Does stress make you tired!
Does stress make you tired and why!
Welcome to all the stressed Mums out there. The ones who are juggling young children, work/life balance, feeling like there is no tomorrow or even a moment in the day to just sit and be! Going to the toilet is a major event requiring lots of strategic maneuvering, generally shared by all members of the family even the cat or dog! Don’t get me started on sleep deprivation! How long is it since you had a wonderful blissful night’s sleep? While we are at it, how’s your brain functioning, you do remember your brain? It used to work really well, could remember the most tiny and irrelevant information, however now it’s a struggle to even remember why you have gone into a room and where those wretched car keys were placed.
So, who is to blame for this crazy chaotic life? Yourself? Children? Partner? Life? The answer is yes to all of them and yet it is not the answer as well. Hmmm! No, I am not on something ? All of your life and the various factors and conditions, contribute, to the number one reason for chaos. STRESS! Stress makes you tired. Discover how to create calm amid your chaos.
Stress by definition is “Stress is the internal process that occurs when a person is faced with a demand that is perceived to exceed the resources available to respond to it effectively, and where effective failure to deal with the demand has important and undesirable consequences” A stress trigger is a causal point in which an incident activates this internal process. The higher negative emotional response to the initial incident, the more likely it is that this will be become a default response.
Everyone has a specific and finite amount of ‘energy’ to allow them to get through their day. These energy reserves are supplemented by giving your body extra fuel through good nutrition choices, adequate rest breaks and by keeping stress levels manageable. They are further assisted by a good night of quality sleep, something that is often easier said than done, especially when you are juggling too many balls in the air.
The energy reserves can also be impacted by health, someone dealing with a medical challenge has less initial energy reserves and uses more energy doing everyday things. The result is less energy, more frustration, brain fog, a quick anger switch and you guessed it…less capacity to have a good night’s sleep.
Try telling a busy mum with children and work/family life responsibilities to make sure she has a good night’s sleep. You had better duck as that is last thing she needs to be told, it’s a fact she knows only too well and yet each night she struggles more and more to get to sleep. The inability to get to sleep, to stay asleep or to wake up refreshed can very quickly become a stress trigger.
There is a solution to this dilemma.
Imagine you are planting a good night sleep seed. You plant the seed with the expectation it will provide the good sleep, however when sleep doesn’t happen or you wake up still tired, the initial reaction is generally one of annoyance or anger. The brain registers this sequence of events and opens a file called ‘Good Night’s Sleep” and each time you don’t have a good night’s sleep it adds that annoyed/angry reaction to the file and this file gets bigger and bigger. Interestingly, if by chance you do have a good night’s sleep, quite often a positive reaction is not overly acknowledged, because it may not last! In time the very thought of sleeping will trigger a stress response and become the default response to sleep.
Would you like to know how to retrain the brain to have a better default response to sleep? Each night as you get ready for bed, set the intention of having the best night sleep ever. Relax yourself with the thought of waking up tomorrow feeling refreshed and energised. Thank yourself for this opportunity. When you get into bed, don’t move into exactly the same spot as normal, change the spot you are resting on and again acknowledge the good sleep ahead. When your brain starts with all the information that it wants you to remember, let it know all is well and that it is on the to-do list for tomorrow. Tell yourself it is safe to sleep, knowing that if any emergency happens during the night you will hear and deal with it. Relax! Allow your muscles to soften and feel comfortable.
Just as your brain added the negative responses to the file “Good Night’s Sleep” you are now adding a positive response. So even if you find yourself momentarily relaxing, acknowledge the thought and say well done! If you sleep for 5 minutes longer, say well done! Eventually the brain will understand that the best reaction is the positive ones and it will make this the default response.
The ‘thought’ of sleep is no longer adding stress to your life and it will stop draining your energy reserves.
Lavender essential oil is also a natural relaxant, place a couple of drops onto a hanky and tuck into your pillow slip or defuse in a diffuser to further calm the senses.
Do you need more help? I provide one on one kinesiology consultations in my clinic, I invite you to visit my website to book a complimentary 15-minute discovery session, and we can chat about how I can be of further assistance to you. There is also my amazing online program that shows your how to easily and naturally de-stress, with practical tips and self help kinesiology techniques safe to use for all members of your family.
