Cultivating wellness by managing stress

As anyone in the agricultural industry will attest, farming has its fair share of challenges.

But according to Louise Sanders, that doesn’t mean you have to be stressed out.

As a stress management trainer and coach, and the founder of, “The Stress Experts”, she helps her clients become their own ‘stress expert’ by empowering them with scientific knowledge and practical skills to handle life’s challenges, big and small.

In this way, her clients enjoy relief from symptoms of anxiety, depression, phobias and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Raised on a farm near Manitou, her journey from the fields to the clinic unveiled a profound truth – the importance of addressing stress in farming communities.

The agricultural industry is riddled with stressors, aggravated by the unpredictable financial landscape of farming and the profound sense of identity tied to the land. The uncertainty of the industry renders farmers susceptible to the whims of nature and market fluctuations. From consecutive years of poor yields to livestock epidemics and equipment breakdowns, each unforeseen setback inflicts profound financial strain, which can lead to a cycle of despair.

“Stress is a human condition, that’s felt the same with every industry. But each industry has unique stressors. It’s about managing the emotional dysregulation that those stressors can produce,” Sanders says.

“When you understand the basics of stress and have some simple, powerful tools to conquer stress anywhere, at any time, you can experience the benefits of increased resilience including less overwhelm and anxiety, more energy, better sleep, and increased efficiency.”

For Sanders, the mission is clear: equip farmers with the tools to navigate the turbulent seas of stress. Drawing from her background in physical therapy and complementary therapies, she delved into the heart of stress management, seeking holistic solutions.

Sanders utilizes a multifaceted approach, integrating scientific insights with practical techniques. Collaborating with institutions like the Institute of HeartMath, she empowers farmers to harness the innate resilience within.

“There’s a lot of misconceptions about stress, which makes the topic of stress, stressful. Everything nowadays is called stress. But there’s a difference between the stress and the stressor. A stressor is an event, circumstance, or situation that you have little or no control of. It’s something that’s external to us. Stress, on the other hand, is a negative or ineffective response to the event, situation, or circumstance. This is something you do have control over.”

Stress is an internal response. When traffic is moving slow, the combine breaks down, or the cows are getting stuck in the mud… you think you don’t have a choice but to be angry, worried, confused or overwhelmed. But you do have a choice, Sanders says.

“The reason it doesn’t feel like you have a choice is because it’s become your habitual pattern of response. A negative response becomes second nature.”

In farming, stressors can include weather, finances, policies, labour, farm transitions, succession, or even little things like sour milk or a broken dish. Anything can become huge.

“What if you can’t get the harvesting done? You’re in control of your response, but you’re not in control of the weather.”

Sanders calls stress physiological disharmony.

“The gas pedal is the sympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is the brake. And your heart is the gauge. That’s what HeartMath is all about. The greater medical community thought that to become healthy, you want your heart rate to be like a metronome. Very consistent. Now we know that is not true. We do not want that. We want natural variation. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, your heart rate should be varied.”

The heart and the brain are in constant communication, she adds. “The heart does most of the talking, and it speaks in rhythms. The info from the heart goes to the brain, which affects the way the brain functions: your memory, choices, creativity, emotions, and relationships. Better brains become people who make wiser decisions.”

The primary driver of all of this, she says.

“This is something you can control. But when you experience a negative emotion – fear, anger, worry, sadness, loneliness or worry – the brain goes offline. You can’t think clearly. You can’t make decisions. You can’t solve problems on your farm or in business. It’s like driving your internal car with one foot on each pedal. You’ll cause mechanical wear and tear, and breakdown in your systems. And your ride through life will not be fun.”

But there is hope.

“When we experience positive, renewing emotions, such as appreciation, care, love, peace, calm, excitement, we create a completely different rhythm in our heart, and that rhythm gets sent to our brain. It optimizes brain function. You make wiser decisions. You can plan. We get to choose what’s happening in our brains, by choosing our emotions,” Sanders asserts.

“At the core of it all lies understanding what stress truly is, its origins, and how it impacts us. Armed with this knowledge, farmers can reclaim control over their emotional well-being.”