Healthy Life Hacks Podcast 109 - Do you crack or compact

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When the stress and pressure of life are mounting do you crack or compact? In this episode, Jen looks at what we can do to build our tolerance to stress so when it comes, we can stand firm and stable and not crack under pressure.

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SHOWNOTES

A crack is defined as a line on the surface of something that has split without breaking. The growth of a crack is a widening, lengthening or increase in the number of cracks on a particular surface.

The growth of a crack can be attributed to one or more factors including the application of additional loads, thermal stresses, stress concentrations and repetitive shrinkage or expansion cycles.

What is the difference between something that cracks and something that compacts? When something compacts, it is defined as being closely and neatly packed together. Under pressure it can become more firmly together, dense, and stable.

Why compacting and cracking?

Along my local beach there are often cute little mounds of sand with air trapped underneath. As I was walking along it recently, I was playing with how much pressure I could apply and how quickly I could apply it that would allow the air to escape and the mound to reduce without cracking the sand layer.

It made me think about us as humans, and the kind of pressure we’re exposed to and how that pressure applied to us can determine if we crack or compact. If pressure is applied gradually – there is more chance of you compacting than cracking.

Building a solid foundation that can allow you to compact and not crack as your default is the way to go.

How I have learned to compact

As you know, I’m all about living from a place of prevention. While I’m as human as the next person, over the years, I’ve learned simple things I can do in my life to not crack as easily. To have a firmer base to deal with life.

1. No story, no problem

This is one from my mentor David TS Wood. When something happens, big or small, there are facts. Your car hit another car, for example. But then there is the story we tell ourselves, like “Oh, I nearly died!”. But the reality is that your car hit that car and sure, you may have had some injuries, but it is the story you tell yourself that creates a bigger problem.

You get stuck in that loop. Then every person you catch up with you tell them the story about how you nearly died. You relive it again and again instead of saying, I had an accident, I’m alright, let’s move on.

So, subscribe to the no story, no problem philosophy. Try it with the little things. Today I went surfing. It was raining and freezing. I could focus on the negative or I could focus on the fact that there was no crowd, and I caught some amazing, clean winter waves. What do you want to live into?

No story, no problem builds the layers of density, so you are stronger and compact not crack.

2. Focus on what you can control

I do this with adaptogens and my attitude. I’ve talked all about adaptogen herbs being the class of herbs that help our body adapt to stress. This means your body won’t go into ‘alarm mode’ as fast. I have been a massive advocate for adaptogens for decades now as they are a great way to make your body more physically stable, despite the stress you are under.

Then there is attitude. The attitude you face life with can have massively impact whether you compact or crack. We can all focus on what hasn’t worked for us in our lives or we can choose to focus on all of the little things that we’re grateful for and bring joy into our lives.

What we think about we bring about. You have the choice. The more we think about what isn’t working the greater chance we have of cracking. The more we ground ourselves in what we are grateful for, the more stable we end up being.