Type A personalities - worth the stress?

Type A personalities appear to be the ones going places and getting things done however it is also now apparent that this type of personality means you are likely constantly stressed.

The North American culture is in a state of permanent over-stimulation under the guise of entertainment ie. movies with violence, hyper-loud soundtracks with special effects, images of gore, misery, death and hyper-sexuality all of which activate our *reptilian brain. The daily news on our many devices is comprised of stories and imagery that create in us additional fear.

Noise in general is omnipresent which prevents us from being able to access our own inner silence and inner peace and the intuitive data we have access to when we do. So even before we consider the effects of stress in our relationships or at work we are over-exposed to a wide spectrum of stressors from just our environments.

Meditation will help. Read more in this article on Psychology Today called Don’t Listen to Your Lizard Brain.

*For an in-depth look at the origins of the fight or flight stress response and the reptilian brain and why it once was a valuable survival tool also read this article at Cleveland Clinic.org

Meditation is one of the more superior antidotes to stress

‘Awareness’ is the key - with awareness you have choice.

When you become aware of what keeps you stressed and distracted, you begin to see that the first step to reclaiming your own inner peace is to start your meditation practice.

Stress and the effects of our conditioning. 


We need also to address the stresses that come from within – the low level chronic stresses barely identifiable in words but still have the same effects as the external. The choices we make day to day are connected to our learning and conditioning as small children.

As humans we have a fundamental need for the following important experiences:

• Acceptance

• Acknowledgement

• Attention

• Affection

As small children, we are forging the matrix of our future selves in the world based on the input of our surroundings and immediate relationships. Our ability to discern is not yet developed so we will do just about anything to have our four core needs met. If a family’s core value is perfection in school, sports or creativity – this value is embedded early especially when achievement is linked to rewards and external recognition.

Meeting this standard of perfectionism is a massive stress and usually an unachievable goal over the course of years. No wonder that same child might opt out totally or lean into substances just to escape the pressure of this unrealistic expectation. Especially if that child’s gifts lie elsewhere. If a child is conditioned to put his needs last before others (ie. “don’t be so selfish!”) this is viewed as flawed behaviour and that child can potentially always put the needs of others ahead of his own, to great personal detriment. I see this in my physiotherapy patients often: they present with body pain, insomnia or maybe a brush with a serious illness and have woken up in mid life confused, depressed and wondering how their marriage or job all went so wrong.

Meditation helps us to overcome these erroneous learned behaviours by deepening our connection to who we truly are. We cultivate a deep sense of peace that transcends our stories, thoughts and dramas. Sometimes the burden of our outward identities is what stresses the most: the company CEO, mother, father, teacher, therapist, domestic worker, bus driver, business owner… these are important roles in the world but with meditation we fortify our relationship with our true selves and we learn we are much more than the roles we play or the stories we use to define ourselves.