on a scale of 1 to 10. How generally stressed would you say you were a three, six, an eight? If you are like most people and your answer was about a five or more, consider yourself in good company. According to a recent Gallup poll, citizens across the globe reported feeling more anxiety than in the past. And the Negative Experience Index, which measures things like stress, worry, pain and sadness, is now at an all time high. Of course, with increasing amounts of geopolitical unrest, looming climate change and at the time of this filming an unprecedented global pandemic, there is no shortage of things to point to to explain why we are all in such a state of turmoil. No matter our circumstance or station in life, regardless of our age, gender, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, it seems like all of us are increasingly challenged by daily stress and anxiety. We spend our time preoccupied by our to do list, hustling from one event to the next, caught in seemingly endless tides of worry. And the sad truth is this daily struggle is starting to add up, even at a low level, chronic stress and anxiety wreaks havoc on our physical health disrupts our relationships and negatively impacts our productivity, concentration and memory. Stress has been linked to all the leading causes of death, including cancer, heart disease and accidents. And it's well understood that the influence of stress weakens the body's physiological systems, leaving us more susceptible to illness and making it difficult to recover once sickness or disease sets in. This is further complicated by the types of coping strategies that people engage in when faced with the unpleasant sensations of stress and anxiety. Strategies like reaching into the refrigerator to find temporary comfort through food, zoning out for hours on social media or drinking away our blues with a six pack of beer. These strategies, which may serve us in a moment, have their own set of unintended consequences if we engage in them repeatedly. I know that sounds pretty bleak, and right now you might be thinking, man, she's really bumming me out, and I can understand that truthfully, stress seems to be part of the modern human condition that isn't going anywhere. But there is good news on the horizon. While it may not be possible to eliminate all adversity from life, there are things we can do to reduce the stress and suffering we experience when those things occur. In this module will be taking a deep look at the nature of stress and how it impacts our lives physically, mentally and emotionally. In a class on learning to live with more balance and ease, you might be wondering why we're starting the course off by taking such a deep dive into something as challenging a stress. After all, If what We're looking for us to help ourselves be more even keeled, calm and happy, why would we want to close up inspection of the very thing that seems to knock us off balance but understanding how the body responds to stress? It's crucial to our understanding of how we react to and develop strategies for dealing with the stress in our life. As you'll soon see, stress isn't simply an event that happens to you. It's a process that you engage in an influence along the way. And when we shift the angle to see stress in this new way, it starts to become apparent that there are all kinds of things that we can do to intervene on our own behalf. And when we do, we create more peace in our lives. More ease. We can reduce our suffering even in life's most difficult moments. So take your time with the material here in this first module, I promise it'll be worth it.
