Transform Your Health by Managing Microstressors

Do you think stress is a health issue for you? Take an imaginary morning…

Your alarm goes off. You check the news. Fall out of bed. Rush to have a shower before you miss the train/your 4 year old needs breakfast/you’re late for your first appointment. Our stress response is incredible. It lets us repeat that day after day, week after week.

I’m Dr Kate Ella, a health coach and orthopaedic surgeon who helps people optimise their health by transforming their lifestyles.  I found that lots of people want to be healthier but are confused about health and wellbeing and therefore don’t start making the changes or go down blind alleys or stop and start new things all the time.  So I aim to help by bringing together fitness, eating, stress management, sleep and more.

Back to stress, something the WHO has called the “health epidemic of the 21st century”. It helps us get up in the morning and give our best when we need it. But it can also speed up our inevitable demise if left unchecked. Most of us think of stress as the big things, major life events. But the little, everyday microstressors can be just as much of a challenge.

Microstressors

Rob Cross and Karen Dillon interviewed 300 high performers working in multinationals for their book “The Microstress Effect: How Little Things Pile Up and Create Big Problems – and What to Do about It”. They found that many of these high achievers were “hanging on by a thread”. But, in the vast majority of cases, it wasn’t the big stressors that were the problem. It was the tiny, niggly, microstressors that over time became a huge problem.

What can I do?

These little microstressors are insidious. Rangan Chatterjee in his book, The Stress Solution, writes microstressors “are coming at you from all directions, pretty much all the time. There’s nothing I can do about that.”. And nor can I. But, I can suggest some practical ideas to reduce their effects on you and your overall stress levels.

Awareness

Noticing what is a microstressor for you is the first step. We’re all different and none of us have had the same experiences up to this point. For me, a cancelled train making me late, has a big effect on my stress levels. But someone having a loud phone conversation on the same train barely even registers.

Micro-ideas for microstressors

Once you’ve noticed you can think about whether it is a microstressor that you have the control to make some changes around (like getting an earlier train when it’s important). Or, whether it’s a microstressor that you would be better looking to accept and negate. Here’s a few micro-ideas for how you could go about that…

Our stress response is amazing and is no small part of how we each got to be here. Our ancestors would not have made it to procreation without it. But, in our modern world these microstressors can have a far less positive effect. Have a go at a few of the ideas above and see how they work for you. They’re not going to change your world in one go but starting small can have big effects.

If you’d like to see more about how I can help you optimise your health and transform your lifestyle have a look at my services. Or to keep up to date with what is going on at Dr Kate Ella then sign up for my mailing list below!