CENTERED
Wellbeing
Steps to a healthier you
Can we think about Wellbeing
without thinking about Stress?
Well-being
Stress
Biggest effect on your wellbeing
Objectives
Relationship between stress
and well-being
•Research updates on stress
•Practice based results
•Personal takeaways
Introduction
 If you had to sum up how you feel
about stress, which statement would be
most accurate?
 Stress is harmful and ought to
be avoided, or managed
 Stress is helpful – embrace it
What is your stress mindset?
Mindset 1: Stress is
harmful
 Depletes my
health and vitality
 Debilitates my
performance and
productivity
 Inhibits my
learning and
growth
 Effects of stress
are negative
Mindset 2: Stress is
Enhancing
 Enhances my
performance and
productivity
 Improves my health
and vitality
 Facilitates my learning
and growth
 Effects of stress are
positive and should be
utilized
The Effect you Expect is the
Effect you get
 Thinking away the pounds
 Believe yourself healthy
The Effect you Expect is the Effect you get
How to Change your Stress Mindset
Stress is good for you…
Stress is good for you…
Stress is good for you…
Open label placebo trials Vs. Trick/
Deception
When people are told about a mindset and
they are encouraged to remember the
mindset in everyday life, it does not
decrease their effectiveness.
Second stress mindset intervention
study
UBS: HR intervention and experimentation story
Cultivating a new mindset
 3 step process for practicing a new mindset:
First acknowledge stress when you experience it
Notice the stress, how it affects your body
Welcome stress; recognize that it is a response
to something you care about
Can you connect to the positive motivation
behind the stress?
What is at stake here and why does it matter to
you?
What can you DO right now that reflects your
goals and values?
Most Effective Mindset Interventions
 Three parts:
①Learning a new point of view
②Doing an exercise that
encourages you to adopt and
apply the mindset
③Providing an opportunity to share
the idea with others
What is your Stress Mindset?
 What do you say out loud or think to
yourself?
Your stress mindset will also influence how you
react to other people’s stress
Do the words motivate self-care or do they just
make you worry about health? When others talk
about stress from a certain mindset, how does it
make you feel about your own stress?
Rethink Stress: Rethink your Stress Response
 How the stress response helps you
 Rise to the Challenge (motivation,
attention, energy)
 Connect with others (pro-social, social
connection, increases courage)
 Learn and Grow (restores nervous
balance, helps brain to learning and grow
Choose your Own Stress Response
 When you feel your body responding to stress,
ask yourself which part of the response you
need most.
• Do you need to fight, escape, connect, find
meaning or grow?
• Even if your stress response is pushing you in
one direction, focusing on how you want to
respond can shift your biology to support you
Indices of Wellbeing
• Happiness, life expectancy, national
happiness
Stress Paradox
• High levels of stress are associated
with both distress and wellbeing
• Happy lives are not stress free, nor
does a stress free life guarantee
happiness
• Higher levels of stress go along with
what we want: love, health,
satisfaction with our lives.
A meaningful life is a stressful life
Is your Life meaningful?
 What are predictors of meaningful life?
 Stress may even contribute to well-being
 Rethink Stress: What brings meaning to your
life?
• Take a few moments to list your most
meaningful roles, relationships and activities
or goals. In what parts of your life are your
most likely to experience joy, love, laughter,
learning or a sense of purpose?
Rethink Stress: What is the cost of
avoiding stress?
 Missed opportunities: What events,
experiences, activities, roles or other
opportunities have you turned down or cut
out of your life because you thought they
were too stressful?
 Avoidant coping: What “escapes” do you
turn to to avoid or get rid of, or numb
thoughts and feelings related to stress in life
 Limiting your future: Is thee anything that
could enhance your life
Engage
 Imagine that you work for an organization
with hundreds of employees and you are
about to give a presentation to the entire
group. The CEO and board members are in
the audience. You have been anxious about
this talk all week and now your heart is
pounding. Your mouth feels dry.
 What is the best thing to do at this moment?
• Try to calm down OR
• Try to feel excited
Amped up or Falling Apart?
 When it comes to performing under pressure,
being stressed is better than being relaxed
 Transform stress: turn nerves into excitement
• Transforming cycle of anxiety and
avoidance
Transform Stress: Turn a Threat
into a Challenge
 What did you do
that helped you get
through it?
 Did you seek out
information, advice
or any kind of
support?
 What did this
experience teach
you about how to
deal with adversity?
 Has this experience
made you stronger?
 Which of these
strengths can you
draw from?
 Are there coping
skills you may want
to develop? How
would you begin to
use this situation as
an opportunity to
grow?
Transform Stress: Choose to find an upside
to adversity
Choose an ongoing situation in your life or a recent
stressful experience. What, if any benefits have you
experienced from stress?
List of commonly reported positive changes
experienced in response to hardship, loss or trauma:
A sense of personal strength
Increased appreciation for life
Spiritual growth
Enhanced social connections and
relationships
o Identifying new possibilities and directions
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Final Reflections
 Stress is most likely harmful when three things are
true:
• You feel inadequate to it
• It isolates you from others and
• It feels utterly meaningless and against your
will
You could ask yourself right now:
“How would I want to grow from stress?”
If there is one thing I learned,. Any moment can
be a turning point in how you experience stress,
if you choose to make it one.
My Story
The art of stress
free productivity
is...
 A myth
 A martial art
 Not true
CENTERED
Wellbeing
To a stressful and more
happier you