How to Turn Stress Into Energy

We’ve all been told that when stress catches up to you, stop whatever you’re doing and try to relax; that it’s much better to put off any big projects for another day when you’re not so stressed. But according to science, that’s just not true. A natural by-product of stress is actually more energy. Consider the biology: When something happens to set off your body’s stress response—say, a truck edges too close to you on the freeway—a part of your brain called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system switches on. The HPA sends chemicals into your bloodstream (including cortisol, norepinephrine, adrenaline, and neuropeptide S) that help you focus and pump you up. Thus, stress naturally gives you energy.

But even the busiest among us can’t stay on high alert at all times, or we end up feeling overwhelmed and paralysed. That’s toxic stress, and over time it can lead to everything from irritable bowel syndrome and a weakened immune system, to heart disease and depression. The trick is to learn how to work with and not against stress. “When most people feel pressure, the immediate thing they want to do is stop, go watch something on TV and zone out,” says Kathleen Hall, a mindfulness expert and stress consultant. “What you really need is to train yourself to do something that will change your mood from stressed to energised.”

We asked some of the most dynamic, successful, and effective people we know for their angst-to-energy secrets. Use them to become a person who’s powerful under pressure, starting today.

1. Change your mind

Medical researchers have a term for what we’re talking about: It’s eustress—“eu” comes from the Greek for “good.” They say flipping the switch from bad to good may be a purely mental trick. “How we frame things in our minds totally defines our emotional and physical responses,” Hall says. “People who feel out of control, for example, have huge stress levels. Their perception of the world is, I don’t have any control over my life, my job, my kids. Whereas people who feel that they are making choices feel energised, regardless of the circumstances.”

Neurologist Dr Katherine McKenzie studies stress and uses what she’s learned in her own life. When she and her husband were students, they would feel financial panic. Her mind would generate chatter about money, but she realised she didn’t have to listen. Instead of taking every negative thought at face value, she tried to let go of the anxieties that aren’t productive and “identify which worries are problems that can be fixed.” Let’s say you have two big bills—car payment and rent—due at the same time but don’t have enough in the bank to cover both. Brainstorming ideas on how to manage that, like contacting a creditor to ask for a deferral, can keep you out of a freak-out spiral. Instead of catastrophising—leaping to the assumption that it will all turn out badly—or blowing things out of proportion, the energising hormones created by your stress can get you up and at ‘em, spurring you to find a solution.

2. Change the scenery

We spend most of our time indoors, but it’s not the way we’re meant to live. “We evolved being outside. It was the natural order of things, and our bodies and minds need the smells, the oxygen, the light,” Hall says. “When you’re outside, levels of mood-lifting serotonin rise. We’ve studied people who are outside runners and those who do it indoors on a treadmill; the ones who do it in nature feel more invigorated afterward.” In fact, fresh air is rich in negative ions (air molecules with an extra electron), which have been shown to increase oxygen flow to the brain for more alertness and mental energy, she adds. So get some air whenever you feel stress building up. If you can’t bust out, just looking at nature can help. One classic study—which led to the creation of “healing gardens” in hospitals, by the way—found that postoperative patients with a window view healed faster and needed fewer painkillers. That’s some powerful mind-body medicine.

3. Get moving

Don’t just exercise to lose weight —do it because it’s one of the all-time best ways to blast out stress and increase energy. Physical activity bathes your brain in a bunch of neurochemicals, including norepinephrine, which helps with focus and alertness. And because exercise is a natural physical stressor, it sets off your body’s HPA stress response in a healthy way. “Exercise is the only way for me to get a kick in the pants—from the moment I lift a weight or push the start button on a machine, I feel energised, no matter how stressed out I am,” says fitness trainer Kathy Kaehler. If you’re so stressed that you can barely work up the energy to listen to your voice mail, “get up and move,” she says. “I guarantee you will feel better.”

4. Just breathe

Alphabet (Google’s parent company) is known for having hugely demanding work environments and executives were worried about burnout. That is, until they introduced a class at Google to teach employees mindfulness techniques like meditation. The class worked magic on their productivity: “They got more stuff done in less time,” says the course’s teacher Chade-Meng Tan. “That’s the good news. The bad news is that when people feel more efficient and more energetic, they just do even more.”

What works for Googlers can work for you: Extensive research confirms that mindfulness meditation improves your brain’s ability to pay attention during times of stress. The best part, Tan says, is that it can be done in two minutes a day: “The easy way is just to bring attention to your breathing,” he says. Begin by simply becoming aware of the fact that you’re breathing. Then notice the process, that you’re drawing air in and exhaling out. If you get distracted—which is bound to happen—just notice (in a non-judgmental way) and gently bring your focus back to your breath. “There’s no way to do this wrong,” Tan says.

5. Have a giggle 

The more stressed we are, the less important cutting loose seems, but research tells us that laughter is the next-best thing to exercise when you need to convert your stress into energy.

Dr Lee Berk has spent almost three decades studying the impact of laughter on the brain and body, and he’s found that even just anticipating that you’re about to have a chuckle boosts levels of happy-making endorphins and energizing human growth hormone in the body. “Human growth hormone invigorates us,” Berk says. In his study, people who were told they were going to watch a funny movie felt 35% less tension and 63% less fatigue than they did before they learned they were in for a raucous giggle. After the film, they reported 61% less tension and—how’s this for an energy benefit?—87% less fatigue. A good reason to fire up a silly podcast or a YouTube video.

6. Journal, talk, tweet

Whatever stress and pressure you’re feeling on the inside, it’s important to get it out. “I keep a Word document on my computer and write in stream-of-thought about everything going on—anything I want to remember, anything that’s weighing on me,” says Daphne Oz, a healthy-eating expert.

“Sometimes I’ll go back and re-read what I’ve written, but usually it’s just an outlet to help me feel refreshed and less stressed—which I always do when I’m finished, even if I spend just 5 or 10 minutes doing it.” Oz’s smart little trick is a twist on a classic strategy therapists recommend to ruminators—people who repeatedly go over stressful situations in their heads.

“Women tend to ruminate more than men, and it can increase anxiety. It whips you up even more,” says Dr Reg Williams, who has counselled patients on stress and depression for almost three decades. But getting those thoughts out of your head—by talking to a friend or putting them down on paper—can interrupt the cycle. “Each time you get it out there, you’re moving away from these god-awful feelings,” Williams says. In other words, once you take that toxic stress blockage away, your mind is free to move on and become productive, so you actually start checking things off your to-do list.

The cherry on top of all this helpful info is this new truth: The more stress you have in your life, the happier you could be. When you consider the fact that stress can make you more productive and more fulfilled, the phrase “stressed out” has a whole new, happy meaning.

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Author: Sunny Sea Gold