How stress affects the body and ways to de-stress

Stress plays a big part in our daily lives. Most commonly it occurs from work, relationships, family, financial status, health, past experiences and expectations of ourselves.
It’s important to know how long-term stress affects us and how we can reduce our stress levels to decrease these symptoms.

When perceived fear occurs, the hypothalamus releases stress hormones, cortisol and adrenaline, into the body to enable our ‘fight or flight’ response.
It increases your heart and breathing rates to get more oxygenated blood to the important parts of your body, including your muscles to be ready to respond to any danger (which is great for dangerous situations to quickly respond)
Small dosages of stress is good to protect yourself, but if this response lasts longer than needed for survival, and you remain stressed or have a lot of occurrences, it can take a toll on your health.
Chronic stress can affect you emotionally, cognitively, physically and behaviourally.
Each of these 4 aspects affect one another if there are issues with just one of them in your life.

Let’s focus mainly on the physical effects of stress and how to relieve the symptoms.

Physical symptoms of stress include:
- Low energy
- Headaches
- Upset stomach
- Achy, tensed muscles
- Chest pain
- Struggle to sleep (which is important to repair the body and restore brain function)
- Frequent colds and infections
- Loss of sexual desire and/or ability
- Clenched jaw and teeth grinding (which can cause jaw pain (TMJ disorder) and headaches)

Once stress becomes chronic, it can affect the heart by overworking, increasing risk of cardiovascular disease. It can worsen current breathing conditions such as asthma.
It can also affect your digestive system, reproductive system and weaken your immune system.
Risk of diabetes is also increased by the releasement of extra glucose for energy during stress.
Changes in appetite can also occur which can cause physical affects as well.

Some things to try:
- Lavender – sprays, incense and candles (check for allergies): you can use this before you go to sleep, during the day when feeling stressed or at work if allowed
- Sleep – getting a good night’s sleep to heal muscles and mind (I know, easier said than done, but some of these de-stress tips may help your sleep)
- Meditation: during your breaks, before bed or any spare time – you only need 10 minutes!
- Yoga
- Exercise (release those happy hormones!)
- Relaxing music or podcasts
- Write down your to-do lists and things on your mind before you go to bed so you have less on your mind
- Get stuff done that you’ve been putting off, otherwise tomorrow will be more stressful with that thing you still haven’t done
- See a professional, or talk to a trusting friend/family member if you need help managing your situation or a safe place to express your feelings.
- Write down 3 things you’re grateful for to ground yourself. (It can become overwhelming focusing on all of your problems at once)
- Create a schedule; Split up your work load to fit in with the time you have each day and prioritise the important things that will help you de-stress. (Balance is key!)
- Practice self-care, whatever that may be for you! (being nicer to yourself, putting yourself first (and not feeling guilty about it), skin care, exercise, reading a book)
- Set reasonable goals and deadlines, whilst tracking progress, so you aren’t expecting things from yourself so suddenly. (And you can see just how far you’ve come from the beginning!)
- Give yourself credit where credit is due!
- Remove anything toxic from your life that you know is contributing to your stress.
- Deep breathing – let’s unclench the jaw right now, relax your eyebrows and take 3 deep breaths and roll the shoulders back