8 Easy Techniques to Manage Stress
Stress is a part of all of our lives, and it’s not always a bad thing! In fact, our body’s stress responses developed as a means to protect us from danger.
Picture our hunter-gatherer ancestors facing down a predator or getting ready to hunt a game animal to feed the tribe. These situations triggered a hormonal reaction that elevated our heart rates and directed blood flow and glucose to the muscles to prepare us to react to the threat.
In modern times, stress can still be a helpful reaction that makes us more alert to give a presentation at work or avoid an accident while driving.
The problem with stress arises when we are dealing with chronic stress that doesn’t go away even when the inciting incident is over, persisting throughout our daily lives.
Managing stress is an important skill to help us not only live better, more peaceful lives, but also to help us maintain a healthy weight and reduce chronic disease.
Learn more about what stress is and how to manage it naturally.
What is stress?
When you encounter danger, your brain responds by sending signals to your adrenal glands to release hormones like adrenaline and cortisol.
Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is known as the fight or flight hormone. This hormone works quickly in the body to prepare to react to immediate danger by increasing your heart rate and breathing rate, freeing up glucose for the muscles to use, contracting blood vessels to direct blood to the muscles, and more.
Repeated adrenaline spikes aren’t common in everyday life but over time can lead to high blood pressure, risk of heart attack, anxiety, insomnia, and weight gain.
While adrenaline might be the first hormone we think of when it comes to stress, it tends to be more sporadic and situational. Cortisol is actually the body’s primary stress response hormone and is more likely to be chronically present in people.
When cortisol is released in the body, it raises your blood glucose, restrains nonessential bodily functions (i.e. digestion, immune response, and reproductive system), alters the brain to help use glucose more effectively, and triggers the parts of the brain that control fear and motivation.
While all of these functions are essential to help you through a stressful situation, chronically raised cortisol can cause weight gain, high blood pressure, insomnia, lethargy, type 2 diabetes, brain fog, memory problems, and a weakened immune system.
How stress can affect your weight
Cortisol can actually have a significant affect on your weight in a few different ways.
First, cortisol stimulates your appetite and lowers your inhibitions, making you more likely to reach for high fat, high sugar, highly rewarding foods that are bad for our waistlines.
Second, cortisol lowers your metabolism and raises insulin. This means all those extra calories you eat while you are stressed take longer to digest.
Finally, your body will store those extra calories in the form of fat, which studies show tends to deposit along the waistline.
For more on how stress affects your weight, check out this article!
How we perpetuate stress
Our stress responses are normal and necessary functions of a healthy body, but they can be problematic when stress is chronic or unmanaged. Unfortunately, many aspects of our daily lives actually contribute to and perpetuate stress rather than ease and control it.
For example, most people work highly stressful jobs with long commutes and then spend their free time living sedentary lifestyles on the couch, with too much screen time, disconnected from their community.
Drugs and alcohol, shopping, scrolling social media, binge watching t.v., and binge eating are all ways that we numb ourselves to avoid stress and find cheap dopamine hits. But ironically, these activities do not help us to regulate the stress we feel and can actually make us feel much worse over time.
Instead of falling into the cycle of feeling stress and numbing out through unhealthy coping skills, learn to manage your stress naturally and feel more regulated, calm, and happy.
The bonus is that your waistline will thank you!
Natural stress management
Learn how to manage your stress naturally with these eight helpful tips.
Reduce screen time
By now we have all probably seen or heard about the studies that link increased screen time to anxiety and depression in people of all ages but most notably in teenagers and children.
Set firm boundaries for yourself by using the time limits feature on your phone to control how long you are scrolling. Try not to binge watch t.v. by setting limits on the amount of episodes of your favorite show you watch everyday, and find off-screen hobbies that you enjoy.
Reduce caffeine intake
Caffeine is a drug found in coffee, chocolate, certain teas, energy drinks, and more. It can help you to feel more alert and awake, but those who are sensitive to caffeine can end up feeling jittery or anxious after consuming it.
If that’s true for you, consider cutting down or stopping altogether. If you simply want to lower your stress and sleep better, try to limit yourself to 400mg of caffeine, or the equivalent of four cups of coffee per day, and stop consuming caffeine at least six to eight hours before bed.
Get physical
Physical exercise actually helps to regulate stress hormones and promotes happiness causing hormones like endorphins and dopamine. Not only that but exercise also helps you boost confidence, sleep better, and is a form of mindfulness that gets you out of your head and into the moment.
Exercise doesn’t have to be complicated. Simply get outside to go for a walk or run, find an exercise class on Youtube, put on your favorite song and dance, or hit the gym if that’s your thing!
Create boundaries
Part of why we as a society are so chronically stressed is that we are stretched thin by the demands of daily life. From work life to family life, it is rare for many people to get time to themselves.
It can be difficult to do, but creating boundaries and practicing saying no to things you don’t have the bandwidth for are both great ways to prevent stress in your life. Is there anything you can delegate or eliminate from your schedule?
Seek connection
Connection is one of the most basic and important parts of being human. Seeking the support of people you love and trust to vent and process your feelings can help you get through a hard time. Make time for people who fill your cup by calling someone you love.
Connection doesn’t have to come in human form. Cuddling or playing with a pet also has positive effects on your mood by stimulating the release of oxytocin, a hormone linked to connection and a positive mood. You can also trigger oxytocin by hugging someone you love!
Practice breathing techniques
The fight or flight response caused by stress is a very physical reaction to your environment and a good solution is to try to physically regulate your body to calm down your nervous system. One way to do this is through breathing techniques which can help to lower your heart rate and blood pressure and promote feelings of calm.
There are many different breathing techniques to try including box breathing, which you can read more about here, diaphragmatic breathing, or alternate nostril breathing. Find one that works for you.
Get outdoors
One of the best ways to regulate your body and reduce stress is by spending more time outdoors. In fact, studies have proven that the more time you spend in green spaces, the more happy, relaxed, and positive you feel. However, as little as ten minutes outside is enough to benefit your mood.
Camping and hiking are great if you have access to wild spaces, but if not, try to find a park nearby or even an arboretum or botanical garden.
Journal
Journaling is a great outlet that has been shown to help people regulate emotions and process stress and anxiety. It is a great outlet that allows you to express and work through hard feelings in a safe space.
People who journal are also said to have a higher quality of life and better self care practices. Try to free write for ten minutes each day or if you need extra guidance, seek out journaling prompts to get you started.
Let’s wrap it up
Stress will always be a part of our lives which makes it all the more important to learn how to manage and regulate our physical responses to stress.
You can do this using any or all of the techniques we talked about today, but if you are dealing with chronic stress and anxiety that is greatly impacting your life and health, seek the support of your doctor or a mental health professional. They can help you develop techniques to manage stress or prescribe you medications to help you get through a particularly hard time if necessary.
Whatever you do, make sure you are taking care of yourself and prioritizing your mental wellbeing! Having good self care practices are essential to living a balanced life.
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