Stress And Well Being And Resilience

Most of this post will be quotes or transcripts from videos

From https://courses.edx.org/courses/MITx/15.071x/1T2014/info

Homeostasis, also spelled homoeostasis (from Greek: ὅμοιος homœos, "similar" and στάσις stasis, "standing still"), is the property of a system in which variables are regulated so that internal conditions remain stable and relatively constant.

Allostatic load: How much effort our body puts in to keep itself healthy. [from a Google search of the word]

• [Chronic stress] is impacting our ability to think clearly and be mentally healthy, and lastly, it's manifesting in terms of their behaviors.
• Stress is intimately connected to our mental health. In some way, they could be considered synonymous, or siblings in someway.
• Stress is at the heart of a lot of mental health diagnoses - things such as depression, anxiety, trauma related issues.
• So we have two dimensions that we have to be cognizant of when we're seeking to become resilient. One is what are we doing to manage stress. And the second is what are we doing to optimize our quality of life and well being. These are not  a single continuum with being stressed at one end and good quality of life at the other end.
• Resilience is ultimately your ability to survive and thrive in life. Survive is the ability to bounce back in the face of adversity. Thrive is doing what matters most - optimizing well being. One is not born with resilience and it isn't a matter of luck. It can be cultivated and acquired.
• Mindfullness videos: (very nice videos)
•  Quote: "The more we pay attention to the moment to moment experience of intense emotion, the less threatening the feelings become." 
• Mindfullness consists of
• What skills
• Observing (observe anything seriously without words)
• Describing
• Participating
• How Skills  
• Non-judgmentally
•  One mindfully
• Effectively
•  From http://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend#t-364185 - "In the study where participants view that stress is helpful, their blood vessels stayed relaxed" - meaning stress by itself is not bad but how we see stress (good for us or bad for us) is more relevant... Caring and human touch create resilience... Chasing meaning, rather than avoiding discomfort is better for you(r heart)."

 Additional reading:
http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2015/07/brain.html