Cha-cha-cha-changesss

Change.

Many of my clients are experiencing a huge disruption right now… they are parents juggling changing schedules.

I also fall into that bucket, do you?

Look, change is inevitable. Especially this one. Not only did we see it coming, but we probably wished for it! Just like we’ve looked forward to the end of the school year our entire lives! 

But now that we’re fresh into the mix of kids home, canceled sitters, camps, travel sports, weddings, graduation and birthday parties, etc, our once comfortable “daily grind” is now extremely UNcomfortable.

It’s uncomfortable because our brain doesn’t like change… even when it knows it’s coming! Change can feel threatening to the brain. When the brain feels threatened it will resist and avoid the change as much as possible!

Which feels stressful. There are three levels of stress:

1. The alarm stage is when the central nervous system is activated and your body’s defenses begin to kick in. You have heightened awareness.
2. The resistance stage is when, after the initial shock of a stressful event, your body begins to recover but stays in heightened awareness over time.
3. The exhaustion stage is when activation in the first two stages continues over a prolonged period, causing imbalance within your body which can lead to certain diseases, such as diabetes or heart disease.

So something as exciting as school being out can still create a stress response in your body. And when we’re stressed, these things happen:

1. Blood pressure goes up
2. Eyes dilate
3. Hunger goes away
4. Prefrontal cortex shuts down (not thinking in the moment)
5. All blood flows into your muscles so you can run

And we cope however we’ve been conditioned to cope.

Here’s how we can adjust our automatic thinking and not let a little thing like summer get in our way of having a good time!

1. Become the CEO of your life. If this was a situation in your business, how would you handle it? Who would you speak with? What measures would you put in place? 
2. Decide in advance. Decide WHO you want to be in response to this—are you being a leader or a victim?
3. Prioritize your mindfulness. Remain unbiased and curious about what is REALLY triggering this stress response? What does your brain think is REALLY being threatened? And is that absolute truth?