Stressed out? April is Stress Awareness Month

Stress is an inescapable part of life and how we handle it can affect not only our mental health but our physical health too. Physical signs of stress include headaches, high blood pressure, clenching your jaw, muscle tension and aches/pains.⁽¹⁾ Stress can also manifest as feeling anxious, having trouble focusing, and being fatigued.⁽²⁾ Many of these wide ranging impacts can be traced to increased levels of cortisol, commonly known as the stress hormone. Receptors sensitive to cortisol are present throughout the body allowing cortisol to have an impact on numerous body systems such as the nervous, immune, cardiovascular, respiratory, reproductive, musculoskeletal, and integumentary systems.⁽³⁾ In periods of acute stress, cortisol will help you stay alert after the initial wave of “fight or flight” hormones are released. Cortisol also helps to regulate metabolism, blood sugar, blood pressure and the sleep-wake cycle.⁽⁴⁾

Since we can’t escape stress it’s important to have tools to help us cope with it. CDC recommendations include increasing physical activity, focusing on getting enough sleep, meditation, and making time for social connections.⁽⁵⁾

Steps to increase physical activity:

• Take a gentle movement break each hour while working by trying out some of these stretches:

SEATED

• Tilt your head to the side bringing your ear towards your shoulder to stretch the upper trapezius muscle
• Get a bigger stretch of your torso by lacing your fingers together and reaching overhead and to the right and left sides
• Cross your leg bringing the ankle to the opposite knee and gently press the top thigh down to stretch the hip

STANDING

• Bend forward to try to touch your toes. If you can’t reach the ground try reaching for your shins or putting your hands in the seat of a chair for some support
• Place one foot in the seat of a chair and lean forward until you feel a stretch in the front of the hip of the leg on the ground
• Go for a walk. Adults should aim for 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week⁽⁶⁾, but even if you can only carve out 5 minutes at a time those minutes can add up to meaningful impacts.
• Take a workout class. Whether it’s online or in person, find a type of exercise that you enjoy and can look forward to. Regular aerobic exercise has been shown to help reduce adrenaline and cortisol and increase endorphins⁽⁷⁾ and studies also show that yoga is an effective exercise to reduce stress, anxiety, and chronic pain and improve sleep patterns.⁽⁸⁾

Not sure where your stress level stacks up? You can use the perceived stress scale (https://www.mdapp.co/perceived-stress-scale-pss-calculator-389/) or this screening tool from Mental Health America (https://mhanational.org/get-involved/stress-screener) to get a better idea how you are handling the challenges life throws our way.

For more tips on soothing your nervous system check out our blog post on the vagus nerve: https://bridgebody.com/2022/08/what-happens-in-vagus/

1. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/11874-stress
2. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-symptoms/art-20050987
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538239/#:~:text=Common%20signs%20and%20symptoms%20of,is%20dependent%20on%20the%20cause.
4. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22187-cortisol
5. https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/stress-coping/cope-with-stress/index.html
6. https://health.gov/our-work/nutrition-physical-activity/physical-activity-guidelines/current-guidelines/top-10-things-know
7. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/exercising-to-relax
8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3193654/