TED Talk: “How to Make Stress your Friend”

 

I watched  a TED talk by Kelly McGonigal on “How to Make Stress your Friend.”  She is a psychologist and really opened my eyes on how our minds and bodies can change things that are normally perceived as something negative, to something positive.

She starts out by giving this idea that if we change our mind and outlook on something that it can change how our bodies react. She tells us about a survey that was taken with people who were asked if they had high levels of stress in the last year and then asked them if they believed that stress was harmful to health. They then checked public death records to see who died. The people who had high levels of stress were 43% more likely to die than those who had very little to no stress, but those 43% were the ones who believed that stress was harmful to health. The people who didn’t believe that had no greater chance of death then the people who had no stress at all. This being said she brings up her next point.

She explains that if we take our bodies reactions to stress, such as, when our heart starts pounding and our breathing starts racing, and make them into something positive, that we can change how stress affects us. Instead of getting anxious when these things start happening, we should embrace them and realize that our bodies aren’t trying to make the situation worse, they are trying to make it better. Our bodies are trying to help us by preparing us for whatever obstacle we are facing.

I agree with what Kelly says and I think that this not only applies to stress, but to life in general as well. Our outlook on things is what really matters. If we can keep that positive, then we can overcome just about anything.