Everyone that reads my blog knows how important family is to me. It’s everything. And while I love every minute I have, there are times when things can seem to spiral out of control, and the stress just builds. Whether it’s having a surprise phone call from the principal or the kids having a meltdown during dinner prep time, finding different ways to lower the stress is really important.
Stress is part of our lives but how we handle stress is critical. Stress can build up and, over time, can wreak havoc on our bodies, our brains, and our lives. Before we talk about minimizing stress, I’d like to talk about what harm stress may do to us.
How Hormones Affect Our Bodies
Different hormones are affected by stress, but the most important one for us to discuss is cortisol. Cortisol increases glucose in the bloodstream, which does have some short-term positives, such as increased sugars to the brain and enhances your brain to repair damaged tissues.
Cortisol pairs with adrenaline to heighten the “fight or flight” response we have to threats. These hormones flood the body with an increased level of sugars for quick energy and alertness, as well as adrenaline to enhance quick actions and strength that may be needed. The problem is that over time increased blood sugars lead to much more damage to our bodies.
Stress can impact your body by increasing your blood pressure, sleep problems, muscle pain, and more. Over time, the impact of stress on our bodies can be severe, and developing a coping mechanism such as doing yoga, is an excellent way to help relieve stress as it builds up.
Symptoms Of Stress
Headaches are more common and increase in intensity when we’re under stress, leading to sleep problems. Sleep issues can lead to increases in anxiety, depression, lowered energy levels, decreased sex drive, and increased stress can lead to even more stress. It can lead to a spiral effect of stress leading to more stress leading to more, which we’re not even aware of.
Other symptoms of stress can lead to:
Lowered Immune System
Digestive Problems
Weight Gain
Heart Disease
Memory and Concentration Issues
It’s so clear that stress is a significant issue that we need to find a way to manage it. It’s easy to overreact to everything we hear, see, and read right now, and even good news at first can cause stress. Like I wrote before, even getting positive news from my son’s school principal was stressful.
Stress Can Cause Us To Overreact
One day, if you don’t recall, while at home folding laundry, I got a phone call from my son’s school. Naturally, my first thought was something happened, an injury at school or he had gotten sick, were the first things I thought about, and obviously panic set in. My heart started racing, I could feel the blood pressure increase in my ears, and I immediately started to assume the worst.
Once I answered the call and spoke with the principal, I began to calm down. They were calling to tell me how Grady was an example of being a great student and role model in his class. Whew, what a relief, but for the first few minutes, I was overrun with stress hormones.
Now, what did that phone call do to my overall health? Not much, but if something had happened at school, that prolonged stress would have definitely overwhelmed me and created a night of sleeplessness or worse.
Stress can also be subtle and creep upon us. That’s why having a daily routine that includes physical activity is essential, whether yoga, taking a walk, going on a run, or any type of physical release is really important. Changing your diet, finding time for hobbies, listening to music, spending time with family (of course) and friends, and laughter, are other good ways to alleviate stress in our lives.
Another good way to know if you are secretly holding onto stress is getting an in-home stress kit, known as a cortisol test and you can purchase one pretty cheap.
Not everything that sparks our “fight or flight” response is negative. My surprise phone call that I freaked out about turned my day from scary to extraordinary.
