Rethinking Stress: Turning a Negative into a Positive with Dr. Elissa Epel

Avoiding stress is nearly impossible, but there is a lot we can do to manage it. Stress and wellbeing expert Dr. Elissa Epel joins this week's podcast to share more on science-backed techniques you can use to transform how you respond to stress, and feel healthier and happier as a result.

On this week’s episode, WHOOP VP of Performance Science, Principal Scientist, Kristen Holmes is joined by Dr. Elissa Epel, stress, wellbeing, expert and author of the The Stress Prescription. Dr. Epel studies the psychological, social, and behavioral contributors to chronic stress, and how behaviors like meditation can slow aging. Dr. Epel and Kristen sit down to discuss how to identify stress, which interventions can help mitigate its short and long term effects, and how stress contributes to our overall aging process.

Want to see your questions answered? Email us – Podcast@whoop.com – or you can call our listener line (508-443-4952) and leave a voicemail, and your question might be answered on a future episode.

EPISODE CHAPTERS:

• 3:25 - The difference between stress, anxiety, and depression
• 6:22 - The perception of stress and your mindset
• 12:55 - The ability to identify stress 
• 16:45 - Physiological impacts of stress
• 20:10 - How mindset impacts stress and coping mechanisms
• 23:15 - Tools to increase our stress resilience
• 28:30 - The traps of modernity
• 33:32 - Maternal lifetime stress exposure and telomere aging
• 37:41 - Stress impacting nutrition and overeating
• 42:58 - The ideology of Skillful Surfing
• 44:49 - Sleep strategies

Resources:

The Stress Prescription