Making Stress Our Friend

5/1/2019

Many of us build our lives around avoiding stress. But what if we should be embracing it instead?

Stress. Even hearing the word can cause our hearts to race and palms to sweat. But while stress has long been framed as incompatible with a healthy life, it’s really not all bad. When we approach life with a growth mindset - the belief that we can develop our abilities through dedication and hard work - we can look at stress as a motivation to face challenges and create change.

One of our “Wellness Wednesday” sessions this year took students through the stress response, which can include nausea, shaking, sweating and nervousness, and showed them how to avoid framing stress as the enemy. The session included these useful approaches to a stress response:

Understand the stress response. It’s a necessary biological component to help us focus and overcome difficulties. When playing sports, for example, the stress response can be tremendously helpful.
Interpret the response as positive, not negative. It’s a challenge to be overcome.
Identify the problem that needs to be solved. Seek assistance if you need it.
Modulate the response. Use mindfulness techniques to encourage your body to relax.

Reaching out to others in times of need is key in turning a negative stress response into a positive. In a wonderful TED Talk titled “How to make stress your friend,” psychologist Kelly McGonigal explains that reaching out to others is one of the most effective - and perhaps least known - methods of stress reduction. Watch her talk below!

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Greenwood College School

443 Mount Pleasant Road
Toronto, ON M4S 2L8
Tel: 416 482 9811

We acknowledge with gratitude the Ancestral lands upon which our main campus is situated. These lands are the Ancestral territories of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Anishinabek and the Wendake. The shared responsibility of this land is honoured in the Dish with One Spoon Treaty and as settlers, we strive to care for the land, the waters, and all creatures in the spirit of peace. We are responsible for respecting and supporting the enduring presence of all First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. When away from this campus we vow to be respectful to the land by protecting and honouring it. We will create relationships with the people and the land we may visit by understanding the territories we enter and the nations who inhabit them.