By: Sarah Grace Powers – Confluence Daily is your daily news source for women in the know.
When was the last time you felt stressed?
If you’re like most people, your answer might be, right now, or 5 minutes ago, or even all the time.
Because, let’s face it, stressful situations chase us all day long in this modern world. All these wonderful conveniences meant to make life easier, ironically are often also accompanied by new stressors.
You might be racing to catch that green light before it changes (because it’s the longest effing light in town!) so you won’t be late for work, only to find yourself sitting in backed up traffic worrying about what sort of accident occurred up ahead. Hellooo Stress!
Or, simply switching on the TV or radio can amp up your stress response as your senses are assaulted with images and stories of the pain and suffering in our violent and ideologically divided world.
Don’t even get me started about pulling up Facebook on your phone or getting pinged by one of those annoying noise notifications!
Although, most people would say they want to have less stress in their lives, there’s a weird addictive quality that accompanies the way we live with stress. If there’s nothing stressing us out we can even feel bored and start scanning our environment for something to worry about.
Our culture approves and rewards us for having busy, stressful lives. Somehow there’s a notion that people who are super busy have more value in the world.
This, of course, is total BS. And, if you value your health, you would do well to question this thinking.
We all know about the perils of high-stress living: increased risk of heart attacks, high blood pressure, and even stroke. But did you know that living with long-term stress can affect your weight, cause brain fog, increase insomnia, cause more aches and pains in your body as well as more frequent colds and flu?
These are just a few of the multiple symptoms you can experience if you are not managing the inevitable stress that shows up in your life.
The most minor stressful event—such as getting cut off in traffic or a coworker looking at you funny—causes stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline to course through your body, instigating a fight, flight or freeze response. This is because the part of our brain that reacts to stress has not evolved from prehistoric times, and it can’t tell the difference between your kid slamming the door on you and being chased by a tiger.
All that cortisol wreaks havoc through your system over the course of time, so it’s super important practice some stress management techniques to soothe and calm the system.
Some of the following tips are pretty obvious but easy to forget. And you might find a few new ideas to help you prime your body to go into relaxation response rather than stress response.
- Three Deep Breaths
This is the #1 tip to destress your body. You can do it any time and literally anywhere you are. We are ALWAYS breathing. But, unfortunately most of us are only partway breathing. When you take a truly deep belly breath, you are signaling your body that you can’t possibly be in danger. (Otherwise you’d be too busy running or facing the danger to bother with deep breathing.)
A few deep breaths will immediately lower the stress-inducing cortisol and kick you into the part of your nervous system that slows the heart rate and naturally relaxes internal muscles.
If you are super stressed, take it further by taking five or even 10 deep belly breaths. You will be amazed at you different you feel physiologically and mentally.
- Turn to the plant world
Herbal remedies can help with day-to-day anxiety and stress, and some can calm you down enough to get to sleep when your mind is racing a mile a minute.
Some of my favorites include oats or oatstraw (Avena sativa)—a gentle remedy which literally soothes the entire nervous system), skullcap (Scutellaria latiflora)—great for anxiety and irritability, chamomile (Matricaria recutita)—an easy one to find!, passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)—nice for insomnia, and kava kava (Piper methysticum)—relaxes the muscles as well as the mind, this is not one that I like to take in the middle of the day when I’m trying to tackle a workload but it’s great for winding down.
Another class of herbs that can be taken long-term to reduce stress and anxiety are known as adaptogens. These assist the body in defending itself against chronic stressors, including things like pollution and pesticides. Some top adaptogens are Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococccus senticosus)—not a true ginseng and sometimes called eleuthero root, rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) and ashwaghanda (Withania somnifera).
Different herbs work in different ways, and—just like foods—some people resonate better with certain herbs, and other people thrive on different ones. Experiment and/or talk to experts, but most importantly, listen to your own body!
Natural foods stores, herb shops, and online suppliers abound with herbal formulas to reduce stress.
- Try Anti-stress in a vial
Many essential oils contain potent anti-stress properties. This is actually another version of using plant allies to give yourself some natural stress relief. Although they are called ‘oils’ these liquids are actually concentrated essences of plants.
Used in aromatherapy, they have the added benefit of reaching your brain’s limbic system through your sense of smell. And certain aromas can work immediately to calm you down, based on your own preferences. Some essential oils known for their calming properties include lavender (explained more in depth here), clary sage, orange, rose and sandalwood.
Just like herbal remedies, a quick visit to the googles will show you many, many essential oil blends that you can experiment with. Caution: Never use essential oils internally without professional advice.
- Make Time for Stillness
It’s no secret that stress relief is a top benefit of a meditation practice. When you turn away from the cacophony of the outside world, get still and tune into your body and heart your turn down the stress hormones.
I wanted to be a meditator for years—literally decades—before I finally managed to do it. And the way I started was by setting a timer for just two minutes and committing to stillness for those minutes. Once I had a habit going, I began to increase that time. But even now, years later, I still sometimes manage just those two minutes. Any amount of time committed to stillness and tuning within will help you to release stress!
Remember, meditation can take many forms. You don’t have to be a Buddhist or sit cross-legged chanting mantras. And, although a goal of meditation is to detach from your thoughts, you are still receiving the benefit of stillness even if you are not managing to shut up the monkey brain.
There are some great apps out there now to help you get into meditation mode. Insight Timer is free and contains hundreds of guided meditations. I’ve also heard good things about Headspace.
- Laugh every Day
I think this one is my absolute favorites—because it’s just so easy. And, I know that laughing always makes me feel better. It’s been proven that the physiological experience of laughter can neutralize the stress response. So, cultivating your sense of humor can ultimately improve your health.
The best thing to do is to find a friend to laugh with. Or you could try one of those Laughter Yoga classes that are becoming so popular. If you’re hanging by yourself, turn on a comedy show, find a funny book or article, or YouTube those funny cat videos.
Give yourself the gift of at least a few belly laughs every day.
- Get some hugs
We humans are wired for connection, and we thrive on touch. The more loving human interaction you can include in your life, the lower your stress will be. It has been shown that hugs can literally lower cortisol levels and reduce your chances of catching a cold.
I know that not everyone is super demonstrative and goes around hugging everybody. Yet, showing this sort of physical affection with the loved ones most close to you, at the very least. will help you get through the stressful parts of your day more easily.
Pets count too! If you’re feeling antisocial, cuddle up to a dog or cat to tap into some relaxation.
- Unplug
I won’t lie, this is the one I have the hardest time with personally. Like many of us, I have become addicted to my technological devices. Yet, I’ve seen for myself that if I spend too much time enthralled in their blue light that my stress levels begin to rise.
Make time to step away from the screen and engage in the 3D world. Talk to a human, smell a flower, do a few stretches. Besides reducing your stress, your body will thank you for so many reasons.
If stress-related insomnia is a thing for you, it’s important to turn off the devices at least an hour before bedtime. Close out the email, turn off Instagram, and try talking to a family member or turning to an old fashioned book in that final hour before sleep.
This is just the tip of the anti-stress iceberg. There’s so much more you can do to promote your own relaxation response. Fortunately for us, there are probably as many ways to find peace and relaxation as there are stressors around us.
Try some of these tried and true techniques and add in your own proven relaxation practices.
Your body and your wellbeing will thank you!
Sarah Grace Powers is a certified life coach and EFT Practitioner. She is a ‘dream resuscitator’, helping clients rediscover their passions and reinvent themselves no matter what their age or circumstance. In her previous career she owned and operated an herb shop and has practiced holistic living for over three decades. Find her at sarahgracecoach.com
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