Stress, when controllable and well timed, is not a disease or a foe you need to battle. When we get clients who tell us they want a stress-free life, we immediately ask, why do they want to go into a coma? As long as you’re awake and aware, a healthy portion of stress is your ally, and it is useful not only for survival, but mainly for productivity and performance enhancement. This pattern can help if you view any kind of stress as a problem, and can readjust your unconsciousness to use the emotion as a driving force instead of an emergency break.

Step 1: When stress happens, acknowledge the feeling: “I am experiencing some level of stress. #

Step 2: Define the boundaries, rules, and contexts of the feeling: “I am experiencing some level of stress as a result of being asked to give a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation at the next board meeting, on Tuesday morning at 10:30 am, in front of 12 executives and staff members, and talk about my department’s recent IT upgrade. #

Step 3: Dissociate: “This is stress. #

" Allow the sensation to have a form, a container, as if it’s an airy and flexible object that was inserted into your body. Notice the kinesthetic boundaries of the stress.

Step 4: Imagine a suitable symbol to represent the stress container. #

Step 5: Now allow yourself to notice the stress without verbalizing it, including how it affects your body. #

Step 6: Now that you’re getting used to having it around, with its boundaries and familiar visualization (symbol and container), welcome the stress by recognizing that it’s a response to something you care about. #

Step 7: Ask yourself: Can I locate the positive motivation behind the stress? #

What is at stake here? Why is it so important and why does it matter to me?

Step 8: Now expand the stress container, enlarge the symbol, and make use of the energy that it gives you, instead of wasting that energy trying to manage your stress. #

What can you do right now with this energy to move forward towards your outcomes and fulfill your highest values? For most people, it’s counterintuitive to enlarge a stress response. We humans like to feel comfortable and take it easy. The problem with that approach is that nothing worthwhile is achieved by sitting idle and fantasizing or by being too calm and in a persistent “nirvana” state. The waves of stress, once you use them to propel your life’s ship forward, will get you faster to that deep, calm blue water. And soon enough, you’ll get tired of the quiet and boredom and seek a new adventure. There is no adventure without some level of healthy stress.