The reason I have written this blog post is because I know that people do not believe the seriousness of what affects stress can have on your body. It is so important to stop making excuses and start making time for yourself.
Stress affects all of us. It can come around from over working, coping with draining relationships, trying to manage finances, lack of sleep, new diagnosis, our external environment like pollution and chemicals around us, threats of war, and even internal environments such as food intolerances or internal bacteria that you may not even be aware of. So many aspects of this whirlwind of a life can create stress, it is often hard to avoid, BUT it can be managed. As busy human beings, in a crazy society, there are too many factors of life for you to realistically believe you can live a stress-free life. It happens to the best of us, but the difference is, people who deal with their stress and move on from it, are a lot less likely to become ill, both mentally and physically.
Managing stress is crucial. The first step to controlling the stresses of your life is to know the symptoms, however, it can be difficult to even recognise the symptoms of stress. Many people are so used to being stressed, that they don’t even realise the seriousness of stress on their bodies, or how it actually affects their bodies, until they are at breaking point.
What actually is stress?
Stress is the body’s reaction to harmful situations- whether they are real or perceived. Whenever you feel some kind of threat, whether it seems big or small, a chemical reaction in your body occurs. Stress causes the body to release cortisol, which is produced by your adrenal glands. These ‘stress hormones’ that are released, are the same hormones that trigger your ‘fight or flight’ response. This response was designed to protect your body in an emergency by preparing you to react quickly in a dangerous situation. During your ‘fight or flight’ or ‘stress response’, your heart rate increases, your breath quickens, your muscles tighten and blood pressure rises. For immediate situations, stress can be beneficial to your health as it can help you cope with potentially serious situations, for example slamming on your breaks to avoid hitting the car in front of you. But when this stress response keeps firing, or when these stress levels stay elevated far longer than necessary, it could put your health at serious risk.
‘Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.’ -Mark Black
What are the main symptoms of stress?
> Irritability
> Anxiety
> Depression
> Headaches
> Insomnia
> Hair loss
> Low self esteem
> Low energy
> Avoiding others
> Upset stomach
> Tense muscles
> Inability to focus
> Changes in appetite- either not eating enough or eating too much
> Increased use of alcohol, drugs or cigarettes
How does stress affect your body?
Respiratory and Cardiovascular System
Stress hormones affect your respiratory and cardiovascular system because your breath is faster, if you already have breathing difficulties like asthma, this can make it even harder to breathe. During stress your heart also pumps faster, and your blood pressure raises, when this happens frequently, your heart is working harder for longer. When your blood pressure rises constantly, so does the risk of having a stroke and heart attack.
Digestive System
When you are under stress, your liver produces extra glucose to give you a boost of energy (again to protect your body from any danger) if you have chronic stress your body may not be able to keep up with the extra glucose surge. The rush of hormones and increased heart rate can also upset your digestive system due to an increase in stomach acid, this can also affect the way food moves through your body, often resulting in constipation, diarrhoea or even nausea and vomiting.
Muscular system
When you feel stressed your muscles tense up to protect themselves from any injury. Tight muscles can cause headaches, neck, back or shoulder pain, and jaw pain.
Sexual and Reproductive System
As stress is completely draining on the body and mind, it can often result in you losing your sexual drive or desire when under constant stress. If stress continues over a long period of time, men’s testosterone levels can begin to drop. It can also interfere with sperm production and even cause erectile dysfunction or impotence.
For women, stress can affect the menstrual cycle with irregularity, heavier or more painful periods and it can even magnify the physical symptoms of menopause.
Immune system
Over time, stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenalin being released in to the body frequently, will weaken your immune system and reduce your body’s response to ‘foreign invaders’. This means that people under chronic stress are way more susceptible to viral illnesses like cold and flus and can also increase the time it takes to recover from an illness or injury.
Nervous system
Stress can have a severe effect on the brain. The constant release of cortisol and adrenalin can kill off cells in the hippocampus as well as prematurely ageing the brain. Chronic stress can also reduce brain volume which leads to poorer cognition and emotional function. This is why illnesses such as depression and anxiety often come from high and frequent levels of stress. Ongoing stress then halts the production of new neurons in the brain, so it becomes more difficult to repair the damage that has already been caused.
So how do you manage your stress levels?
There are so many amazing things you can do to really reduce your stress levels, but the first step is allowing yourself to make the time for YOU. So many people I speak to always find a way of making excuses to not allow themselves ‘me time.’ I know we all have busy schedules, and a lot of people seem to believe that other things are a priority, but seriously, what is more important than your own happiness, health and well-being?
‘The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.’ – Jim Goodwin
Here are a few of my suggestions for things you can do to make your days brighter, happier and to increase yourself love on a daily basis. Even putting 5 minutes aside a day is a great way to get started and to give you the opportunity to see how easy it can be, and to see how effective this ‘me time’ can be on your mood.
> Keeping a journal
o Expressing the way you have felt throughout the day is a great way of reflecting. To me it makes me feel like any stress or tension I have had throughout the day, I have released so that I can start the next day fresh. Writing my feelings down mean that I don’t have to keep them in my head so that my thoughts do not race around or escalate.
* SIDE NOTE: Obviously if you have someone you can talk to, that is a great way of expressing your feelings for the day, but I feel like writing it down means I can open up even more, be completely honest with myself and my feelings and feel ready for a new day. Making a note of my feelings, and anything that has caused me stress that day, also is a great way of keeping track of any regular stressors that arise, which in turn makes me more aware of them so when they next arise I can try to better avoid them. *
> Writing down a list of 5 things that I am grateful for that day before I go to sleep (on paper, not on your phone) *
o I try to change these every day. It really changes your mindset, even if you have had a bad day, and it feels like you have nothing to be grateful for, when you really make yourself think about it and write it down, it makes you feel instantly happier and appreciative, and almost makes you put things into perspective. It can be something as simple as the opportunity for better health, family, friends, pets, or something significant that happened that day. *There is actually some splendid science behind this, this is that this activity stimulates the parasympathetic nervous response which calms the body and mind- what more could you need before bedtime?!
> Aim for 7.5- 8 hours sleep a night
o I find a great way of unwinding from the day to have a good night’s sleep is to start the bedtime routine with a candle-lit bath, listen to some classical music, read a book, put on a face mask and enjoy the bubbles. It is something so simple yet so effective at relaxing your body and mind.
o Try and also avoid blue light (from phones, PC’s, tablets, TV’s etc at least 2 hours bed as this subdues melatonin and impedes deep phase sleep.
> Exercise is a GREAT way of managing stress levels
o When you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce perception of pain. Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine!
> YOGA
o I am in love with Yoga and I recommend it to anyone and everyone. It is a great way of completely relaxing and unwinding after a long stressful day. Not only is it great for your core, your muscles, for improving flexibility, it is also so beneficial for your mind. This is also something I do before bedtime, as it really helps me to relax and spend time to just focus on my mind and body. If you have time there are plenty of classes available in our area, but I tend to go onto YouTube and follow a session on there, then I can do it from the comfort of my own bedroom, with candles burning, incense on and my own music playing.
> Meditation
o Meditation is such a great thing to get into. This is again something that is so simple yet extremely effective. You can put aside something as little as 5 minutes a day and it will change your mindset and your mood instantly. I feel that people are afraid of meditation as they don’t think they can do it properly or they don’t understand it.
o When starting out I recommend the app ‘Headspace’- it is a guided meditation app, with cute animated videos to explain different scenarios. This is a great way of getting your head around meditation, whilst also reaping the benefits in as little as 3 minutes.
o I also recommend a fantastic book I’ve been reading recently called ‘ Mindfulness, a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world.’ By Mark Williams and Danny Penman. Not only does it give a thorough explanation of how the mind words, stressors that can be avoided and lots of meditation exercises to follow, it also has a fantastic guided meditation CD.
> Maintaining a healthy diet
o This is something that has benefited my mood majorly, and as someone who loves my food, I never thought it would or believed it could. But after following a strict paleo diet, which I now follow majority of my time (with the occasional cheat day here and there), I strongly believe that a healthy gut= a healthy mind. Following a diet that consists mainly of meat and veg, with a few carbs in my evening meal (mainly sweet potatoes, basmati rice, plantain or potatoes occasionally), my energy levels have completely improved, my positive mood has heightened and I just feel fabulous for it.
> Regular Massage or Reflexology
o Putting yourself first and finding time to fit in a regular massage or reflexology session will benefit your mood and reduce your stress levels majorly. I am going to write further blog posts that completely outline the benefits of each, but as Holistic treatments they treat your whole body in one go which is extremely beneficial to your sense of well-being. All you need is an hour every 2 weeks, or every month (whatever works well with your schedule), and I guarantee your body and mind will appreciate it so much!
> A friendly touch or loving hug
o This is my last bit of advice for trying to reduce stress levels. Don’t be afraid of human touch, embrace it. Hug your friends, hug your family, hug your pets! In addition to calming us down and reducing our stress response, a friendly touch increases release of oxytocin- also called the ‘cuddle hormone’- which affects trust behaviours. Oxytocin is a neuropeptide, which basically promotes the feelings of devotion, trust and bonding!