Stress resilience & aging

Kate Marie

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. Mind, Recent Articles — By Kate Marie on November 1, 2011

I spend much of my time trying to keep off the rat-wheel of life and find that I have to keep re-evaluating my life as I age in order to keep it relatively simple. Our lives are so busy and we are at the beck and call of employers, children, partners and our social and other obligations. I guess I’m like many people in that I’ve got huge outgoings when it comes to rent, paying for my children to do their various activities and trying to keep myself together with a range of personal services such as gym and grooming. Then on top of that there’s the cost of doing the various interventions to slow my aging down! All in all it’s no wonder that one of the things I grapple with most is to bolster my stress resilience.

Every day, our lives are filled with these and other challenges. Each triggers a range of protective responses that work to help us defend ourselves, cope and adapt. Our brains are the main drivers of these stress responses, as well as their main target. They decide when there is a problem and act automatically to give our body the tools they need to fight, survive or quickly run away (the ‘fight or flight’ response).

The intensity of our stress responses are determined not only by the intensity of the threats but by a host of other factors, including context, genes, gender, previous experiences, coping skills and personality traits, as well as age itself.

A stress response that is inadequate leads to problems – either too much stress or an inefficient response. Equally, a stress response that is excessive or lacks regulation can sometimes be as harmful as the stress itself. In fact, stress can be a killer. Even single periods of stress in our pasts, such as mental illness, abuse or suffering, can cast long shadows, and may be associated with shorter life expectancy.

Here’s a list of options I’ve found that help build stress resilience. They are from Chapter 25, Aging and Stress from Fast Living, Slow Ageing

Pay attention to your stress and its sources

Write a journal and jot down what stresses you and what makes you feel good over a week or month. Take note and make changes to increase ‘feel-good’ activities and to reduce stressful activities
Get a coach or Councillor

Make sure you have ‘me’ time

Book a weekly massage or facial
Take time to read a non-work-related book
Organize time off from your household – have one day a week where you don’t do cooking, cleaning, management or household chores.
Join a book club
Go to the movies – in the middle of the day!
Find out what makes you happy and do this regularly

Improve your time management skills

Buy a yearly planner or diary and USE it
Map out the things you need to put your attention to so you are clear on priorities
Plan the things you need to do in life and prioritize in the same way you would when developing a business plan
Delegate, delegate, delegate

Allocate time purely for relaxation

Make a list of possible weekend or short getaways and work your way through it
Exercise is a great release – go for a walk, go to the gym or find someone to go to a salsa class with
Listen to music
Take up gardening
Join a social group
Plan regular holidays or breaks if yours is a pressured lifestyle: don’t hang out for a time when you feel you can afford that ‘big trip’

Try some new techniques to bolster your stress resilience (see chapter 25 in Fast Living, Slow Ageing)

Try yoga, pilates, tai chi or a similar class (T5T only takes 10 minutes).
Take a weekly meditation class or listen to a meditation CD before bed each night
Practice mindfulness during the day. If you don’t know much about this then go buy a book or CD and learn about it
Use an AVE system – tune for relaxation before you go to sleep or for peak performance in the morning
Deep-breathe whenever you remember to do so (taking 6 to 8 breaths per minute). Set an alarm or a visual cue that reminds you to do it hourly. Adopt the breathing guidelines, detailed in the last chapter
Buy a HRV tool to build stress resilience. Using biofeedback tools like HRV can help to boost parasympathetic nervous system activity
Go to www.innate-intelligence.com.au to learn more about building stress resilience

Cultivate optimism

Reframe your language to give it a positive, not a negative spin: what you say about things affects how you feel
Write a daily or weekly gratitude journal
Give compliments – you’ll most likely start to receive more as a result!

Cultivate your social support network

Join a sports club, a book club or social network
Try volunteering
Call a friend each week – old or new

Make an appointment to see your doctor or stress management consultant

Do the simple things well to optimize your health your wellness – this will help to improve your body’s resilience

Increase physical activity – regular exercise will lower your stress levels and improve stress responsiveness. Go to chapter 22 in Fast Living, Slow Ageing for guidance on how to do this
Fight weight gain – being overweight is not only a source of stress but it also increases sympathetic activity and reduces your resources to deal with day to day stress. Go to chapter 9 in Fast Living, Slow Ageing for a comprehensive list of options
Eat a healthy diet – go to chapter 19 in Fast Living, Slow Ageing for helpful dietary guidelines
Get quality sleep – poor sleep compounds the effects of stress. For a comprehensive list of options go to chapter 26 in Fast Living, Slow Ageing
Get sex into your life! Go to chapter 27 in Fast Living, Slow Ageing for a comprehensive list of options