Stress can help you grow – if you give your brain and body time to recover

This week’s Better You, Backed by Science is about stress – and how it can be good for you.

Stress really is good for you!

Yes, I know how that sounds.

But a little stress can be healthy — provided you allow time to recover.

Think about what happens during exercise. When you place stress on your body – lifting weights, running, stretching your limits – you don’t get fitter during the effort. You get fitter after, during recovery.

Stress, followed by rest.

Then you repeat.

That simple cycle builds cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength.

And the same principle applies far beyond the gym.

Stress, recovery, and resilience

There’s a scientific concept called hormesis. It shows that small, short-term stressors – when followed by recovery – help the body become stronger and more resilient.

Hormesis is usually discussed in biological terms, but it applies psychologically too.

Life inevitably brings challenges. These create stress. But when we give ourselves time to rest, process, reflect, and reframe, we don’t just cope — we grow.

We become mentally fitter. More resilient. Better able to meet the next challenge.

The key isn’t avoiding stress.

It’s making sure stress is followed by recovery.

Why recovery really matters

This is the part I want to emphasise.

Working flat out all the time — or constantly giving your time and energy to others — can look noble on the surface. But without recovery, it’s exhausting.

Imagine trying to keep running once your legs have nothing left. Or doing endless reps with no rest. You’d burn out.

Rest isn’t optional – not in exercise, and not in life.

The healthy pattern looks like this:

A bit of stress → rest → a bit of stress → rest.

Just like training at the gym.

Avoiding stress isn’t the answer either

It’s tempting to want a stress-free life.

Who wouldn’t?

But avoiding stress altogether can backfire — in much the same way that avoiding exercise harms physical health.

We need some stress to stay fit, mentally and physically.

Life’s challenges help strengthen us – as long as they’re manageable and followed by recovery.

“Always on” might sound like power talk, but it’s not how the brain or body works best.

The goal is balance: challenges that stretch you — without overwhelming you — and space afterwards to recover.

The reframe

But what if a challenge doesn’t feel manageable? Or taking a break simply isn’t possible?

First, if something truly feels overwhelming, asking for help matters. Protecting your psychological health is essential.

But for the everyday stressors we can’t easily avoid – deadlines, difficult conversations, financial pressures – reframing can help.

Reframing means asking:

How might this situation be helping me grow?

Same situation. Different way of thinking about it.

And that can change everything.

Here’s a personal example.

I have to walk up a steep hill every single day to get home.

At first, I resisted it. I complained internally about the effort and the fact I couldn’t avoid it. Then I learned something interesting. Walking up steep inclines is linked with better health and longevity.

In the so-called Blue Zones – regions of the world with the highest numbers of people living past 100 – one contributing factor is steepness: the average incline people walk each day, whether hills or stairs.

That knowledge changed everything.

What once felt like a burden became a gift.

The hill felt easier. Even enjoyable. Sometimes I bound up it with a spring in my step.

I found myself thinking, “What a blessing that I get to walk up this hill every day.”

Same hill. Different mindset.

Reframing isn’t always the solution — but it can help us keep going when recovery time is hard to find.

Try This

• Add one short positive stressor this week – a hard workout, brief cold exposure, or a difficult but necessary conversation – and follow it with intentional recovery.
• If there’s a situation you find stressful and can’t easily step away from, try reframing it. Ask how it might be helping you grow, and gently bring your attention back to that perspective as you go.

Want to go deeper?

🎥 I explore this idea further in a YouTube video on stress, recovery, and resilience.

References (if you’re curious)

A 2024 paper exploring hormesis applied to life more broadly. Link here.

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