Workplace stress is unavoidable. Whether it’s deadlines piling up, conflicts between coworkers, or the pressure to perform under challenging circumstances, stress is often treated like a natural part of the job. And while some level of stress can drive productivity, unmanaged or chronic stress does the opposite—it leads to burnout, disengagement, and a noticeable drop in performance.
The common approach to managing stress tends to focus on mental strategies like positive thinking, mindfulness, or time management techniques. But while these approaches offer benefits, they tend to overlook one crucial aspect of stress: it’s a physical experience. Stress originates in the body and creates physical symptoms. If stress is experienced physically, shouldn’t we be managing it with physical skills?
In this post, we’re going to explore why stress management is a physical skill, how it directly impacts performance and company culture, and why it’s time for managers and employers to make physical stress management training a priority for their teams.
The Body’s Role in Stress: Fight, Flight, or Freeze
Many people equate stress with a feeling or an emotion, but it’s more than that. Stress is a body response to perceived threat – and it’s far from nuanced. Whether employees are facing a tight deadline or a charging bear, the body’s stress response assumes they need to do the same thing: eliminate the threat or flee from it. In order to accomplish that, heart rate increases, muscles tense, and the body prepares to either defend itself (fight) or escape from danger (flight).
In a modern workplace, fight/flight activation is not helping employees run from predators or fend for their lives. Instead, it’s creating brain fog, wreaking havoc on communication skills, and hampering problem solving. Without clear signals that the perceived threat is gone (because the paperwork will always be there), the body can remain in a state of chronic stress.
This constant state of stress not only wears down employees physically and mentally, but it also leads to reduced productivity and creativity, difficulty in focusing, and increased chances of burnout. When companies rely solely on mental strategies to manage stress, they can make things worse, adding mindset shifts and time management to a list of things employees have to do before their physical reality is taken seriously. This only serves to heighten nervous system arousal. Deep thinking, resilience, and emotional regulation, can only occur after helping employees address the physical aspects of stress.
Why Stress Management is a Physical Skill
So, how do we manage stress in a way that truly addresses both the mind and the body? The answer lies in teaching employees something therapists have been using for years with their trauma clients: self-regulation.
While changing one’s mindset can be helpful, mindset shifts are influenced by body state. When the body perceives a threat, any mental work done to manage stress is undermined. That’s why addressing the body first is critical.
Traumatologist Dr. Eric Gentry, a professional resilience educator, teaches individuals how to reset the body’s stress response using acute relaxation skills. These differ from common stress-reduction activities found in typical self-care or stress management workshops. Acute relaxation doesn’t require setting aside an hour for stress recovery; it involves interrupting stress in real-time.
Engaging in acute relaxation skills helps employees maintain calmer, clearer body states and prevents the long-term symptoms of stress. The reason for this is simple: a body can’t be stressed and relaxed at the same time.
Acute relaxation involves any embodied relaxation technique that takes only 5-10 seconds to employ, and can be done while on the job. Forward-Facing®, Dr. Gentry’s groundbreaking process utilizing self-regulation and intentionality to build resilience, encourages individuals to engage a variety of acute relaxation skills to dissolve and reduce stress including:
- Peripheral Vision: Snipers in the U.S. Special Forces have discovered that simply engaging peripheral vision signals to the nervous system that the fight/flight response is no longer needed. Shifting focus to our peripherals takes the body out of tunnel vision, a classic fight/flight response.
- Pelvic Floor Relaxation: Well-trained rock-climbers know that by releasing their pelvic floor, they can re-center their bodies for better balance. Pelvic floor relaxation offers a cascade of muscle relaxation throughout the body when employed intentionally and only takes a few seconds to achieve a relaxation effect.
- Body Scan and Release: Simply checking in with the body, noticing tense muscles, and intentionally releasing them throughout the day can significantly reduce stress levels during the work day as well as reducing the cumulative effects of stress in all areas of a person’s life.
These techniques take practice to master, just like any other physical skill. And just like practicing a sport or a musical instrument, the more employees use these techniques, the more effective they become at managing stress before it spirals out of control.
The Business Case for Stress Management Training
Beyond the obvious benefit of helping employees feel better and stay healthier, there’s a compelling business case for investing in stress management training. When employees are constantly stressed, productivity takes a hit. It’s not just that they’re working slower—stress impairs cognitive function, making it harder to solve problems, think creatively, or focus on the task at hand.
According to the American Institute of Stress, workplace stress costs U.S. businesses up to $300 billion annually in lost productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. Stressed employees are also more likely to take sick days, disengage from their work, and ultimately leave the organization altogether. High turnover, in turn, leads to the expensive process of recruiting and training new employees.
Research has shown that when employees are trained in stress management techniques—especially those that include physical practices like acute relaxation—companies see a marked improvement in productivity, employee retention, and overall job satisfaction. One study from Harvard Medical School found that companies who implemented stress management programs for employees saw a 6-to-1 return on investment due to increased productivity and lower healthcare costs. Studies specifically on the Forward-Facing® approach found significant reduction in compassion fatigue, including burnout, in hospital employees and non-human animal veterinary staff.
In short, investing in stress management isn’t just about creating a better work environment—it’s about protecting the bottom line.
How Physical Stress Management Improves Leadership
It’s not just employees who need stress management training; it’s managers too. Managers play a key role in creating a workplace culture that supports or stifles employees’ ability to manage stress. A manager who is stressed out and reactive can set the tone for the entire team, leading to a high-pressure environment where toxic stress thrives.
On the other hand, managers who know how to manage their own stress—who can use acute relaxation to remain calm under pressure, make clear decisions, and model healthy boundaries—set an example that employees will naturally follow. By practicing physical stress management skills themselves, managers become more resilient and effective leaders, capable of guiding their teams through challenging times without succumbing to stress.
Resilient managers can offer more than role modeling for employees in their pursuit of physical skills for stress management. By regulating their nervous system responses, managers can bring co-regulation into the office culture. Co-regulation occurs when one person’s calm nervous system communicates safety to another person’s activated nervous system, reducing their threat response. In other words, when managers prioritize their own stress management, it trickles down to the rest of the team. Employees are more likely to feel supported, safe, and empowered to use their own stress management techniques, ultimately fostering a more productive and harmonious workplace.
Actionable Steps: How to Get Started
So, how can managers start integrating physical stress management into their workplace? Here are a few actionable steps:
- Schedule training-as-treatment for work-related stress: Consider bringing in an expert to offer hands-on training in real-time physical stress management techniques, such as self-regulation via acute relaxation.
- Lead by example: Managers should practice and model physical stress management techniques regularly in front of their teams, making it clear that managing stress is a priority for everyone, and that being stressed is nothing to be ashamed of.
- Make time for skill-maintenance: Offering regular check-in groups where people can share their experiences utilizing physical stress management skills offers opportunity for employee co-regulation and conscious development of stress management during the work day.
Stress Management Training is Essential for Your Team
The modern workplace is more demanding than ever, and stress isn’t going away. But instead of treating it as a mental challenge to overcome, it’s time we recognize that stress is a physical experience that requires physical skills to manage effectively.
Investing in stress management training for your employees isn’t just about promoting wellbeing—it’s about creating a more productive, engaged, and resilient workforce. If you’re ready to equip your team with the skills they need to thrive under pressure, consider offering professional stress management training that emphasizes nervous system work. Employers can choose to create a healthier, more resilient workplace where everyone can perform at their best.
This is a contributed blog post by Emily Hedrick, a certified Forward-Facing® Professional Resilience Consultant. She has worked with groups and organizations such as the Nemasket Group and Massasoit Community College to offer training-as-treatment for burnout and compassion fatigue. As a former pastor who burned out of ministry, she came by her resilience skills the hard way. Now, she’s passionate about equipping people and organizations with professional resilience skills so that they can not only survive their jobs, but feel fulfilled in their work – no matter what kind of crisis they step into.
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