In this module, I'll help you learn all about the big picture of stress, why it's critical to have a stress management plan in place and seven key fundamentals you need to know in order to take back control of your life and master stress. The content blocks below will give you an overview of each lesson in this module. After you read through each summary, just click the "Mark as Completed" button below and then click on the "Next Unit" to start your first lesson in this module. Alternatively, you can use the "Your Course Progress & Navigation Links" to choose any lesson you would like to view as long as you are currently enrolled in that module. Or, you can click on the title or picture in any of the blue content boxes below to get to that lesson. Enjoy your journey into the world of stress mastery.

Lesson 1: What is Stress? 

We experience stress primarily through the activation of our fight or flight response. When your fight or flight response is activated, your mind, body, and emotions are all mobilized to protect yourself from potential harm, whether that threat is physical or psychological, real or imagined. Knowing how to turn off your body’s fight or flight response is the single most important thing you can do to learn how to properly manage stress in your life.

Lesson 2: Why Stress Mastery is Critical to Health and Happiness

The relaxation response, discovered by the inspirational author and Harvard cardiologist, Herbert Benson, M.D., represents a hard-wired antidote to the fight or flight response. The relaxation response corresponds to a physical portion of the brain (located in the hypothalamus) which—when triggered—sends out neurochemicals that almost precisely counteract the hypervigilant response of the fight or flight response.

Lesson 3: The 7 Fundamentals of Stress Mastery

To protect ourselves in a world of psychological—rather than physical—danger, we must consciously pay attention to unique signals telling us whether we are actually in fight or flight. Some of us may experience these signals as physical symptoms like tension in our muscles, headache, backache, upset stomach, racing heartbeat, palpitations, deep sighing, or shallow breathing. Others may experience them as emotional or psychological symptoms such as anxiety, poor concentration, depression, hopelessness, frustration, anger, sadness or fear.