ALIVE AND STRESSED

You know the drill – up early, meetings, deadlines, travel, family, late nights, little if any down time and then ... do it all over again!

The impact? Your heart pounds faster, your blood pressure rises, a headache is setting in and those two stress hormones – adrenaline and cortisol – are on the rise.

Someone once said: "If you are alive – you have stress.”

I guess that’s why we have now dedicated the month of April to be Stress Awareness Month.

There really is no way to avoid it … so here are a few tips to help manage it from your office, your car or your home.

  1. Be aware of your breathing: when we are stressed our breathing becomes short and shallow, which increases tension and anxiety. Deep abdominal or diaphragmatic breathing has been proven to slow down the heartbeat and lower your blood pressure. The best part is that you can do it anywhere – your car, your office, even on the airplane. And no one needs to know.

Just imagine you have a balloon inside your lower abdomen (the area below the navel and above the top of your legs). As you inhale, imagine the balloon blowing up. On the exhale, the balloon deflates.

  1. Avoid sugar – when we are stressed our liver produces more blood sugar (glucose) to give us extra energy. Too much sugar in our bodies leads to Type 2 diabetes. Skip the donut or bagel and instead munch on an apple or some raw nuts in between meetings or at your desk.

  2. Don’t eat heavy foods like red meats, big sandwiches from the deli or lots of carbs. Stress affects the way food moves through our bodies which leads to diarrhea or constipation. Light meals such as a salad, a soup or a light fish or chicken dish with steamed veggies are all good choices.

  3. Water – yes – once again, water is critical. Keep your bodily fluids moving and flushed. Avoid alcohol which we all know is a depressant and does not mix well with stress.

  4. Take B Complex – Deficiency in B Complex is associated with depression. B Complex is also important for the formation of neurotransmitters associated with stress. It also helps boost your energy levels.

  5. Eat healthy meals and snacks – try not to skip meals in order to get caught up. That only takes your blood sugar on a roller coaster ride which leads to more irritability, poor concentration and a lack of energy. Always have something healthy on hand like some raw nuts, fruits, boiled eggs or cut up vegetables with a favourite dip like hummus.

  6. Chamomile tea – Yes, this beautiful flower is known to be a very effective natural sedative relieving anxiety and stress. Make a jug for your desk and in the summer months add some lemon or mint for added flavour.

  7. Melatonin – this hormone is naturally produced by the brain's pineal gland. It helps control sleep cycles. Sleep and mood are so closely connected so supplementing with melatonin can alleviate stress by letting you sleep.

Bottom line is – we should learn to diminish stress, instead of exacerbating it. Learning to de-stress can prolong life, and make that life more healthy.