This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2134.
How to express your stress in English.
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How are you?
Hey, Michelle.
Doing great today.
How's everything in your world?
Everything's good.
Do you feel stressed out at all?
You know, it's been kind of an up and down year for me.
I've had a lot going on family-wise, a lot of travel, a lot of good things, a lot of harder things.
But right now, this moment, I don't feel too, too stressed, luckily.
What about you?
How do you feel right now?
Right now, I feel good because I'm podcasting.
We always talk about that being like our meditation, right?
Yeah.
But in general, a lot of things are flying at me, but I'm feeling excited.
But there are certain stressful things.
I think there's always going to be some stress.
And today, we're going to talk about it.
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All right, Michelle, we're bringing in an article today.
Yes.
What's it about?
Well, guys, we are now in 2024, but we are going back in time to 2023.
And the article is from HuffPost.com.
And it is, these are the top ranked stressors of 2023.
Here's how to manage them.
And it says, the first thing is try to recognize what are the sources of stress in your life?
And are there ways that you can limit those sources of stress?
This is by Jillian Wilson from November 14th, 2023.
Yeah, I think after the pandemic, people are stressed out.
I don't know.
I think the pandemic kind of made people sort of feel more of an awareness of stress in their lives or something.
But I do feel like there's kind of a consciousness that's kind of stressed right now.
Although I did go to a yoga class last night, which was very relaxing.
I will say that.
The teacher was very cool.
And I just felt like the movements were super relaxing.
I could feel my body just relaxing into it.
It was fantastic.
That's good.
That's good.
Yeah.
So I think I agree.
There's a lot of stress going around and also this feeling of of going with what you said about the yoga.
There's this feeling of we want to focus on wellness, reduce stress.
So um, it'll be interesting to see what happens with that.
But there was a this article talks about a report.
It was called stress in america 2023 report from the american psychological association and it talked about, you know, the biggest stressors of, So today we're going to talk about a few of them and if they stress us out, and also about what do they say about life in the US today.
Yeah.
Interesting.
Okay.
Yeah.
I actually re-listened to that episode last week and it is fantastic because it shows you how to switch topics like a native speaker, right.
How to switch topics like a pro for better connections.
2099, go and listen to that episode.
All right.
Great, great, great.
All right.
So one of the things they listed was money and the economy.
So 63 of the people surveyed said money and 64 said the economy.
And Lindsay, do these things stress you out?
Oh my God.
This is a fascinating topic in the US right now because the economy, by most measures, is really strong.
And if you listen, I listen to the Daily, the New York Times podcast and the Wall Street Journal and they're doing so many studies trying to figure out what is going on.
The economy is very, very strong right now.
However, people are still stressed out because the cost of living, because of inflation.
I think it's inflation is what's happening, right?
That stresses people out.
I mean- i listened to one episode last week on the journal where they said that the cost of just groceries between 2019 and 2023 which is honestly all that matters because in the middle is just the big mess of the pandemic which is just spikes that's the only thing that matters up 20 percent and cost of housing up 50 percent 2019 to 2023. so that that that's where where americans are kind of getting a little stressed out and possibly around the world right michelle Right.
Yeah.
And just yesterday we had put in.
Sometimes usually I go to the grocery store, but sometimes we need certain things, like from Costco, for example, and we'll do Instacart because it's not near us.
And lately, I mean there have been things that over the years, because we started using Instacart with the pandemic and there have been certain you know, we used to get certain meals and I won't buy them anymore because I have noticed that it's gone up so fast much and i just cannot spend 25 on a thing of salmon, like i know i, you know.
So i, and just the other day when we were ordering it, i said to dan like this is, you know no, this is instacart.
Like we shouldn't, we shouldn't do this anymore.
And he goes no, this is inflation.
Yeah, i know i've boycotted my, my local cafe.
They just kept on moving prices up, i'm sorry.
Like a cup of coffee, basic drip coffee, is not worth 4 and 50 cents.
Like that is ridiculous.
Like I just stopped going.
Yeah.
I think it was like three 25 or two night.
I don't know.
So it's just, it's gone up to a point where it just, they've gone a little too far.
I think.
And that's what will happen eventually.
And I think inflation is mitigating.
These things are coming down.
And the Fed has done some interest rate increases.
And so we're working on it.
We're getting there.
It's just like it does take some time to shake it out.
And people don't like.
I've heard things where they say it is kind of actually getting better, but people don't feel it yet like what you said.
So this could have a lot of implications politically.
We have an election coming up.
Oh my gosh, Michelle.
The economy is stupid.
We've shared that on the show before.
It's the economy is stupid.
That is a Bill Clinton quote, right?
From the 90s.
I think James Carville.
Yeah.
We did this.
We did a whole political... James Carville, yeah.
I mean the issue with inflation here in the US is that people want prices to actually go down, but that's actually so.
That would be deflation, which we don't want.
We don't want prices to go down.
Unfortunately, that's not a good idea for the economy.
Like, of course I want prices to go back to what they were in 2019, but they never will.
And then they can't.
Um, and so they can only go up, they can't deflate.
So that, that's kind of the issue.
It's like, it's more like a mental thing or it's, do you know what I mean?
It's yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
I think so.
People just think, you know, they see what's happening on a daily basis.
And no, but I mean, I certainly have felt it for sure.
So yeah, the next one, another one they mentioned was health being a big stressor.
Sure.
65% said that health was a big stressor this year.
What do you think about that?
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, after the pandemic, you know, people maybe became more aware of their health.
And yeah, I definitely think that people are thinking about their health for sure.
For sure.
Also, let's see, what was the next one?
Oh, Lindsay, what's the next one?
The future of the country.
So people are worried about the direction of the country.
I'm not sure what that means, like economically or politically, or in terms of like national security.
I don't know exactly what that's referring to, but it looks like 68 of Americans surveyed were worried about the future of the country.
Yeah.
And then also 55% were worried about social divisiveness.
Okay.
So what do you think about that?
I mean, there's a lot of that.
Yeah.
I mean, social media has caused this kind of rift in between and it just serves us up what we're used to seeing.
And it has I think social media has played a major role in this.
Absolutely.
Totally agree.
Totally, totally agree.
Yeah.
And then just quickly, we'll rattle off some other ones.
Global conflicts, violence and mass shootings.
I don't know that other countries have mass shootings on their list.
Yeah.
I'm not going to go into the whole gun thing today, but that stresses me out.
Yeah, for sure.
For sure.
So, and then discrimination is an issue.
So like things are bubbling up right now, right?
We're hitting a point where it's a hot time.
Things are bubbling up in our country.
People are stressed out.
They're worried about certain things.
We do have an election coming up.
So this is a time for connection.
This is why human connection is needed so much more right now.
Right.
And that's why you know, want to show you guys in today's episode, in just a minute, about how to talk about what you're stressed out, so you don't feel so kind of isolated, potentially.
Yeah right michelle yeah yeah exactly, all right okay, so let's get into some language here.
I mean first yeah michelle, what do you think stresses you out the most in general?
Is it these bigger issues, societal issues, or is it something personal or within your family, or anything?
Um, I would say um.
The social division of the country stresses me out um, as well as mass shootings um, and health, of course, and money.
I mean all of the like, all of these.
I think I don't know that you'll meet someone who says none of these stress me but um, I would say that some of the ones I listed first uh, are my biggest stressors currently.
What about you?
Yeah.
I mean, Hmm.
Yeah, I think about these things all the time.
I listen to a lot of podcasts, read a lot of the news, but I try to counterbalance it too with just I want to be informed about what's going on, but I also I don't know.
I don't want to let it seep too much into my psyche.
Like I try to keep a, just build my own world at the same time, like through meditation practice.
There are, we do have the ability to be happy in any moment.
Like happiness, is accessible from a spiritual perspective at any moment, regardless of what's going on, right?
And so I try to remember that, try to commit to my spiritual practice, build a community, things like that.
There are things that I can do to not let this take me over, overcome me, right?
Yes.
Yeah, exactly.
But it's good to know about these things.
This kind of an article is helpful.
We don't mean to be all doom and gloom, but it's kind of good cultural insights to look at the year in this way.
It's a little bit different.
It helps keep your finger on the pulse of what other people are thinking about.
So this stress can actually bring about connection.
We can commiserate.
We can work together.
We cannot feel so alone because we can connect with each other.
Yeah, for sure.
So we're going to show you guys a couple of phrases before we finish up today's episode.
What can you do about it?
Because I know for me Michelle, every time I talk about something, if something's on my mind and then I talk about it, it becomes so much easier to deal with.
It just immediately deflates things a little bit and helps me feel better about it.
What about you?
How do you deal with your stress?
Is it talking?
Is it movement?
Is it It's talking.
Okay.
Yeah.
We're podcasters, so.
Exactly.
No, it's for sure talking.
So anyway, very good.
So let's give you some expressions that you might use.
So you could say, I'm worried about, right?
So you could say, I'm worried about the price of groceries.
Yeah.
I'm worried about the price of groceries, right?
Or you could say I'm stressed, right?
Or I'm stressed about X, Y, Z, you know, expressing what you feel, right?
This is showing the world who you really are, okay?
Right, right.
Or I'm stressing out about, right, to stress out.
So I'm stressing out about getting healthy.
I'm really focused on doing it, but it's stressing me out.
What's the difference between I'm stressed and I'm stressed out? about or I'm stressing out about.
Those are three different ways.
When we add the out, how does it change?
How does it change?
I think it makes it a little bit more dynamic, because if you just say I'm stressed, it kind of cuts it off.
So I think it makes it a little bit, it kind of ties things together.
That's my opinion.
What do you think?
Yeah, I agree.
I think it just makes it a bit more expressive.
But you could say I'm stressed about or I'm stressed out about, or I'm stressing out about.
Okay.
I'm stressed.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
And then the last one, the X is getting to me.
So the economy or inflation is getting to me or I don't know, the news is getting to me.
I mean, sometimes we have to.
Actually for me, this week I've actually been trying to just read my book before bed and not actually look at the New York Times.
And this is the first time in like a while that I've tried to do that.
And it's actually helping, because the last thing to consume at the end of the day, being like a difficult article in the New York Times is tough on the mind.
And I think it gets in there in a way that we don't realize.
Yeah.
I have my book sitting right over there.
Guys, we're on YouTube so I'm looking at it, but I I can't like, lately especially, I just can't pick up the book.
I'm at the phone and I was, I was on such a roll too.
And I'm upset about it.
Any tips?
How do you, how do you have that discipline to be like, no, I'm going to read the book now?
Well, I don't know.
I could go off it again tonight.
Right.
But so far I think the is it the chain, don't break the chain thing just feels good.
I think it's about how i feel, like i do feel better this week.
I do my gratitude journal first and then, and then i decide am i going to pick up my phone or pick up my book?
And the last three nights i've picked up my book and it feels good versus picking up my phone.
You know, consuming that news again.
I don't need more of that news.
I consume it during the day.
Yeah right, Yeah.
That's good.
Okay.
My goal is next time we record that I'll say I'm reading again.
All right, Michelle, we will check back in with you.
Do we have a takeaway for today?
I mean, we're all dealing with these things, right?
And there's a time to be positive.
But I think the most important thing here is actually to express at the right time and connect with the person in front of us.
What do you think?
Yeah.
Exactly.
You know, we're not alone here.
A lot of things, like we said.
I mean, as you can see from the polls right, a lot of people are experiencing the same thing.
That's why a list is able to be made because there are common things.
So realize that people are also going through stressful situations and use it as an opportunity to connect.
You'll feel better.
Yeah guys, share what you're feeling, share what you're worried about, and you will absolutely feel so much better.
And you'll build that relationship with whoever you're talking to.
So good stuff.
Guys, go over and check out our iOS Android app.
If you want to see the transcripts from today, go to allearsenglish.com slash app.
Okay, Michelle, I'll see you back here in the next one.
Have a good one.
You too.
Bye.
Bye.
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