7 Healthy Ways to Cope With Stress-
"Brain cells create ideas. Stress kills brain cells. Stress is not a good idea." ~Frederick Saunders
I often hear others say:
“Man this stress is killing me!”
“If I just didn’t have all this stress in my life, I’d be fine”
“I’m so stressed out, I can’t get anything done”
“Everyone else is stressing me out!”
Why we stress…
Stress is a natural reaction our body has to a threat or challenge in our life. Our body, particularly the sympathetic nervous system, begins to produce hormones such as cortisol and adrenalin to activate our senses telling us we need to “fight” or “flight.” You know when it happens, your heart starts to beat faster, your muscles begin to tense us, you feel sweaty, and more alert.
The stress response gives us strength and endurance (that is why athletes produce adrenalin) to escape a potentially dangerous event. Evolutionarily this automatic response has saved our lives. If a bear was about to attack us and our body didn’t give us any signals to get outta there we’d be eaten alive.
Of course we aren’t being attacked by bears much in today’s society, but we do have challenging events and difficult experiences so here we are with all this cortisol and adrenalin running throughout bodies as soon as a stressful event occurs.
With that being said it’s not stress that’s killing us, it’s what we do with that stress that is killing us.
Common unhealthy ways we use to avoid stress…
Overeat
Oversleep
Act out in anger
Neglect loved ones
Become reckless with money
Smoke/drink
Ignore it
Take pills
Procrastinate
These are common because society sends us the message that these will “make us feel better,” and ya I agree, they sure can make us feel great, for the moment that is. Stress will catch up with us. Lets talk about some ways to face stress head on, get to the root of it, and prevent it from living the life we love.
Healthy ways to face stress head on…
1. Breathe
Simple as it sounds, oxygen actually dissipates the excess cortisol running through our system.
2. Listen to music
Music triggers an emotional state in us depending on what memory or sensation we attach to it. Try listening to music that is soothing and peaceful for you.
3. Laughter
Spend time with people who bring joy and humor into your life. Laughter is contagious!
4. Roll it out
Stress gets lodged deep into our fascia which turns into rough scar tissue welcoming pain and disease to the body. Pick up a foam roller at your local sports store, your body will thank you.
5. Seek touch
Snuggle up with a loved one, practice gentle massage, or just hold hands. Allow yourself to feel good.
6. Aromatherapy
Calm your nerves by adding a few drops of lavender or lemon balm to your bath water or pillow case. Essential oils have proven healing qualities to them.
7. Be Natural
Get in touch with nature; feel the grass between your toes, pick flowers, or breathe fresh air. Nature is very soothing and can defuse tension.
The reason these techniques are effective is in part because they keep us in the present moment. They allow us to focus on what happening now rather keep us ruminating on recent, stressful events. If we can practice these regularly, even when we aren’t feeling stressed, we begin to activate our parasympathetic nervous system which counterbalances the sympathetic nervous system (remember that’s the flight or flight response) because it’s job is to create homeostasis in the body. So we’ll be better equipped to face stress when it comes up rather than trying to avoid it.
What techniques do you use to reduce, prevent and cope with stress? Share your insights by joining the conversation in the comment section bellow
This article was written by Cortney Harden, MSW, RH. Cortney is the owner of Mindful Wellness, providing practical solutions for optimal well-being. Based on the Island of Oahu but also offering virtual sessions, her approach is to help you make mindful actions that are in line with your personal values and commitments to self. Using Biofeedback, Emotional Freedom Technique, and Somatic yoga among other healing modalities, she believes everyone has the right to live a healthy and balanced life free from dis-ease.
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Lovingly, AlwaysaDiva
History's most famous athlete was as nimble with word play as he was fleet of foot. He dazzled opponents and global audiences alike with his athletism in the ring and his unflappable verbosity outside of it.
