How Do Your Ethics Help You Manage Daily Stress
*This article was written by Marcia Meredith and has been posted by Disha Manvikar*
I just finished listening to an hour-long group phone call with my former teacher from the Ayurvedic Institute, Claudia Welch.
It was the first time I had heard of her doing this sort of thing, but according to what I learned she does these calls regularly. If you want to join in on the next one go to her website and sign up to receive her emails. The call was done with Cate Stillman, who is the co-teacher for her Healthier Hormones online class series. Such great information!
The call today seemed to be exactly what I needed to hear right now – because of what she said about the heart and the brain.
The first item she talked about was how managing stress and keeping our hormones balanced is tied to ethics.
Does what we do in our lives make us happy?
Do we know we are following our dharma, our purpose for being here?
Are we doing what we do, because we have an internal obligation driving us?
The internal Yes’s and No’s we say to ourselves are so important because if we say Yes to obligations that drive us, but do not make us happy, we must consider what the ethical consequences for us are, in terms of stress, and how stress harms us?
This led to a discussion of the heart.
The heart, in addition to everything else it does, also has an endocrine function and secretes oxytocin. Oxytocin is the love hormone. It is what is secreted when we feel love and support and sweetness. It is what is secreted when mothers see their children. Claudia said that if we feel obligated rather than excited about something, it is harder to convince our heart that this is worth it. However, sometimes we need to rise to the occasion and do what must be done (like Joan of Arc). She then referred to Kelly McGonigal and her suggestion that stress is not harmful if we believe it is not harmful.
Kelly McGonigal says to think about stress as positive for overall health. Shifting our thoughts about stress to be positive will motivate our bodies to accommodate to the stressful situation. When we think positively, our bodies (and blood vessels) expand rather than contract.
This is JOY!
We can make these types of changes in our thinking by relaxing into the situation. If it really is worth it, then with love, acceptance and support in sharing our experiences with others, we can make it through. When we serve others oxytocin is released – when we are served by others oxytocin is released.
When discussing the brain she started with the word “mindset”. Claudia said that the mind is never set. Everything about the brain is temporary – the brain is changing all the time. The scientific word for this is neuroplasticity. And over the past 30 years, but even more so in the past 10 years the information about how the brain works has greatly expanded. We can change our mental pathways. We can change our expressions of how we respond to stress. To create this change takes practice, and what Claudia discusses in her Healthier Hormones program – Love and Focus.
What we focus on takes up space in our brain.
Changing our focus changes our experience.
Thought creates chemistry and literally changes the neuro pathways in the brain. Visualize an image – the image can be anything – of what you want to be, to do, or to become. We become what we focus on. This takes time and effort, but is powerful and can change our perception and experience.
Finally, she suggested we move toward being in awe.
Specifically she suggested we try to be in awe of feeling unsettled as an alternative to feeling stress. I love this. It encourages us to be aware in each moment. To be aware is a spiritual practice. These esoteric conversations, as Claudia said, may not be immediately practical but they do help us shift our thinking.
“One small shift, and there YOU are.” ~ Maya Tiwari
©Marcia Meredith, Ayurveda Practitioner/Nurse Practitioner