Stress is one of the most important factors which affects our health and wellbeing. We need to understand stress better in order to take care of ourselves more effectively. Having studied stress from a psychological as well as a medical point of view, I wanted to share some thoughts about the nature of stress, and some ideas about how to handle it.

Stress is a normal and natural part of everyday life. In fact, a low level of stress will help us in our daily activities, as long as that stress occurs in short bursts. It is when stress becomes extreme, sustained or elevated over a long period of time, that our bodies pay an unseen price that can impact our long-term health and wellbeing.

Let’s explore the stress response. When a person experiences a stressful event whether in reality or just in their thinking, the mind signals to the body that something constitutes some form of a threat. This is the body’s way of declaring “battle stations”. While that may sound extreme, that is exactly the way the body responds to a threat, due to the central alarm system of the brain, the amygdala – a prehistoric part of our brain exclusively focused on survival.

These battle preparations align with the “fight or flight” responses we are all familiar with. In a state of stress, whether real or imaginary, the body needs to marshal its resources urgently. It needs to create energy immediately to respond to the perceived situation, so it will recruit the adrenal glands to produce the cortisol and adrenaline to fire up the body. And then it's going to cascade the production of glucose to maintain that energy level, so it's going to recruit glucose from the liver and muscles. Blood will flow away from the brain to the legs, hands and extremities, ready to fight or flee.

The body’s healing and repair systems will be shut down in order to focus all the energy, all the attention on the stress which caused the alarm to activate. So if you already have an injury, a disease or an imbalance, there will be no energy left to help your body recover from that.

It is only when the stress subsides that the body will be able to begin to resume its normal maintenance programmes, but the aftermath of stress is not easy either. The body then has to manage the large volumes of chemicals which have been produced during the stress response. These chemicals are extremely potent and were not designed to be carried in the body, but to be used up in the stress response. If the stressful situation has not used up these chemicals, where do these unwanted chemicals go? That’s when they get stored somewhere in the body, where they have the potential to harm us, unless expended in some way.

The body needs to come to a state of calmness before the functions of repairing and healing are gradually restored, as functioning through the sympathetic nervous system (“fight or flight”) activity subsides and switches to our other nervous system, called the parasympathetic nervous system (also known as “rest and digest” state) which is when the repair and healing can resume.

And that's why it's important to have an awareness when we are feeling stressed, to have in our self-help toolkit a number of strategies to help us to come back to a calmer situation. Solutions can involve getting out of the environment where the stress began and taking a walk, or we can consciously slow and deepen our rate of breathing, we can meditate. We can sit down, have a soothing drink, we can listen to music. We can look out of the window, go outside and look at the garden. And all those things will help you cope with the stressful situation.

I hope that you have found some useful information here. As a certified Stress Management Consultant, I help people manage their stress levels on a one-to-one basis. If you would like to talk with me about stress, and how I might help you,  please book a free appointment by using the green BOOK button on this page.

​Copyright ©2022 Juan Carlos Gouveia - all rights reserved

Today is World Brain Day!

It’s a great opportunity to celebrate our amazing “grey matter” that allows us to navigate the world. Founded by the World Federation of Neurology, this year’s theme is “better brain health for all”.

So, lets make it personal. Here are some of the many things you can do to help yourself to better brain health.

Physical activity - walking, going to the gym, anything which gets you moving is helpful.

Make time for others – social engagement not only brings us the chance to communicate with others, it also allows us to recognise and celebrate our similarities- and our differences!

Good nutrition – making sure you eat a well-balanced diet with lots of fresh, colourful fruit and vegetables, reducing processed foods will help your brain stay healthy.

Hydration – even being a little dehydrated puts your brain under stress. Increase your water intake to help your brain perform better. And remember, thirst sometimes feels like hunger, so reach for a drink before you eat!

Breathe cleaner air – escape the city when you can and spend time in nature to breathe fewer damaging airborne pollutants.

Get better (and more) sleep – you may need more sleep than you’re giving yourself. Try an early night or two and see if it makes you feel better the following day. Switching off from screen viewing an hour before bed will also allow your brain to rest more fully.

None of these costs much (if anything), but the benefits could be huge.

​Invest some time in thinking how you can care for your brain better today!
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Copyright ©2022 Juan Carlos Gouveia - all rights reserved

When you say “Will Smith” and “Academy Awards”, unfortunately what most people will think of is “that slap” instead of “Best Actor”.
 
Much has already been said about the incident at the Academy Awards ceremony when actor Will Smith hit comedian Chris Rock in response to a “joke” about Smith’s wife’s medical condition.
 
Whatever your viewpoint, the one thing we can all agree upon is that violence is never the answer.
 
From a therapeutic viewpoint, this event was significant for a number of reasons. It was a perfect demonstration that when the mind battles between logic and emotion, emotion always wins.
 
Smith later apologised, explaining his response was a consequence of family violence he witnessed as a child.
 
In retrospect, with his logic mind in control, he might well have wished to take the moral high ground and used the point to educate. However, the emotional side of the mind is lightning fast to react - and very difficult to control.
 
This event is – unfortunately - the perfect example of what happens when unresolved childhood issues are buried within a person’s mind. It never goes away until it is faced, dealt with and disempowered. How significant that over 40 years after the event it is still with him, detracting from this highpoint in his career, tainting that moment in history, defining it in a way he may not have reckoned with, and undoubtedly did not want.
 
This is a graphic reminder that childhood experiences have the power to define you, how you think and feel, and how successful you will be in your life. Unless you take action to deal with them and move on, they have the potential to come back to haunt you and define at least a part of who you are today – and in the future.
 
These are exactly the kinds of issues that I regularly help my clients address and free themselves from their past to stop them sabotaging their future.  So many people experience these same overwhelming feelings. But with the right help, these past events do not have to write your future - they can be laid to rest.

​If you feel yourself resonating with this subject, feel free to book in a Discovery Call with me to discuss it confidentially and with no obligation.

​Copyright ©2022 Juan Carlos Gouveia - all rights reserved

This coming Saturday, November 27th, I’m excited to be a Keynote Speaker at the ninth Women In Business Conference, an in-person event being held in Kensington, London, UK. If you can, join me!

I’ll be presenting “Smashing the Mind’s Barriers to Success”, which has been informed by much of my work as a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Solution Focused Therapist and Stress Management Consultant. My passion is to help you and your business succeed.

The all-day conference has a number of interesting and diverse speakers and topics, so there will be much to benefit from throughout the day. If you’re running your own business, or thinking of doing so, this will be a day which will enrich, inform and inspire you – as well as enjoying the company of like-minded entrepreneurs - reminding you that you are not alone in your journey!

Tickets for the event are still available, and affordable for all - as they’re free!  Pre-registration is required to secure your place. To find out more and book your ticket, click this link https://desoconnors.com/?ref=des See you there!

To whet your appetite, here's an interview I had with the event producer entitled "The Business Woman's Guide to Collaborating With Your Mind".  Find it at https://www.facebook.com/100009515989205/videos/179795867700174

​​Copyright ©2022 Juan Carlos Gouveia - all rights reserved