Stress surfing

Stress Surfing is a method to use the energy of stress to gain physical, psychological and social benefits.
Stress surfing is applying the active (aggressive) energy of stress into an opportunity for the development and satisfaction of needs, as well as to reduce the negative effects of pressure for restraint and retreat.
The idea of stress surfing is inspired by positive (positum - given, existing) concept which can be generalized thus: "All events are positive, i.e. they exist and they can be used". So, the consciousness does not have to retreat from or try to cancel stressful reactions, but can use the energy to its own advantage and pleasure.
Preconditions
Acute stress is short-term and results in a state of excitation which can be discharged:
*by physical action (“fight or flight”), leading to adaptation through a situation change, or
*by comprehension and the cogitative resolution of conflict (question), leading to a change of one’s own expectations and behavior strategy.
The results of such discharge can be relief, pleasure, relaxation, and fast recovery.
However, the very common and “socially inculcated” aversion to “flee” (as a sign of weakness) or to “fight” (as a display of aggression and a threat to others) too often corrupts the excitation of a stressful situation into a bad experience; this is perceived by the person as feelings of fault and guilt for these impulses that arise with stress. This guilt induces a suppression of excitation, and can supersede effective resolution. Such suppression in itself is a powerful stressor and can lead to a constant mental "replaying of stressful situations" and to accumulation of additional tension - indeed, a vicious negative cycle. This new situation of stress is called chronic stress, and results in an adaptation syndrome consisting of three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.
Stressful reactions are experienced as emotion (changes of sensations of a body); as thoughts about the event (conformity/non-conformity to expectations); and as a value statement ("I love it", "I regret it" etc.). Thus thoughts and emotions can be either automatic (are reproduced by association from past events «memory bank») and/or active (are formed «here and now» as a result of the conscious judgment of a situation). Comprehension of thoughts and emotions allows for change, development, and improvement; to reflect a reality more precisely, and to deal with it more adequately; and, as a consequence, to act more effectively.
Metaphor
The purpose of the metaphor of Stress Surfing is to changes the paradigm of stress, opening prospects of its constructive use:
*to display the important areas of needed development and satisfaction;
*to mobilize energy;
*to use the aggression of excitation actively and constructively, reducing, thereby, pressure of polite aversion, restraint, and retreat.
The goals of Stress Surfing are to provide :
#pleasure by satisfaction of basic needs (strengthening of mental and physical health, improvement of relationships and of the quality of ones life);
#benefit (getting positive results, developing knowledge and skills corresponding to objects in their reality).
Achievement of these goals is supported with development of abilities:
#to realize the physical conditions, to develop resilience, and to relax;
#to manage open and mutually advantageous relations;
#to think and to operate flexibly/actively (positive reframing, reconsideration (ReMind)) and to achieve resolution of conflicts);
#to formulate goals, values and the feeling of an identity (for example, «I am a stress surfer») actively,
Life as training
In Stress Surfing’s approach, life is considered as training, in which stress can (and should!) be used to develop potential capabilities. The main principles of this training are:
#clearness of the goals
#step-by-step expedient development
#combination of pressure and relaxation
#joint trainings, support, and competition
The basic technique
The basic technique of Stress Surfing adopts a five-step strategy (N. Pezeschkian) to work with stress:
#Observation and comprehension of stressors, ones own reactions to them, and identification/differentiation of ones most important stressors (those causing the strongest emotions).
#Understanding of the stressor’s value (what need is triggered? Suppression of what part of the personality is displayed?), comprehension of corresponding automatic thoughts (concepts) and questions. Comprehension of such cogitative automatisms reduces the anxiety level and opens the possibility of changes.
#Wave capture requires discovering the new goal of development based on comprehension of the needs uncovered by stress. Displacement of attention and energy from the stressful experience onto an active search for this goal stimulates curiosity and passion. Clearness of the goal reduces anxiety; it invites and inspires the possibility of pleasure. This inspiration helps to channel the stress excitation into controllable conscious action. Additionally, the greater the clarity of the goal, the greater the opportunity for immediate planning and immediate undertaking of simple steps to achieve it. It is similar to how a surfer, when he learns to immediately recognize a good wave, turns his board to the coast and starts to pedal like crazy.
#Surfing: when the goals are defined and supported by the plan and by concrete, regular step-by-step actions, there is a rhythm, a sensation of movement, and confidence. Specification of the plan and its balancing on an action course is akin to a surfer who jumps to his feet on the board when he feels he has captured the wave. It provides additional control over the situation, creating conditions for effective initiative and for use of the energy of the wave for new experiments and development.
#Hunting for the best wave begins right after immediate results have been achieved (not necessarily the best results). It begins with «working on mistakes» and by definitions of new prospects and goals using each new experience. As a result, there is an excitation, a curiosity, and a passion for searching for the new " better wave" (a self-initiated stressful situation) to provide the next level of training and competence

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