on the road the burnout. The goal of stress agility is to raise your awareness of which zone you are in, and build skills on how to move in and out of the zones depending on what you need in the moment. Sometimes we need to be in the Survival Zone, especially when there is a dangerous environment that we need to leave quickly. Sometimes our bodies need to be still and bask in the Relax and Recharge Zone, perhaps for longer than we planned - we need to learn to listen to our bodies and invite a mindset that it's okay to relax and recover if we've been going 100 miles per hour for days (weeks? months?) on end. Finally the goal is NOT to learn how to stay in the Performance Zone for 14+ hours per day with no breaks...this is not how the body is designed to function. We are designed to vascillate in and out of these zones, and what's so empowering is that we have way more control on this process than we often realize.
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To bring the Stress Zone model to life, let's take a look at two examples below. In the first example you'll see when we *** In the second example, ***. Both examples below illustrate how the Stress Zones are *** fluid, deeply intertwined, and influence one another.
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When is the last time you paused to think deeply about your life, your values, and your short- and long-term goals? This process is designed to help you engage in deep self-reflection, and using the "ah-ha" moments to guide future choices, and determine how best to prioritize your time and energy in everyday life.
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The integrated Wellness model shown below helps us examine and visualize the big picture of our integrated health. Part of our time together will involve exploring the five wellness areas shown below to determine what "thriving" looks like for you. As you become more adept with using this model, you'll see that when we intentionally link our wellness goals to a personalized sense of purpose and meaning, we are more motivated to stick with healthy behaviors, both in the near-term and in the future.
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Understanding the 5 domains, and determining where you fall on each, are the first steps in the journey to enhancing our sense of well-being. After you read through the examples, click on the link below to access a series of questions that will help you to visualize, integrate, and enhance your own wellness experience in this life.
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Example 1: Managing Stress Zones with Agility Skills for Sustained Motivation & Intentional Recovery
Example #1 Story
This morning, you wake up and feel particularly refreshed from a good night's sleep (Physical Domain). You take a brisk walk outside and chat with a few neighbors along the way (Physical and Social Connection). When you return home, you notice how positive and energized you feel (Emotional), as you've already met your goal to increase your physical movement for the week - a goal you've recently set to ensure you are able to golf with friends and play with your grandchildren as they grow (Social Connection and Meaning & Purpose). Feeling upbeat, you decide to call a close friend to see how they're doing, as you know they've been going through a rough time lately. Your friend thanks you for offering such steady support, and you too feel a sense of joy and satisfaction from the conversation (Emotional and Social Connection). You move on to breakfast, deciding to make yourself a healthy meal to continue the momentum of the morning and to keep your health goals stay on track (Physical). As you shift into the next phase of your day, you think about your priorities which include how to challenge yourself intellectually, find yourself thinking about a big project that you and your team are about to finish (Intellectual); while there have been bumps in the road, you concentrate on recalling all of the accomplishments you all have had along the way (Emotional and Social Connection). You walk into the office feeling refreshed, engaged, and ready to take on whatever comes your way.
Example 2: Managing Stress Zones with Agility Skills for Sustained Motivation & Intentional Recovery
Example #2 Story
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You recently took a leave of absence from your job, desperate to take a break from the grinding commute and drama-ridden office environment (Emotional depletion). Since leaving, you've enjoyed staying up late at night to binge-watch your favorite shows, but this morning you had to wake early to get the kids off to school and feel exhausted (Physical depletion). Once the house is empty you head to the gym, knowing this is the 'right thing' to do with so much free time on your hands (Physical domain but with no Meaning & Purpose). While you enjoyed talking with some friends while exercising, when you return home you quickly find yourself feeling lonely and bored (Emotional depletion). You sit down with a book that has been lying on your nightstand for months, but find it dull and hard to focus on (Intellectual boredom). You turn on the TV to distract yourself from feeling bad (Emotional) and drift off to sleep, only to soon be startled awake by the kids rushing into the room, bubbling with excitement about their days. You're happy they're home, but you find yourself distracted; they can tell you're not paying attention and go outside to play with friends. As you sit alone on the couch, you wonder why you feel so unmotivated right now...you thought it would be rejuvenating to take a break from the stress of work, and you think, "What am I doing with my life?" (Lack of Meaning & Purpose). You head to the pantry to find comfort in some chocolate (Physical depletion), and call one of your good friends for a pick-me-up, but instead spend the whole time complaining about life; your friend listens for a while, but eventually says he has to go, jokingly saying it's hard to be your friend these days (Sustained negative emotions often deplete Social Connections). You begin to realize that you may need to get back to work sooner rather then later, but the task feels daunting, so you instead head outside to throw the ball with the kids and hope it just works itself out.