By Christine Abrahams
Get up. Get the kids off. Get dressed. Go to work. Come home. Make dinner (or order in). Manage homework. Take a shower. Read? Go to bed. Get up and repeat.
That’s the grind many of us experience these days. It’s stressful, no doubt. Our children are subject to similar schedules: get up. Get dressed. Go to school. Rehearse, practice, attend a club. Eat. Do several hours of homework and studying. Go to bed. Repeat.
Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way. When you sense danger—whether it’s real or imagined—the body’s defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight-or-freeze” reaction, or the stress response.
The stress response is the body’s way of protecting you. When working properly, it helps you stay focused, energetic, and alert. Stress can save your life—giving you extra strength to defend yourself, or spurring you to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident.
The stress response also helps you rise to meet challenges. Stress keeps you on your toes during a presentation at work, sharpens your concentration when you’re attempting the game-winning goal, or drives you to study for an exam when you’d rather be watching TV.
But beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your physical, emotional and spiritual health which ultimately impacts the quality of your life, your productivity and your relationships. In 2013, the American Psychological Association reported that the most common causes of stress are: job pressures, money, health, relationships, media overload and sleep deprivation. In addition, 77 percent of people polled reported regularly experiencing physical symptoms caused by stress.
Stress can manifest as fear, anxiety, anger, depression, frustration, annoyance, aggravation, avoidance, chronic pain, exhaustion and sometimes inactivity or “feeling paralyzed.”
When our body experiences stress, the hormone cortisol is released. Sustained high cortisol levels can destroy healthy muscle and bone, slow down healing and normal cell regeneration, co-opt biochemicals needed to make other vital hormones, impair digestion, metabolism and mental function, interfere with healthy endocrine function; and weaken your immune system, as well as raise your blood sugar. The elevation in blood sugar can not only lead to type-2 diabetes, but can feed yeast cells in your body, allowing them to grow quickly, leading to a systemic candida infection.
Problems associated with stress may arise when our stress response is chronically overactive and most often, a majority of our stress results from our thoughts or our perceptions. Much of the time, the stress response is disproportionate to the potential trigger.
Although is it not possible to eliminate all stress from our daily lives, it is possible to use strategies and techniques that help our bodies deal better with stress. This can be done with supplements, herbs, and stress-relieving practices.
Exercise. First and foremost, you need to exercise and get enough sleep. We all know that we need to exercise at least three times per week, but we often don’t follow through.
Here’s an easy way to exercise: buy a rebounder, which is a mini-trampoline, and jump on it while you are watching your favorite half hour TV show. It will get your heart rate up, and has the added benefit of assisting in lymphatic drainage. Lymphatic drainage is the natural function of the lymphatic system, which is an essential part of immunity. So please, start bouncing!
Try to get some yoga in. There are a lot of different types: astanga, power, yin, hatha. My personal favorite, and the most stress reducing, is bikram yoga, where you do 26 postures in 90 minutes in a room heated to 105 degrees.
It makes you sweat and keeps you focused, so that pesky mind can’t take you to places that cause stressful thoughts. I recommend going five times before you decide whether you love it or hate it. The closest bikram yoga studio to this area is Breathing Dragon Yoga.
You also need to get a good night’s sleep. That’s especially important for teens who have a different sleep cycle than adults do. Teens often stay up later then sleep in later, so make sure that they are getting at least seven or eight hours. Try to refrain from caffeinated beverages before bedtime.
Diet. Another important factor in stress reduction is a healthy diet. You can reduce foods that increase stress levels, such as caffeine. If you are a caffeine-a-holic, try gradually reducing your intake to 1–2 cups of coffee per day. Better yet, switch to green tea, which has health benefits and less caffeine.
Try to cut refined sugars completely and eat more fruit. That will take time, and there might be some withdrawal symptoms while you transition, but it’s worth it. And parents, please help children reduce their intake of energy drinks, which have many times the caffeine that coffee does. In large doses, caffeine can cause heart problems, increases cortisol levels and impair cognition. Not good for teens.
One healthy comfort food to consider is 85 percent dark chocolate. Dark chocolate satisfies taste buds while helping to relieve stress at the molecular level. Cacao can also improve cognitive function and mood. Researchers have also found that daily dark chocolate consumption can be beneficial for individuals suffering from high levels of anxiety.
Another is oatmeal. Certain comfort foods, such as oatmeal, can reduce levels of stress hormones and also result in a boost in serotonin, which stimulates a feeling of calmness.
Supplements. Make sure you are taking a good B-Complex supplement. B vitamins improve mood, as they play an indirect but critical role in the formation of serotonin and other neurotransmitters. Research has also found links between B vitamin deficiencies—as well as high levels of homocysteine—and mood disorders. In particularly stressful times, add extra B-1 to the morning regimen.
When you’re tense, your muscles tighten up, making it difficult to relax. Magnesium is a remarkable and safe muscle relaxant, and is especially helpful before going to bed. When stress and anxiety boost blood pressure, magnesium can lower it, according to an analysis of 20 published studies. Large doses may loosen stools; if so, reduce the dose, then increase it gradually.
Before bed, I use Natural Calm. It’s gentle and tastes good. You can also buy Ancient Minerals Magnesium Oil and take a nice warm bath to calm down.
The omega-3s DHA and EPA aren’t just essential for normal brain development in infants and children; they also support healthy moods in adults. Perhaps best known for relieving depression and bipolar disorder, omega-3s can also lessen anxious feelings.
Finally, using a buffered vitamin C supplement or consuming foods high in vitamin C, such as oranges and other citrus fruits, can reduce stress and boost the immune system. Intake of this vitamin can help lower the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, and blood pressure during high-anxiety situations.
Herbs. Chamomile calms frayed nerves and is an extremely mild sedative whether you drink it as a tea or take it as a supplement. If you are allergic to ragweed, opt for German chamomile.
L-theanine, found in high quality green and black tea, increases the brain’s alpha-wave activity, leading to less anxiety and a feeling of calm. Higher alpha waves are also associated with greater mental sharpness. Bonus: L-theanine doesn’t cause drowsiness.
Passionflower has remarkable calming properties, reduces anxiety and promotes sleep without causing grogginess.
Media Fast. Something that you can do with your children is agree to abstain from all sorts of negative media for a certain period of time. No news, no violent programming, no violent music and no violent reading material. I know of some schools where students take a pledge to fast to raise money for charity.
It can truly make a difference in your life. So much of our stress comes from watching stressful situations that we can’t control. It affects adults, and I know it affects our young people as well.
These suggestions can help long term. But what do you do if you feel the stress attack coming on? Breathe. Yes, breathe. When you feel stress creeping in, close your eyes, take a deep breath, hold for six counts, then release for six counts. Do this three to four times and you will feel the stress begin to diminish. Do this as often during the day as you can.
Remember to send negative, self-sabotaging thoughts packing and think of something positive. Your body will respond. Take time for yourself and encourage your children to do so also. Managing stress is key to leading a long, healthy and balanced life.
Christine Abrahams, Ed.D., LPC, ACS is a member of the Hopewell Valley Municipal Alliance Executive Committee and is a private wellness and life coach.
This story is part of a series brought to you by the Hopewell Valley Municipal Alliance. The Municipal Alliance’s mission is a community united in the development of caring, confident and responsible youth. With support and cooperation from municipalities, schools, community partners and volunteers, the organization funds and administers over 20 programs and activities in the Hopewell Valley. Heidi Kahme, coordinator.
