How can we help our bodies stress less or handle it in a healthier way?
Working for over 15 years in Physical Therapy I can say with confidence that depression and anxiety seemed to be on ever 3rd chart review! Along with this I would say more than a majority of my back patients also had depression. Let me tell you when someone is really suffering from depression it’s SUPER difficulty to get them to want to go home and do a few stretches or simple exercises to move their body and get things feeling better. Many are just at a point they were stuck thinking this is the way they would feel the rest of their life. Why try?
We live to run and do and push and hustle, more money, more activities, get more done from our to do list. COVID in 2020 gave us a forced moment to pause. Some took a deep breath and realized they were going and doing too much, they have chosen to adapt and create a slower lifestyle. Some become frightened and more overwhelmed with the possibilities of the what ifs, most of which are out of our control. Some of us that have never experienced depression or anxiety before got a dose of that and some of those that already knew they suffered, went deeper into the black hole.
My goal with this post is to take a few steps back. We just don’t go from blessed, healthy, happy life into this black hole of feeling and wanting nothing. It’s our body’s last resort to restore us to wellness. As always I hope to provide some things for you to ponder for yourself and think how you can make small changes in your household or life to help your body work and function to its full potential.
Let’s back it up to stress! We all experience stress. Good stress is having a new baby or buying a home, your wedding day, exciting and yet a little frightening. Bad stress is a pandemic, losing your job, always going from one thing to the next, not allowing your body to have proper rest and nutrition.
Endorphins are hormones released when we are stressed, we go into fight or flight mode. A NORMAL body response would be for the endorphins to go down and the body to come out of fight or flight mode in a short period of time. Here the body can rest, recover and prepare for the next time it will need to respond this way.
It seems we are in a constant state of fight or flight, constantly releasing hormones to help the body battle. This constant state of stress leads to anxiety. Anxiety leads us to what others would view as ridiculous thoughts, we just don’t seem rational in our thought process. I can look back at times where I’ve had some overwhelm and anxiety and just feel like that was a waste of my time, why would I even let my mind go there. Anxiety for me leads me to rage, shame, guilt other negative emotions that God does not put on me, I have put them on myself. God tells me I’m loved and wanted NO MATTER WHAT! He forgives more easily than I do.
All this continued pressure on our adrenals that release hormones eventually causes them to shut or slow down. So we are fatigued, tired, not motivated to do anything, even things that previously brought us so much joy. The body can’t fight anymore! It goes in preservation mode, just trying to keep us alive. Our bodies are amazing! We need to give them the care and respect intended as often as we can.
So you go to the Dr. and generally they will prescribe a medication to help your body on that hormonal or chemical level to get it functioning the way it’s intended. I don’t want to do that, so again I’m backing up the bus and finding a more natural approach and prevention! This is not shaming anyone that chooses medication! Sometimes it is a much needed boost or stepping stone, but know it’s not the only option and many times can be used with other natural methods.
Stress not only leads to a path of depression and your adrenals shutting down, but many also have intestinal issues, ulcers and heart failure. You’re nervous system just becomes SHOT!
We are good at giving an outward appearance that we have it all together, nothing gets to us, we can handle all of it, or maybe this is just me. Our body is constantly tense, causing headaches, causing restricted blood flow and therefore arteries are more easily clogged and over long term, heart disease and failure. Docs are finding that maybe not just cholesterol is to blame for heart disease. Maybe this is why woman are at such a high risk for silent heart attacks? We are silently in stressed out mode all the time.
How do we keep stress from destroying us!
Find out your root causes of stress. Is it your job you hate, your schedule, health, finances, parenting, marriage? All these are things you can modify!
6 things to consider
- Break down WHY this area stresses you out. Just take a piece of paper and write with no worry about proper sentence structure or spelling. I call this a brain dump.
- Take a moment to brain storm and ponder what you do have control over and what couple of small changes could you make to improve that area. Maybe involve your family or a friend. Put the change you want to make in front of you where you can see it daily and give yourself at least 6-9 weeks to establish a habit or routine.
- Consider your diet. Are you adding stimulating foods or drinks such as pop, coffee, tea, sugar products? Can you trade out for water with lemon or reduce your intake. A fully hydrated body has more energy and is better equip to flush out toxins.
- Consider your physical activity. Parents, how much time are you sitting in a vehicle hauling kids to stuff? How much time do you sit at work? Sitting is the new smoking! For every 4 hours you sit it’s the equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes! YIKES! Take breaks to pray or just do 60 seconds of deep breathing exercises from your diaphragm. Yoga and pilates have been fantastic for me at 38 years old. Take relaxing walks even in 10 min intervals, it was more than before right? Find a place to walk and enjoy creation and be grateful for it and your body and your life. You don’t need a membership to anywhere! YouTube has TONS of videos and just work up to it, don’t’ make yourself super sore. Yoga and Pilates have taught me to listen to my body and appreciate what it can do. Plus they are great for posture and bone and joint health.
5. Herbs and essential oils to consider. Herbal tea has become something I look forward to in my life. You can find caffeine free chamomile tea or Yogi tea has several mixes like Stress support.
I get tense through my shoulders with my stress so I mix Young Living essential oils Roman Chamomile and Majorum with a carrier oil and apply in that area. You can diffuse oils such as lavender, bergamot, clary sage, ylang ylang, frankincense, valerian, Melissa. You can add 5-8 drops of a mixture or one of these to a cup of bath salts and soak in the tub. Or 2-3 drops with some lotion and massage into your feet before bed.
Make a roller to apply during the day.
Stress Away Essential oil blend from Young Living I’ve used like a perfume and just roll on my wrists and chest/neck area. Valor Essential oil blend is another I use.
To make a roller get a 10 ml bottle with roller top add 15-20 drops total of your essential oil and fill with a carrier oil like Young Living V6, sweet almond oil or grapeseed. Swirl to mix before you use.
6. Supplements to consider– NOW I’m only speaking from my personal experience here and what our Naturopath Dr. has recommend for us. Please take the time to research or visit with your provider if needed.
For me the stress over time has affected the function of my liver, which will not flush out like it is suppose to. My main symptom is rage! So I’ve taken NAC over the last year to assist my liver while also adding in foods like Dandelion tea, beets or beet root powder in shakes. When I feel myself overwhelmed or stressed Free and Wanderer Plus is a great Chinese herb that assists me fairly quickly. I find Nature’s Sunshine to be a reputable company as well and they have a supplement called AnxiousLess that has a dose of magnesium and zinc, also helpful for me.
Vitamins B and C assist in helping support the adrenals of your body and since these are water soluble vitamins, your body just throws out (through the urine) what is excess you don’t need. During very stressful seasons I have been know to take high doses of vitamin C.
Stress will knock out your immune system, nervous system, digestive system! So when I know stress can’t be avoided for a season I’ve learned I have to support my body during that time with my supplements, proper nutrition, my essential oils and some form of physical activity that is relaxing.
We as a population would really benefit from taking inventory of our bodies daily! What hurts, what is tight, have I pooped today, am I overly tired, what is my body craving. Just as it’s important to be still and listen for the voice of God during our time of worship, prayer and reflection. To have a good relationship with our body we need to be still and listen to it. To be very frank your body is much like an uncleaned toilet in your home, if you ignore it and don’t clean it up and care for it that poop will pile up and cause a stinking mess that you will then be forced to deal with and usually at the most inconvenient time.
Stay well!
Hannah
Click here for a link to order your oils and get support as you add them in to your life from our Oil Groupies
Disclosure: If you decide to make a purchase through links on this site, we may receive a small commission for it. This doesn’t cost you anything additional but allows us to keep the rest of our content free, so Thank you!