My coach reminded me that stress can come in many forms. While doing a hard workout can cause obvious physical stress, which brings on physiological responses. On the other hand, life stressors are not benign. We’re in the process of moving to a new house and selling ours right now, and that creates its own stresses on a daily basis. Being attuned to my internal hormonal balance from all of my ironman training, I am acutely aware of the impact of this type of stress. I think that I tend to notice it even more when I’m deep into my ironman training, as I am now.
Another kind of stress that my coach pointed out to me is less obvious. I’m an admitted workaholic, and when I’m meeting with someone, or giving a speech, I really get into it! It’s exciting, and often gratifying. It also brings about a release of adrenaline, which is its own stressor. This is something that I really need to pay more attention to. Next week I’ll be going to Atlanta for a four day meeting. I really enjoy these meetings, and I tend to get up early, go to bed late, and stay busy the entire time in between. I often don’t “feel” tired, but the silent release of adrenaline is what’s keeping me going. The constant stressor has an impact that I really shouldn’t ignore.
In talking to my coach, I realized that the key to this type of stress, the silent stress, is meditation. I’ve been negligent in my use of meditation, except as I meditate during a workout. This is ok, but it’s a different type of meditation. Meditation is a critical means of combatting work and life stressors, and just as I’ve been working on my daily run and writing habit, it’s time to work on my daily meditation habit!
No comments:
Post a Comment