Staying Calm in Stressful Situations
Hi Jammies! I just wanted to share a quick story with you all. This is a story of excitement, frustration, anxiety, stress, nervous system work & relief. Today @Danni Armstrong and I are flying to Bali, we woke up at 3.15am to get to the airport for 4am so we could catch our 7 am flight. (being early, being prepared is always useful) - lesson #1 We were first at baggage check in, we had already check in online & were buzzing for our 2 week getaway, where we can relax, focus on Just Another Moment & enjoy some beach time! At the gate we were told we did not have a flight with baggage?!?!!! 🤬🤬🤬 We called our booking agent flight centre for assistance and they said nothing can be done, pay the baggage and claim a refund. This had to be a mistake, our itinerary said it does. We checked again and were told no, followed by $18 per KG of luggage. (We had 40) yep. That means to check our bags, it’d cost us $720! With the clock ticking we had an hour to fix the issue or we’d have to pay the fee, leave our bags behind or miss our flight. Nervous system reaction: Anxiety spikes, stress increases, adrenaline floods the system, cortisol increases. We call this Hyperaroused State. To combat this natural physiological reaction to stress we must first recognise what’s happening, become aware of how we feel, find acceptance of the situation and then… deep slow breaths inhale with a linger exhale. In for 4 out for 8 repeat until you feel calm. This helps bring back the thinking, logical, rational brain (the prefrontal cortex) Now we are clearer, more focused and better able to handle the stressful situation. We spoke with our flight staff, and our booking agent and worked out that our booking agent ar a mistake. We then coordinated on the spot resolution where flight centre would eventually pay the luggage cost. We did this with 3 minutes to spare. Another 3 minutes and out check in window would have ended. So why is nervous system regulation important?