How does stress enable you to perform to your maximum
without burning out prematurely from too much?
Balance is rising above the panic of survival.
Serenity is being aware of your balance and maintaining it.
Tips for stress relief
- Maintain a daily lifestyle routine
- Breathe deeply all day long
The Healing Breath technique
- Eat consciously
- Exercise regularly
- Do stress management practices daily
- Get enough sleep
- Eliminate each morning
- Don’t hurry
Have a daily lifestyle routine
When the body adjusts to a daily routine and learns to count on it, the nervous system can relax. This includes meal times, exercise, bedtime and elimination schedules as well as stress management rituals.
- Exercise to a light sweat several times a week at the same time each day
- Eat your meals at the same times daily and avoid skipping meals.
- Maintain a consistent bedtime and wake-up pattern (It’s ideal to go to sleep by 10 pm.)
- Eliminate each morning
- Apply stress management practices such as meditation, deep breathing, guided relaxation or yoga daily
Breathe deeply
It’s free and you can do it all day long!
Breathing deeply all day long is one of the best ways to manage the effects of stress. When breathing deeply into the abdomen, the diaphragm stimulates the largest parasympathetic nerve in the body, the vagus nerve to reverse the effects of stress by resetting the nervous system.
When people are stressed, they tend to take shallow breaths.
Shallow upper chest breathing is a byproduct of stress and deprives us of our maximal capacity for oxygen and energy.
Eat consciously
Digestion is a mind body affair.
When stress occupies the mind, the body loses its partner in digestion and symptoms of poor digestion often surface. If you experience gas and bloating, heartburn, diarrhea or constipation, your body is expressing its difficulty in digesting the foods you are consuming.
Digestion is one job that we cannot do without. Everyone needs fuel to function. The better the digestion, the better the nutrients are converted into good quality fuel.
Taking ‘time out’ to eat with focus enables our brain to register that digestion is taking place and secrete the digestive enzymes necessary to stimulate and promote the digestive process through all its stages.
Eat with your eyes first before digging into a meal.
Look at your food; notice the colors, textures and smells and concentrate on your food until you begin to feel your mouth water.
When this occurs, it means that your body has responded to the visual cue your mind just received and is initiating the first stage of digestion by flooding your mouth with digestive juices!
When the brain is focused on eating alone, it sends us a variety of information about food choices, quantities and satiation points.
Healthy cravings occur when the body requisitions the mind to bolster its inventory of the nutrients it is low in.
Healthy cravings go away once they are satisfied.
Stress induced cravings are often related to an urgent need for an energy boost because sugar levels in the brain are low.
When satisfied with quick fixes such as caffeine and refined sugar, they often have a rebound effect and leave you more fatigued than before.
Try slower burning energizers like nuts and dried fruit with a cup of herbal tea instead of coffee and a chocolate bar.
If you feel stressed, add some cardamom to your tea. This common herb widely used in eastern recipes is nature’s sedative! It is very calming and also promotes digestion.
Exercise to induce stress relief
- Exercise to a light sweat several times per week.
- Most forms of exercise are good at dispelling nervous energy but do so by depleting your energy.
- Try yoga! It’s an excellent form of exercise designed to relieve the stress that is stored in your mind and body, build energy levels and promote relaxation without fatiguing you so your mind remains alert and clear.
- Immerse yourself in in nature
Do stress management practices daily
- Learn to meditate (PDF flyer)
- Do yoga
- Try yoga nidra
- Practice deep breathing
"Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It’s a way of entering into the quiet that’s already there- buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day"
Deepak Chopra, M.D.
Sleep Fitfully
- Sleeping deeply is a state of balance that reflects your level of relaxation. It is essential for good health
- You know you are getting enough sleep when you can wake up naturally without the assistance of an alarm clock.
- Stress disrupts a good nights sleep. The stress hormone cortisol is often the culprit. Once stress is felt, you secrete cortisol to deal with it. The problem is, its effects last for 48 hours regardless of your situation. It’s hard to sleep when cortisol, is keeping you awake so you can defend yourself from a wild animal! It’s just the way we were designed. Evolution has not caught up to the new world we live in.
Tips for a good nights sleep
- Keep the home dark and the lights low after 9pm to help your brain chemistry make the switch into sleep mode.
- Avoid using the computer, or television or phone after 9pm. This allows your body and mind to wind down and register that sleep time is approaching.
- Try to be in bed for 10pm.
- Before bed warm some olive oil and pour 1-2 tablespoons onto the crown of your scalp and massage it in. Then massage some oil into the soles of your feet for 3 – 5 minutes. This enables a sense of heaviness to set in that combats the restlessness of stress.
- To help settle into sleep, lie on your back with your hands at your sides and a low pillow under your head. Focus on breathing slowly and deeply in and out through the nose bringing attention to the natural rhythm of your breathing until your thoughts float away and your body relaxes into the bed.
- You know you are getting enough sleep when you wake up on your own and don’t need an alarm clock to wake you up in the morning.
Eliminate each morning
Eliminate each morning to remove any toxins you may have accumulated and you will feel better for it!
To train your bowels:
- Drink a hot cup of water immediately after rising
- Sit on the toilet for 10 min without any expectations!
- Repeat daily until you have regular bowel movements each morning.
Don’t hurry
If you find yourself rushing all day long, take a moment to think about how it feels and what it’s doing to your physiology. Rushing can be a habit, a lifestyle choice or poor time management. Whatever your reason rushing is stress producing and doesn’t feel good in the long run.
- Try to take stock of what you are doing every once in awhile.
- Ask yourself if it’s really necessary to be hurrying.
- Plan each event with 10 minutes to spare from the time you arrive.
- Take five deep breaths between tasks and errands
Watch an excerpt from one of Lynn's Stress Management Workshops
Naturopath / Ayurvedic Wellness Practitioner / Certified Hatha Yoga Instructor / Meditation Instructor
