What is Stress?
Lets talk about stress, we are currently more stressed than ever but is stress always bad? Cortisol is often referred to as the “stress hormone”, but its role extends beyond just stress regulation. so let’s delve into the details:
Cortisol is a glucocorticoid hormone produced by the adrenal glands, which sit at the top of your kidneys. These glands are part of your endocrine system. These Hormones then act as messengers, co-ordinating various functions in your body by transmitting messages through your blood to organs, muscles, skin, and other tissues.
Cortisol plays several crucial roles:
Regulating the stress response so when you encounter stress (whether its acute, chronic, or traumatic), your body releases cortisol. It also helps with metabolism control: Cortisol influences how your body uses fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. It is also there for inflammation suppression: It helps manage inflammation throughout your tissues regulates your blood pressure and blood sugar modulation affecting your blood sugar levels.
It also has a big impact on your sleep-wake cycle control, I find the clients that are visiting us at Mederi are often unaware of the stress in their body. Coming in with poor sleep, painful back, neck and shoulders plus some symptoms of anxiety.
Our top tips to alleviating the symptoms of stress;
Calm your mind by getting out in fresh air, perhaps with your phone on airplane mode so you can really observe the world around you.
Listen to your favourite music, brings joy and releases feel good hormones
Focus on your breathing- it seems so simple and crazy to say but in times of stress we often forget to BREATHE... hence why it can be hard to drop the shoulders from the ears- inhale and as you exhale let it all go. Make time to do this in a calming space for 5 to 10 minutes a day.
Look at areas of your life that make you feel stressed and see what changes you can make.
Exercise, it will help your body to shake off the tension and give you a natural mood boost, you might not feel like doing it at the time but after you should feel better and of course number 6 come and visit us at Mederi
After 5 years of owning float tanks I can highly recommend them for reducing the symptoms of stress that have appeared physically and also mentally (and if you are reading this you have probably tried them). The Epsom salt saturated water allows for the body to become weightless and in doing so takes any pressure off the spine and joints, this in turn allows for improved circulation and oxygen to flow freely through those muscles that were impacted by tension.
By combining with the infrared sauna you can create a hormetic stress which is a way of putting your body into a controlled stress environment, raising your heart rate allowing your body to become more resilient to everyday stress.
If you thought stress was always negative just remember without stress you might not hit deadlines, get to the airport on time or react in a dangerous situation quick enough.
Don’t shy away from stress, it’s a case of understanding it, how it impacts you individually and improving your reaction to it, that way you will become more resilient to it!
If you would like some FREE stress management resources you can go to Hannah’s webpage for Guided Visualisations and Calming Breathwork.
To book your float, infrared sauna or massage chair for this week click here
For video information about the float pods, the infrared sauna and getting to Mederi Wellness visit our Youtube Channel Here