How to Reduce Stress | How Stress Affects Your Body | Stress Management Tips

 

 

How to Reduce Stress | How Stress Affects Your Body | Stress Management Tips

 

 

My head is aching my legs are shaking I can't sleep studies keep piling up in a heap restlessness and irritability prevail I'm worried will I fail lack of sleep. I'm so stressed out we're living through stressful times and stress has become our constant companion but do you know what exactly happens inside our body when we are stressed.

Today we are going to talk about three things one the science of stress in our brain and body two five very effective solutions to beat stress and finally two bonus tips. There are two kinds of stress

 

one is to use stress or good stress

This gives us an extra burst of energy and focuses when we are playing a competitive sport or giving a presentation.

 

 The second is distress or bad stress

 

This is the continuous stress which makes us feel burdened how stress affects the brain now you've perhaps been stressed for the past few months thinking about your future or even your family's health this emotion of stress activates the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis the hpa axis basically the hypothalamus via the pituitary glands activate the adrenal glands which are situated atop the kidneys in response.

The adrenal glands secrete a hormone called cortisol the stress hormone the body thinks of this as a warning sign as though we're about to get eaten up by a bear the cortisol first raises the activity level in the amygdala the fear center of the brain this gives rise to feelings of anger this is the reason why we tend to lash out when we are stressed.

We can't think straight while the amygdala is working overtime cortisol travels to its next destination the pre-frontal cortex located at the front of our heads prefrontal cortex is the thinking and planning part of the brain excess cortisol sustained for long periods of time causes this region to shrink thereby blurring our rational thinking now another thing that happens when we are very worked up is that we can't seem to remember where we've kept our phone or our keys even if it's right in front of us.

 

 

How to Reduce Stress

Let's see why that happens the cortisol now reaches the hippocampus the memory center of our brain excess cortisol lowers the production of brain cells in this region that is why we tend to forget everything we've studied if we feel very stressed out during an exam now where is this cortisol reached in his journey to the very cells of the brain basically too much stress will slow down your response systems as well seen someone looking very numb after they've encountered major stress

 

 

How to Reduce Stress

The worst damage of stress is that over time it can change our cell structure right down to our DNA it shortens the telomeres the shoelace tips of chromosomes which measure a cell's age and do you know the shorter the telomeres become the shorter is their lifespan now not all stress is bad to remember we spoke about eustress or good stress and experiment conducted by the University of Wisconsin shows that moderate amounts of cortisol can improve memory while no stress which is zero milligrams of cortisol or too much stress which is about 40 milligrams of cortisol will not help you remember what you've studied or where you've kept your phone but just the right amount of stress about 20 milligrams of cortisol will help you remember faster so be alert but not burnt out before we talk about how stress affects the body.

 

How to Reduce Stress

Now you must be thinking that if all this is going on inside the brain how am I feeling stress in my body you're absolutely right to stress affects all body systems and let's see how to remember that the body is still thinking of us being attacked by a bear so it believes that the muscles need oxygen to fight or to run now an amazing sequence of events takes place the heart pumps faster increasing blood pressure causing hypertension this huge volume of blood starts going through our lungs to get oxygenated which means we start panting and getting breathless to inhale more oxygen now imagine our arteries like pipes which suddenly have high-speed blood gushing inside them.

The pipes could burst so the body begins to thicken these arteries by accumulating a sticky substance called plaque which in turn attracts cholesterol and fats extra-thick walls mean that sometimes the openings of the arteries become too narrow and now the heart has to work doubly hard to push blood through them and all these blocked arteries could lead to heart attacks did you know that over 60 patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome have psychiatric disorders and chronic anxiety another thing you might have noticed people tend to stress eat before an important occasion you'll see that since the muscles require quick oxygen cortisol increases our appetite and signals the body to consume more energy-rich food like carbs the problem is that there is no actual bear so we are neither running nor fighting and all these sugars get accumulated as belly fat but don't get all stressed out hearing this take a deep breath.

 

How to Reduce Stress

We  have some tried and tested methods to bust your stress keep calm and meditate on mindful meditation and yoga regulates breathing reduces heart rate and decreases cortisol levels in our body stress causes us to breathe faster so we are forcing our body to slow down do some reps to de-stress exercise also reduces the levels of the body's stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol stimulates and produces endorphins the body is natural painkillers and mood elevators so try some home workouts or go for a walk or jog in the fresh air surrender and acceptance this is my secret sauce to remain stress free one big cause of stress is us trying to control every aspect of our lives practice acceptance surrender and gratitude together and you will experience the calm flow through your veins good vibes only you might have heard that confidence is the key well it's definitely the key to unlocking some stress people with higher self-esteem are said to perform better because they have lower cortisol responses to acute stress.

 

 

How to Reduce Stress

Headphones in stress out listening to your favorite tracks especially mellow music has a beneficial effect on our body it slows the pulse and the heart rate down it lowers blood pressure and decreases the levels of stress hormones and now for the bonus tips dark chocolate. How to reduce stress

How to Reduce Stress

One eating a bar of dark chocolate helps to keep stress at bay because it contains antioxidants which help in reducing cortisol levels overthinking is over-friendly wizard newt Scamander said my philosophy is that worrying means you suffer twice we can all learn from him and stop worrying about situations beyond our control remember just live in the moment so stay calm peaceful and safe and happy.

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