What Does It Mean to Reduce Stress?

Reducing means reducing both stressors and the stress response, looking across all five domains rather than focusing only on the stressor that happens to stand out.

In a Nutshell

Reduce means reducing stress and the stress response across the Five Domains, rather than focusing only on whichever stressor is most visible.

The goal is not to remove all stress.

Stress is part of learning, growth, relationships, and everyday life, and manageable stress can be positive.

The concern is excessive stress that consumes too much energy or prevents effective recovery.

Reduction may involve changing the intensity, duration, accumulation, or interaction of stressors, as well as supporting the system as its stress response settles.

The Self-Reg shift is from demanding more effort from an already taxed system to asking where unnecessary stress can be reduced so that energy and capacity become available again.

Why Does This Matter?

Reducing stress doesn't mean making life easy or removing every challenge. Often it means finding the unnecessary stress that is consuming energy needed for something important. We might turn down noise, slow our speech, break a task into smaller pieces, reduce uncertainty, offer movement, change seating, resolve a social stressor, or simply stop adding pressure.

Sometimes one small change makes a surprisingly large difference because stresses interact.

Reduce also includes the stress response itself, not only the external stressor. The question becomes: What can we change here that would reduce the load enough for this brain-body system to regain some capacity?

Key Takeaway

Reducing unnecessary stress can free the energy needed for regulation, learning, and connection.

Where Would You Like to Go Next?

EXPLORE | What Is Stress?

Hear Stuart explain the stress process that helps us understand what it means to reduce stress and the stress response.

LEARN | Shanker Method 101

Learn how Reduce addresses stressors and the stress response across all Five Domains.

GO DEEPER | Self-Reg Foundations

Go deeper into reducing excessive stress while supporting the energy needed for regulation, learning, and growth.