“Tolerating uncertainty is a skill.” Stress expert Elke Van Hoof on why the neutral phase is your greatest opportunity to de-stress.
You know what you no longer want. But you have no idea what should take its place. This phase feels empty, confusing, and sometimes unbearable. Most people flee from this as quickly as possible, returning to old patterns, simply gritting their teeth and carrying on. Stress expert Elke Van Hoof explains why, when the pressure finally drops, you suddenly catch a cold or get a headache. All the signals you ignored come to the surface. Headaches, loss of concentration, crying spells for no reason.
These symptoms can occur in what William Bridges calls the “neutral zone.” Psychologists call it an existential crisis. This phase holds a great deal of magic, but because of the symptoms, we want to escape it as quickly as possible. It is that strange no-man’s-land where your inner gear remains stuck in neutral. You cannot shift, even if you wanted to. And that feels very uncomfortable. But this phase is also a game changer. Elke shares more about this in this episode of Stress as BFF.
