A webinar series will help discuss stress as a positive occurrence
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Organizers of a new webinar series are hoping rural residents who participate in them will try to look at stress in a different light.
Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach is hosting “Rural Resiliency: Caring for You and Yours” on Tuesday evenings in March from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m.
Stress is often viewed as a negative feeling, but it can also be the opposite, said Larry Tranel.
“We don’t realize it, but stress is actually the thing that gets us to perform at higher levels, kind of like ‘no pain no gain,’” Tranel told Farms.com. “Stress can be a positive part of your life because it can help you improve in different aspects of your life.”
Tranel, a pastoral psychologist with ISU Extension and Outreach, is hosting the webinars with two of his colleagues.
As most people are aware, stress can have a negative effect on a person’s quality of life.
Finding the balancing point between healthy and unhealthy stress is another part of the webinar’s program, Tranel said.
“Everybody has a level of resiliency where they can handle stress,” he said. “We want to teach people how to identify signs when stress might be becoming too much for someone to handle and people get into a period of distress.”
Tranel is calling on rural communities to involve themselves in the webinar.
Only a limited number of webinar links are available.
Agribusinesses or church organizations who can host individuals in person while maintaining COVID protocols should consider doing so, Tranel said.
“We don’t just want farmers to hear (the webinars), we want to try to bring them together,” he said. “If any rural communities can host people for the webinars, it also provides an opportunity for farmers to talk about what they learned from the presentation.”
Anyone with questions can email Tranel.
If you or someone you know requires mental health assistance, you can access a full list of mental health supports here.