Less Stress, More Joy
We ALL know what it feels like.
That tight, anxious, tummy clenching, head-achy, mind-twirling, quick-tempered feeling of stress. 🙋
It can hit us on a single day or it can be more chronic and long lasting.
And, actually, stress is a life saver! Back in our cave days, when we needed to react quickly to a threat (think dinosaur or large animal chasing us) our bodies went right into flight or fight and released cortisol and adrenaline, enabling us to run like HECK and save our lives. Thanks to acute stress.
Sadly, today’s stresses can cause the exact same fight or flight response in our bodies - but day after day after day and without the dinosaur chasing us. And that, my friend, leads to chronic stress and lots of negative effects for our bodies, minds, relationships and life. Our bodies don’t know if it’s a T-Rex causing our stress or our boss’ email, being stuck in traffic or a disagreement with our spouse/family/child. It’s all the same to our brain.
The benefit to the cave days of stress is that once we were out of danger our bodies regulated back to a non-stressed state. But today, with work, traffic, social media, family issues, etc. we often carry the stress from day to day and we never regulate back to a non-stressed state. And that’s where the issues begin.
Recognizing Signs of Stress: Listening to Your Body
Recognizing the signs of stress is crucial to addressing it and managing it. From physical symptoms like headaches, fatigue, and muscle tension to emotional symptoms such as irritability, anxiety, and mood swings, stress can manifest in many different ways. Paying attention to subtle cues from your body and mind can provide invaluable insights into your stress levels and prompt proactive measures to manage them.
One helpful tool I recommend for clients (and use myself!) is journaling. It’s a really helpful way to not only write down and release what is stressing you, it’s a great way to track your stress day to day. You can track any physical or emotional symptoms or just list a level on a scale of 1-10. You can see what days you may be more stressed or you can see a recurring stress event. Awareness IS the key to change.
Stress Affects Our Body, Mind & Spirit
Stress doesn't discriminate—it affects our physical, mental, and emotional health. Chronic stress has been implicated in a many health conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, compromised immune function, and mental health disorders like depression and anxiety. It can also strain our relationships, dampen productivity, and diminish our overall quality of life. And it feels really, really awful. And it makes me not so nice to be around 😑
Managing Stress
While we can’t eradicate stress (nor would we want to! How do you think you manage to get that report on your boss’ desk on your deadline AND deal with your unruly teenager all in one afternoon?? Acute stress to the rescue!) we can mitigate and manage our chronic stress in the following ways:
Regular physical activity - Movement such as walking, running, workout classes yoga, or tai chi, serves as a potent antidote to stress, promoting the release of endorphins and fostering relaxation.
Mindfulness practices - This includes meditation, deep breathing exercises, and progressive muscle relaxation, cultivating present-moment awareness and equips us with a wonderful tool we can do almost any time during the day
Adequate sleep - Sleep allows our bodies to recharge, consolidate memories, and regulate mood (if you missed my blog post on sleep, check it out here!)
Get out in nature - Take a walk, sit in the sun or under a tree. Listen to nothing but the breeze and take deep breaths. Nature is a wonderful stress buster
Find the gratitude - Just taking a few minutes each day or evening to look at 3 things that went right, activities you enjoyed or things that brought a smile or laugh has been shown to reduce our stress
Take up (or make time for) a hobby - anything that gets you out of your head and focused on something is extremely helpful. That blog photo?? That’s crochet and a nod to MY go-to stress reliever!!
Nutrition - Plant based foods helps our bodies fight stress induced inflammation as well as boosts our immunity and can even help us sleep!
Plant-Based Foods and Stress
Nutrition plays a hugely pivotal role in modulating our body's response to stress. Rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients, plant-based foods possess anti-inflammatory properties and bolster our resilience to stress. Eating a vibrant array of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds provides essential nutrients that support optimal brain function, stabilize blood sugar levels, and bolster immune defenses.
And fighting stress with nutrition can be delicious! As a bonus, I’ve included a delicious and easy smoothie bowl recipe that has all the ingredients for a stress-busting snack.
Stress-Busting Smoothie Bowl
Ingredients:
1 frozen banana, sliced
1/2 cup frozen berries (blueberries, strawberries, or mixed berries)
1/2 cup fresh spinach or kale leaves
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (or your preferred plant-based milk)
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon almond butter or nut butter of choice
Toppings: Sliced fresh fruits (such as strawberries, kiwi, or banana), nuts (almonds, walnuts, or pistachios), seeds (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds), granola, shredded coconut
Instructions:
In a high-speed blender, combine the frozen banana slices, frozen berries, fresh spinach or kale leaves, almond milk, chia seeds, and almond butter.
Blend on high speed until smooth and creamy, ensuring all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Add more almond milk if needed to achieve your desired consistency.
Pour the smoothie into a bowl and garnish with sliced fresh fruits, nuts, seeds, granola, or shredded coconut.
Take a moment to sit and just eat your smoothie bowl, savor the tastes of all the healthy ingredients and breathe deeply knowing you are doing a wonderful thing for your body.
Conclusion
Remember that managing stress is not a destination but a process of taking care of yourself and finding tools and support that help you. It’s about knowing yourself, feeling when you are stressed and having tools and techniques to guide you back to your natural, joyful state.
Join me this month as I send out weekly email newsletters about stress management techniques, meditation, mindful tech and whole food plant based nutrition for busting stress. You don’t want to miss it!
