Episode Details

What is the first thing to do when stress has hold of you? Be quiet. Not deep breathing, not affirmations. Stop talking, and let the body come down a gear.

The damage is not the stress itself, it is the mechanism staying switched on for hours at a stretch. I am a city councillor, which qualifies me on stress. Picture the body going from a run to a walk to sitting to lying down. All you are doing is slowing it. So first, be quiet. Everything else works better after that.

One thing to try: Next time it grips, say nothing for ten seconds. That is step one and it is most of it.

In this episode

• (0:04) Reducing suffering through the difficult times
• (2:36) Being on the city council, which qualifies me for stress
• (4:57) The mechanism staying alive for hours on end
• (7:38) Taking control of it rather than it controlling you
• (9:50) Number one. Be quiet. Somebody is in your face, so stop
• (12:06) Run, to walk, to sitting, to lying down
• (14:24) Why the obvious answer is not the answer

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Thank you for listening.

Steven

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