Natural stress relief focuses on alleviating the symptoms of stress, such as tension, anxiety and mild depression, while also getting the stress response regulated so it will function normally again.
Conventional medicine doesn’t have a lot to offer for those feeling the negative effects of stress. Common anxiety medications get prescribed, but they’re not a cure, nor do they teach you how to manage what’s causing those stressful feelings in the first place. Also, many of these medications have side effects such as headaches, nausea, and dizziness.1
A natural view steps back and takes a look at the whole beyond the symptoms. By working to naturally resolve the effects of stress, you’ll achieve relief along with long-term healing rather than just masking over your symptoms with a pill.
Natural stress relief measures can help you modulate your individual stress response – a response we all have. We also all have some degree of stress in our life. But what triggers the stress response in one person can be completely different from what sets it off in another. Loss of a spouse, a friend, a job, or a home – each of these is a life-disrupting event that can trigger the stress response, and it’s only natural that this response would be high when confronted with one of these major issues.
However, the stress response can get into a pattern where it reacts to a high degree to whatever it’s confronting: a traffic-clogged commute, the aftermath of a car accident, health concerns or paying bills. Add to that worrying events taking place in the world and the daily struggle to accomplish an endless list of tasks, and you have an idea why stress is such a widespread health issue.
There will always be stress in life, so it’s fruitless to hope to eliminate it entirely, and in fact, some degree of stress is good. But when it interferes with your ability to work, your relationships, your eating habits and your sleep, it has gone from a natural response to one tipped completely out of balance. What happens next is the health equivalent of a downward spiral. In many cases of chronic stress, the response has become a bad habit, and it’s one that needs to be broken as soon as it’s recognized. A chronic stress response can and will undermine your health. If it can be caught and turned around before it ignites a chronic health condition, so much the better.
Your body is designed to react to what it perceives as a danger. The pituitary and adrenal glands release stress hormones which initiate physical changes such as elevated blood pressure, increased respiration, a quickened heartbeat and elevated levels of cortisol. These changes are ideal if you are confronted with a life-threatening situation and need to react quickly.
The health problems begin when this crisis-induced stress response has become the normal response for your body. When your body habitually reacts as if it’s in mortal danger, the process itself begins to wear your system down. What’s ironic is the very system that’s responsible for protecting you can end up undermining you and becoming the cause of life-threatening danger.
All of that excess cortisol can lead to a chronic state of inflammation, leading to a smorgasbord of debilitating health conditions that can affect your health, such as high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Even your brain is affected by stress, with high levels of cortisol interfering with its ability to function, such as in the hippocampus where your memory and learning center is located.2
Another danger to your health that can be directly attributed to stress is how you manage that response: Some people find they eat more, stop exercising, increase their intake of alcohol, start smoking – all in a misguided effort to alleviate their tension. And the farther they stray from healthy habits, the more they’re adding fuel to the firestorm going on inside.
It’s paramount that you bring your stress response back into a state of balance. You need to reverse the health-wrecking habit of a hyper stress-response as soon as possible. To do this may require a multi-pronged approach in order to achieve optimum results.
Effective, natural solutions will actually help boost your relaxation response, which is a healthier habit to develop. Dr. Herbert Benson wrote The Relaxation Response, which became a bestseller. Why? Because so many people have found their stress response to be overactive, and they seek a long-term, effective solution.
A natural stress-relief starter kit
- Visualization: Your relaxation response can begin with your mind. Picture a scene that makes you feel relaxed. It could be a beach scene, trees, desert sands – whatever brings you a sense of calm and releases tension. When you feel tension coming on, use this personalized imagery.
- Meditation: Researchers have been studying the effects of meditation on stress response, and one study recently found that both meditation and yoga can change your gene response to stress.3 Find a quiet, comfortable spot and focus on a word, phrase or sound. Don’t be alarmed when your mind wanders – just bring it back with your focus word. Your breathing should begin to slow as your body eases into a relaxed state.
- Exercise: Study after study shows the positive role exercise can have in reducing stress4. It releases endorphins, the so-called “feel good” neurotransmitters.
- Adaptogens: This is a class of herbs that help the body find balance. They include Rhodiola rosea, ashwagandha and ginseng. Each can be found in supplement form.
To normalize your stress response will take a little time and effort, but the very act of doing something to feel better and in control will be a positive incentive to continue the pursuit. You may have to experiment until you find the combination that works best for you, but the reward will be a healthier outlook and a body that has become a less fertile ground for disease to take hold.
References
- http://www.adaa.org/gettinghelp/AnxietyDisorders/Medications.asp#b.
- http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050517215308.htm.
- http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113735.php.
- http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise-and-stress/SR00036.
