Cynosure Counselling and Coaching

22/09/2025

Three things to notice about your experience of stress:
1. The intensity at which it is showing up for you.
2. How frequently it is showing up at that intensity.
3. How long it is lingering at high levels.

If high-level stress seems to be a constant part of your life, your wellbeing will be negatively affected.

Talk to me about how I can help.

Is stress bad for you?

If you have been following my posts,
you will realise that the answer is not black-and-white.

We all have a wonderful capacity to handle a certain amount of stress,
and it can be useful for protecting yourself,
as well as in having a positive effect on performance and productivity.

But when the stress accumulates to excessive levels,
or carries on for too long,
or is of too great an intensity,
the body's capacity to handle it decreases.

This is due to the energy depletion that comes with stress activation.

Catching the signs of stress overload early
gives you the power to put things in place
to ensure that you recover more quickly from depletion
and stay well.

Whether the stress is from a new environment,
changing relationships,
health concerns, or
career challenges,
I am here to help.

22/09/2025

Is stress bad for you?

If you have been following my posts,
you will realise that the answer is not black-and-white.

We all have a wonderful capacity to handle a certain amount of stress,
and it can be useful for protecting yourself,
as well as in having a positive effect on performance and productivity.

But when the stress accumulates to excessive levels,
or carries on for too long,
or is of too great an intensity,
the body's capacity to handle it decreases.

This is due to the energy depletion that comes with stress activation.

Catching the signs of stress overload early
gives you the power to put things in place
to ensure that you recover more quickly from depletion
and stay well.

Whether the stress is from a new environment,
changing relationships,
health concerns, or
career challenges,
I am here to help.

19/09/2025

Your body is not designed to live constantly in stress activation.

While can be temporarily increased when under stress,
it's not a sustainable way to live.

If you're noticing that living in stress is becoming your way of life,
talk to me about how I can help you to create a different life
that honours your body's rhythms.

Are you addicted to stress?

One of the positives of an activated stress response is that you can achieve a lot more.

The nerves you feel before a performance or presentation,
the energy rush that comes in a challenging situation,
the motivation and focus that emerges in new situations
are all signals that you are getting ready to produce a result outside of your normal capacities.

It can be tempting to jump from one stressful situation to another to keep the momentum going.

However, there is a price to pay for this productivity.
Stress activation accelerates depletion of your energy reserves.

And if you're not making the time to rest, recharge and replenish these reserves,
you're on the road to ill health.

What are your strategies for maintaining your energy reserves?

19/09/2025

Are you addicted to stress?

One of the positives of an activated stress response is that you can achieve a lot more.

The nerves you feel before a performance or presentation,
the energy rush that comes in a challenging situation,
the motivation and focus that emerges in new situations
are all signals that you are getting ready to produce a result outside of your normal capacities.

It can be tempting to jump from one stressful situation to another to keep the momentum going.

However, there is a price to pay for this productivity.
Stress activation accelerates depletion of your energy reserves.

And if you're not making the time to rest, recharge and replenish these reserves,
you're on the road to ill health.

What are your strategies for maintaining your energy reserves?

17/09/2025

It's very difficult to change your behaviour in stress activation.
This is because the focus in stress is on survival and protection.

Recognising and deactivating the stress response
that is behind out-of-character reactions
is necessary to allow other behaviours to emerge or resurface.

I can help with that.
Connect with me to find out more.

When a stress response has been activated,
you may discover that you behave in ways that are not typical for you.

Others may notice the change in behaviour before you do.

These behaviours could include:
*abrasive, abrupt, explosive or evasive communication
*clinginess to or withdrawal from significant others,
*giving up on tasks or activities you enjoy,
*moving faster than usual OR not at all,
*making uncharacteristic mistakes,
*increased use of alcohol, coffee, illicit substances, risky behaviour.

The fact that these behaviours are different from the way you usually act
should be a clue that you're under stress
and may need some additional support and understanding.

Catching these changes early
can keep you from causing damage to others or yourself
as you seek to reduce or eliminate the threat to your survival or well-being.

Need help with that?
Reach out and let's have a conversation.

17/09/2025

When a stress response has been activated,
you may discover that you behave in ways that are not typical for you.

Others may notice the change in behaviour before you do.

These behaviours could include:
*abrasive, abrupt, explosive or evasive communication
*clinginess to or withdrawal from significant others,
*giving up on tasks or activities you enjoy,
*moving faster than usual OR not at all,
*making uncharacteristic mistakes,
*increased use of alcohol, coffee, illicit substances, risky behaviour.

The fact that these behaviours are different from the way you usually act
should be a clue that you're under stress
and may need some additional support and understanding.

Catching these changes early
can keep you from causing damage to others or yourself
as you seek to reduce or eliminate the threat to your survival or well-being.

Need help with that?
Reach out and let's have a conversation.

15/09/2025

The effect of stress on your ability to think is quite common.

The question to ask yourself is, "How long has this been going on?"

Talk to me about concerns you have about your stress levels
and how I can help you to deactivate your stress responses.



When you are experiencing a stress response, your mental functions can be affected.

You (or others) might notice that:

*your ability to recall details diminishes.
*you are zoning out and are unaware of what is going around you.
*you have difficulty forming thoughts and putting thoughts into words.
*your ability to reason is limited.
*your focus is very narrow and intense OR you're unusually scatterbrained.
*your thoughts are quite negative and gravitating towards worst case scenarios.
*Worrying about anything and everything may increase.

This does not mean that you are going crazy.

It's just that your body is focussed on protecting you
from a threat to your survival or well-being.

As such, it is limiting some of your non-essential mental functioning
until you can get yourself into a safer place.

If this is your constant state, talk to me about how I can help you to deactivate the stress response and return to regular functioning.

15/09/2025

When you are experiencing a stress response, your mental functions can be affected.

You (or others) might notice that:

*your ability to recall details diminishes.
*you are zoning out and are unaware of what is going around you.
*you have difficulty forming thoughts and putting thoughts into words.
*your ability to reason is limited.
*your focus is very narrow and intense OR you're unusually scatterbrained.
*your thoughts are quite negative and gravitating towards worst case scenarios.
*Worrying about anything and everything may increase.

This does not mean that you are going crazy.

It's just that your body is focussed on protecting you
from a threat to your survival or well-being.

As such, it is limiting some of your non-essential mental functioning
until you can get yourself into a safer place.

If this is your constant state, talk to me about how I can help you to deactivate the stress response and return to regular functioning.

11/09/2025

In my 29th year, my emotions varied wildly
with an accumulation of stress over a 12-month period.

I was living with
💔 emotional pain from a break-up,
😡 frustration and anger around my work and financial situation,
and 🙈 shame that I was in the desperate position in which I found myself.

😱 Anxiety levels were higher than I realised
as I faced numerous challenges to the life I wanted.
With physical depletion,
this slid into an experience of depression 😔
and lack of motivation for anything more than survival.

I also felt very alone. 🫥

The emotions only changed when I made space for them,
allowing them to show me what I needed.

Your story of stress doesn't have to be this way.
Talk to me about how I can help.

Have you ever noticed strong emotions flooding your system in a stressful situation?

Intense, uncharacteristic, or absence of emotions can be a signal of stress activation.

Some of these emotional indicators could be:
*anxiety
*depression
*anger
*numbness
*fear
*feelings of overwhelm
*guilt,
*shame
*regret,
*loss of motivation or drive.

Recognising these emotions as signals
gives you the power to respond in a constructive manner
to the message they are sending.

Talk to me about how I can help you to understand these emotions and work with them to deactivate your stress responses.

11/09/2025

Have you ever noticed strong emotions flooding your system in a stressful situation?

Intense, uncharacteristic, or absence of emotions can be a signal of stress activation.

Some of these emotional indicators could be:
*anxiety
*depression
*anger
*numbness
*fear
*feelings of overwhelm
*guilt,
*shame
*regret,
*loss of motivation or drive.

Recognising these emotions as signals
gives you the power to respond in a constructive manner
to the message they are sending.

Talk to me about how I can help you to understand these emotions and work with them to deactivate your stress responses.

09/09/2025

My 29th year was one of prolonged stress and my body reacted to it by losing weight, burning energy faster than I could replace it, affecting my sleep, and reducing my appetite.
It took a while to recover and I learned how being in a stress response can maintain the stress response if not managed effectively.

Your story of stress doesn't have to be this way.
Talk to me about how I can help.

How would you know that your stress levels are rising?

While everyone is a little bit different,
there are common physical and emotional signals,
as well as changes in mental functioning and behaviour,
that can alert you to rising stress levels.

Physical signals include:
*Upset stomach and digestion complaints
*Headaches, backaches, tension in shoulders, neck, limbs or joints
*Increasing OR decreasing energy, appetite, weight, heart rate
*Changes in sleep patterns
*Chest pain or tightness
*Faster, shallower breathing - or holding your breath for periods of time.

Which ones show up for you?

09/09/2025

How would you know that your stress levels are rising?

While everyone is a little bit different,
there are common physical and emotional signals,
as well as changes in mental functioning and behaviour,
that can alert you to rising stress levels.

Physical signals include:
*Upset stomach and digestion complaints
*Headaches, backaches, tension in shoulders, neck, limbs or joints
*Increasing OR decreasing energy, appetite, weight, heart rate
*Changes in sleep patterns
*Chest pain or tightness
*Faster, shallower breathing - or holding your breath for periods of time.

Which ones show up for you?