Stress can have a negative impact on virtually every aspect of your body. It is a true detriment to health, wellness, and your prosperity, but we all experience stress in one form or the other throughout the day, whether it be from home, work, the news, or just general life. It is almost impossible to get away from things that stress us out.
Our body has an amazing, built-in way to manage stress that is great for keeping you alive when you get scared or if you were alive back in the day when you needed to run away from a dinosaur. However, with an endless amount of things to produce daily stress, this, normal, body response becomes very harmful to your health in modern, day-to-day life. When you experience stress, your body produces cortisol, which, long term, suppresses immune function, breaks down body tissues, decreases intestinal absorption of nutrients, can produce anxiety and depression, and just overall destroys your health.
With stress having a variety of harmful effects on your body, it is critical to do everything that you can to manage and limit it. There are many ways to do this, but they often do not work because, in the midst of stress, it’s easy to forget to actually do them. Because of this, I decided to create a quick list of extremely powerful tips that have a huge impact on helping your body relax, process stress, and limit the negative impacts that it has on your life.
Nervous System Reset
There are many things throughout the day that stress the body’s nervous system and that can essentially cause it to become disorganized and confused. Stress, anxiety, and mental overload are common causes of this. When this happens, it can present itself as a feeling of confusion, brain fog, low energy, difficulty following directions, cognitive tiredness, and many other neurologically confusing symptoms. You should consult with a health care professional to rule out any underlying conditions, but, for minor, daily occurrences, this tip will really help relieve some stress from your nervous system and bring some clarity. While this is a powerful tool, it is a temporary, quick fix, so it would be very beneficial to meet with a natural health care provider that is familiar with this topic.
Now, to get started, you can do this at any time, anywhere throughout your day when you need a pick-me-up. You are going to massage three spots on your body, simultaneously. With one hand, you will rub both sides of your breast bone, right where it meets your collar bone. You can do this with the thumb and index finger of one hand on each spot, about the size of a quarter. With the other hand, you will use your fingertips to rub your belly button. You will rub all three spots vigorously and simultaneously for approximately 30 seconds. These spots will most likely be tender and sore, but that is normal. This works to temporarily reset your nervous system and provide some focus and relief.
Adrenal Gland Relaxation Massage
Your adrenal glands are small organs that sit right above your kidneys and produce cortisol when your body is stressed. This is a normal function required for proper bodily functioning, but, in normal life, they get overworked and tired most of the time. We experience stress and stress responses much more often than our body intended, so our adrenals need as much help and relief as possible. A very powerful way to do this is to massage two spots on your abdomen that help increase lymphatic flow and stress relief to the adrenal glands. These spots are two inches up and one inch out from your belly button, on both sides. To relax your adrenals and your body, lay down on your back in a comfortable place, use one hand to locate the appropriate spot on one side, and press down and rub in a circular motion for one minute. Follow this by going to the other side of your abdomen, to the corresponding spot, and repeat for one minute. Do this two times for each side. These spots will most likely be tender. This is normal, and the more tender, the more likely it is that this is needed. BONUS TIP: To make this more powerful, have someone else do this for you so that you can relax even more so. You can also smell something enjoyable while you do this, like tea or essential oil.
Parasympathetic Breathing
Breathing is one of the most powerful things that we can do for stress management and relaxation. Breathing is something that we do every few seconds of our life, but its power is often under-appreciated. Breathing in particular manners can be used to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for rest and healing. A quick and easy way to do this is to find a relaxing place to sit or lay down, close your eyes, and take 9 slow, deep breaths in and out. You can continue to breathe more but perform at least 9 breaths. The reason for the 9 breaths is that it is long enough to create a relaxing rhythm that stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system. This doesn’t take long to perform and can be done throughout the day when you need to relax and destress. Make sure that you don’t do this when driving or in any other situation where becoming too relaxed and unfocused could be dangerous.
With stress having such a detrimental impact on the body, it is important that you do your best to minimize your stress levels. Adding in these techniques to your daily routine will help you do this and will be a great benefit to your body and stress levels. I hope that these tips help you find the peace and relaxation that you deserve as you go about your day.
In Health and Prosperity,