3 Holistic Ways to Reduce Your Stress

This article is written by Sky Corbett-Methot, Yoga to Cope’s Director of Holistic Health. Sky is a Certified Holistic Nutritionist, CYA-RYT 500-hour Hatha yoga and meditation instructor, she is also certified prenatal/postnatal yoga instructor. She combines all of these tools to help her clients live their best life.

Its a new month which means we made it through our first winter amidst a global pandemic.

For some, life may have felt no different than previous years, for others this may have felt like a very heavy winter with intense restrictions or even lockdowns causes a disconnect and separation from your loved ones, etc. Honour that you have made it through a very challenging and stressful time in our lives.

Lets quickly define stress: according to the U.K.’s Mental Health Foundation, stress can be defined as “the degree to which you feel overwhelmed or unable to cope as a result of pressures that are unmanageable.”

Now this can be caused by a multitude of reasons such as external stimuli such as environment, relationships, finances, occupational, situational, and/or internal stimuli such as genetic and emotional factors. Most of the time is a combination of many different facets contributing to how one may feel or experience stress.

Stress is a form of pressure, and when it compounds it causes dysregulation in the mind and the body. Stress is a major contributor to dysregulation of the nervous system which causes a cascade of negative emotional and physical reactions.

In essence, when you are stressed you can imagine that the gas pedal of your nervous system is on full throttle…. eventually you will run out of gas and burn out…. So how can we take our foot off the gas pedal and hit the breaks a bit? Or implement a few methods that help SUPPORT the body rather than cause of build up pressure? This #wellnesswednesday, lets explore three holistic ways to help reduce your stress experience.

1.) Lengthen your exhale: set a timer for five minutes, sit down, and focus your attention and awareness on your breath. Gently begin to lengthen the exhale, in a way that does not disrupt the breath but creates a smooth, elongated, tide of breath.

WHY? Exhaling communicates with the vagus nerve. This is the nerve circuitry that runs from your gut to your brain, that is responsible for communicating that its time for your body to rest. This would be our car equivalent of hitting the breaks.

2.) Eat regularly: implement consistent times throughout the day to refuel. Pack simple snacks for the days you are too busy to eat.

WHY? This allows your blood sugar to regulate. Dysregulation from not eating regularly adds internal stress on the system. It forces your hormones to work in overtime trying to find an energy source.

3.) Mindful Movement: when feeling super stressed, movement should as a means to energize not deplete your energy stores. Find an exercise (a walk, restorative yoga, swimming etc.) where after the workout you feel rejuvenated, NOT drained.

WHY? This movement helps you regulate your hormones (including stress hormone), without depleting your energy stores.