Reduce stress and control your stress hormones

Completely done with stress, but have no idea where to start? Everyone tells you to relax, but how do you do that and how do you effectively deal with stress? In this article, we explain everything about stress, the stress hormone cortisol, and reducing stress. So grab a cup of tea, relax, and read on!

You have to work today, but also do the laundry, clean the kitchen, and finally mop the house again. But hey, it's already time to pick up the children, and your mother, grandmother, or aunt is also waiting for a visit from you.

It's not crazy at all that life can feel like a lot at times. As women, we simply have many different roles nowadays: daughter, friend, wife, mother, employee, volunteer, colleague, and/or perhaps even caregiver. It makes our lives busy because many tasks are waiting for you.

While you are busy pleasing everyone around you and fulfilling all your roles as best as you can, you sometimes forget yourself. Your plate is too full and stress is boiling over. At times like that, it is important to realize that you cannot forget yourself either. Just think of the safety instructions on the plane: you put on the safety mask first, because otherwise you cannot help anyone else.

That's how it works in daily life too: no one needs you if you collapse from stress. Unfortunately, many women only take time for themselves when they feel that stress has become too much for them. Be aware of that and take your relaxation time in time, as a counterbalance to the stressful moments you experience in your daily life.

In this article, we dive deeper into stress. What is stress? And which hormone plays an important role in this? And more importantly: how do you get stress and your stress hormones under control.

Stress is a reaction of your body. It is very normal and natural for stress reactions to occur, for example when things are demanded of you, when you are busy, or when changes occur in your life. Stress enables you mentally and physically to deal with threats or major challenges in life. In essence, stress is meant to protect you.

When you get stressed, your body activates a 'fight-or-flight' response, during which hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline are released. These hormones ensure that you are able to react quickly to the situation: your heart rate increases, your breathing becomes faster, and your senses become sharp. In the short term, such a stress response is naturally quite useful, for example when you have to take an exam. Then you can use all your focus and sharpness. What you don't want is to overdo it, of course, or that the stressful moments seem to keep coming back in your life.

It is therefore crucial that you find your method to keep stress in check. And that you develop a healthy way to deal with stressful situations.

Cortisol is also known as the 'stress hormone'. It is one of those hormones that can make a big difference in how you feel. The adrenal glands are responsible for the production of cortisol.

Not only stress is regulated by cortisol. The hormone also plays a crucial role in various other body functions, including your immune system, blood pressure, and even your sleep-wake cycle. Despite the fact that you may associate it with your stress symptoms, cortisol is therefore not necessarily a bad substance. It is also important for your body. Moreover, it helps your body to deal with stressful situations.

If you occasionally suffer from stress, that is not bad at all. It is part of life. Your cortisol levels get the chance to drop back to normal levels. That is why it is so important to make sure that stressful situations in your life alternate with relaxation. So that you do not get caught up in prolonged stress.

You get stressed by various things and, for example, not only at work. It is good to realize that. At home too, there can be a lot on your plate and you might have a mental to-do list of three A4 pages in your head. Worries about your children, your elderly grandmother, or perhaps your financial situation play a role. But, for example, perfectionism or anxiety disorders also put a lot of pressure on your stress system.

Lifestyle changes often have major effects on the amount of stress you experience.

• Nutrition: Eating healthy benefits your body and also your cortisol level. Eat plenty of vegetables, fruit, whole-grain products, and healthy fats. And try to avoid caffeine and refined sugars as much as possible.
• Physical activity: Regular physical activity is not only good for your physical health. It also helps regulate stress. On the website of the Dutch Mental Health Foundation, it says that about 56% of the Dutch people do not exercise enough. That can change. Because moderate-intensity exercise or physical activity not only leads to less stress and a better mood. It also makes you more creative, improves your sleep and your memory. [1]
• Sleep: Enough sleep is crucial to counteract stress. You probably experience it yourself: when you have had too little sleep, you are much more likely to have a short fuse. And stimuli are more likely to overwhelm you. The result: stress in your body. So try to maintain a regular sleep rhythm, with enough sleep every night. How much sleep is enough for you is personal. Most adults get enough with 7-9 hours of sleep per night.
• Relaxation exercises: Exercises such as meditation, breathing exercises, yoga, and mindfulness help manage stress.

In principle, all forms of moderate-intensity movement are good for both body and mind. However, we will mention a few nice options for you here:

• Yoga is a very nice form of physical activity for many people, which also offers relaxation in addition to movement. A yoga class often ends with a relaxation exercise. There are, by the way, many different forms of yoga.
• Walking: It sounds so easy… just taking a walk. But it really works. Walking is proven to be good for your mental health.
• Dancing: Dancing is a super fun outlet in which you can release a lot of emotions. The perfect workout for letting go of your stress.

As you can see, all forms of physical activity help you reduce stress. Virtually every sport does that, as long as you exercise moderately. If you exercise too intensely, it can actually cause stress to your body. What is more important is to keep moving. So don't go for more intense and exhausting exercise, but choose a form of movement that you enjoy and therefore can more easily stick with.

There are several relaxation exercises that help you with stress. Mindfulness and breathing exercises, among others, are a powerful way to relax. Here you will find two examples:

• Sit or lie down in a quiet place where you have no distractions.
• Make sure you are sitting comfortably in a comfortable position, and close your eyes.
• Breathe in quietly through your nose and slowly out through your mouth.
• Try to breathe into your belly. You will feel your belly expand, not your chest.
• Place a hand on your belly if necessary to be able to feel better.
• Do this for about 5 minutes and keep concentrating on your breathing, while you let your thoughts pass by quietly.

You see: it is actually very simple and you can apply it at different times of the day to regain your calm and reduce tension in your body.

Mindfulness helps you to be very consciously present in the moment. As a result of mindfulness exercises, you are also more aware of your thoughts and feelings and therefore recognize stress more quickly. A simple mindfulness exercise that you can do at any time is the following:

• Sit or lie down in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Focus on your breathing (it is useful if you have already practiced a breathing exercise like the one above a few times).
• Feel how the air flows in and out of your body. Cold air in, warmer air out.
• Bring your attention to the present moment: observe your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations without judging them. Let them come and go. You don't need to do anything with them now.
• Expand your awareness a bit further: listen, smell, feel, and notice what is happening around you. What do you hear, are there sounds outside? What do you smell? And what do you feel?
• Do you notice that your thoughts are wandering from what is happening at this moment? Then gently bring your attention back to your breathing.
• Do you feel calm and peaceful? Then gently open your eyes again.

Sources:

[1] https://www.hersenstichting.nl/ommetje/

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