De Stress Naturally with out Top 3 Holistic Tips
1. Just breathe!
In our Free Stress Talks we take people through this little exercise, give it a go now. Breathe in fully, and then breathe out, expelling every last bit of breath from your lungs. Now hold your breath for as long as possible. How do you feel? Anxious, dizzy? What happens to your body? Does it go tense, stiff, do your shoulders move up towards your ears? Okay you can breathe in now! In just a few seconds you can start to feel how faulty breathing patterns can create both emotional and physical stress. Most of us do NOT breathe correctly, most of us do not breathe fully. When you shallow breathe your brain and body becomes oxygen deficient which will naturally impair physical and psychological function! When we are stressed out we automatically move into this breathing pattern, compounding the problem. Remember if you are stressed out physically those adrenal glands will be realising stress hormones. Excess stress hormones = decreased sex hormones, that means low sex drive, infertility and menstrual irregularities.
TIP: Before getting out of bed in the morning, sit up and try this simple breathing technique. Breathe in, fully expanding into your belly, pushing your belly out. Breathe out, pulling the belly button in. Repeat. Work your way up to 50 repetitions. It is incredibly energising and calming!
2. Cut the C.R.A.P
How many meals a day are accompanied by fruits and vegetables? How many packages goods do you eat in a day? Do you eat more white flour, bread and cake products than whole grain? In our free Stress Talk we discuss how the food you choose to eat literally make up the body you see each day in the mirror and the energy and mental focus you have to enjoy each day. Anything which is not a whole food, such as fruit, veggies, meat, fish, dairy, raw nuts and seeds and quality fats such as butter and olive oil are what we call non foods. These foods take more energy out of your body system to break them down and utilise them than they actually provide. So if you are eating lots of packaged and processed foods your energy levels will soon fizzle out.
TIP: As a starting point, try reducing these by one meal a day until you are eating no more than one serving of bread, pasta, crackers, flour, and cake based foods each day.
3. React or Respond
We may not always be able to control how other people communicate or interact with us but we DO always have a choice as to how we take ownership of the situation and how we choose to respond! Here’s an example. You get into work and notice that your boss is in a terrible mood. He shouts at you for being late when in actual fact you arrived early and have been helping out in the office, he just didn’t notice. You can a) choose to react by shouting back, defending yourself or you can b) respond by calmly explaining where you have been. A) Will cause you to feel angry, upset and frustrated, basically stressed. Stress hormones will be released from the adrenal glands which kick start a myriad of physical symptoms. B) May be more challenging and come less naturally however this is the response which will allow you to remain, calm, peaceful and unaffected!
TIP: Next time someone riles you, choose; ‘am I going to react or respond?’ and note the differences.
To find out more about our FREE Stress & Hormone talks, Women’s Wellbeing Workshops and Private 1on1 Coaching email info@purebodybalance.co.uk or call our clinic on 01242 254662.
Our Next FREE Stress & Hormones talk is on August 14th at Cheltenham Isbourne Centre, at 19:15. Booking is required.
