Picture the scene…
You’re about to give a make-or-break presentation, the one that could make all the difference when it comes to the promotion you’ve had your eye on. You know all the facts and figures, your slide deck is on point, but as you open your mouth to speak your body starts to work against you.
Firstly, you notice your heart is pounding, to the point where you can see your blouse thumping up and down – oh god, hopefully they won’t notice that – and then you feel your mouth dry up like a sponge. As you open your mouth to speak, you know what your first line is meant to be, but suddenly your head is filled with marshmallows and you can’t remember a thing.
Despite the panic attack you can feel bubbling up just under the surface, you stumble your way through the presentation, but it’s nothing like the way you’d rehearsed it. As you apologetically announce your closing slide, you look up and all you can see is the absolute mortification for you in everyone’s eyes.
You feel like you’ve run a marathon and want to go and hide in a darkened room. What just happened?!
Understanding the stress response
When we talk about how the body responds to stress, we often talk about the Fight or Flight system. Your body prepares itself to either run straight into a dangerous situation, all guns blazing, or run away as fast as it can in the opposite direction.
If you think that all sounds a bit dramatic, you’d be right: these are responses that have stayed with us since prehistoric times, when dangerous situations tended to involve fighting (or running away from) wild animals.
Nowadays, the stresses (or dangers) we face on a day-to-day basis aren’t quite so life-threatening, and yet our physiological reactions remain the same as if we were going face to face with a grizzly bear. ‘Fight or flight’ feels like the wrong label. Instead, I like to talk about zones when I’m referring to stress – the ‘Red Zone’, and the ‘Green Zone’ – and understanding these can transform your approach to stress management.
Inside the Red Zone
So, as I mentioned above, the Red Zone represents our body’s stress response system, the “fight-or-flight” response.
This is when the body’s autonomic nervous system (ANS) is activated – that’s the part of the nervous system that controls fast, unconscious responses, such as your reflexes. Your breathing and heart rate increase, meaning more oxygenated blood reaches your muscles and brain (in case you need to get away quickly), your blood pressure rises, your muscles become tense (which could cause trembling), your pupils dilate so you can see better (looking for that bear!) and some people may experience dry mouth.
Red isn’t always wrong
Being in the Red Zone isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, in short bursts, it can be incredibly helpful. It enhances your focus, makes you more alert, can give you a quick burst of energy, and in high-pressure situations improve our performance.
The problem is that far too often, especially in our modern day lives, we’re stuck in the Red Zone for longer than we need. Stressors like work deadlines, financial pressures, information overload (too many notifications and far too many social media platforms!), not to mention family and relationship challenges, leave our bodies in a chronic state of activation. We don’t need to fight or run away from any of these, and yet our bodies still react as if we do! This can lead to various health issues, both physical and mental.
The impact of past experiences
How we respond to stress is also significantly influenced by things that have happened to us in the past, particularly from our early years. Childhood events, traumas, and challenges can make us more likely to slip into the Red Zone.
That’s because those experience may have created triggers that activate our stress response more easily, which in turn makes it harder to get out of the Red Zone once we’re in it. That can lead to a situation where you’re on high alert ALL THE TIME!
That can show up as a racing heart, stomach problems, sleep issues… the list goes on. Emotionally, you might find it harder to make decisions because your brain doesn’t let you think calmly or rationally, and it thinks those email notifications are a bear hiding in the bushes.
What’s the alternative?
In an ideal world, we’d all be spending most of the time in our Green Zones. That’s where you’re able to think calmly and clearly, with regulated emotional responses. You’re more relaxed physically, your immune function is better and the quality of your sleep improves. You’re also able to make better decisions, and make them more easily.
For me, one of the most rewarding aspects of working with clients is teaching them how to recognise the Green Zone state, and importantly, spend more time there! Sometimes they’ve spent so much time in the Red Zone that the Green Zone feels unfamiliar, even uncomfortable at first, so it’s important to have patience, practice, and seek support from professionals like myself.
Why it matters
I’ve seen so many clients transform their lives when they can understand and manage how they respond to stress, and make the Green Zone their new normal! The goal isn’t to never experience stress, but to develop the skills to navigate it more effectively and get back to a state of balance more quickly.
When you can understand the Red and Green Zones, and do the necessary work to spend more time in the Green, you’ll find you’re able to enjoy more balanced, healthier life – doesn’t that sound great?
How I can help
I spent a long time, earlier in my career, in the Red Zone. I had a full-time job, a young family, and felt like my body was constantly conspiring against me, whenever I needed to do something important – a presentation, or an interview.
Now I work with people who are experiencing the same challenges, so I can give them the help I wish I’d had back then. Most of them had tried to solve the problem themselves but couldn’t get to the root cause of their problems, so weren’t able to fix things. After working with me, they soon found that they were able to control their nervous system and perform at a high-level, living comfortably in the Green Zone!
Book a FREE call with me today to start your journey from Red to Green.