There are a lot of stress management techniques out there, yet when I look around more of us feel stressed. And the latest research backs it up: stress is on the rise.
Do you know that whether you live in a state of stress or not matters? Of course, it matters to your health, because almost all twenty-first century disorders can be traced back to stress.
Stress impacts the way you feel, the decisions you make around food or your fitness level, how you show up in your life, or the quality of your relationships.
Our bodies and minds are very powerful and anything you do, and feel is up for interpretation. And when we talk about stress, we have to discuss the main decision maker, and that is your nervous system.
In today’s blog post, I want to show you the role your nervous system plays when it comes to stress. Because once you have the knowledge, you can come up with an action plan!
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The beauty of the nervous system
I trust you know that our body’s primary role is to survive. It will do anything to keep you alive, even if you don’t agree with some of its actions. And stress response is one of those actions.
There are a lot of systems involved during the fight or flight response, AKA stress response, but I want to bring your attention to the nervous system.
The nervous system consists of the Central Nervous System (CNS) and the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). The ANS is further composed of the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). And those two branches play a major role when it comes to the way how you experience almost anything in your body.
The Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) differ, especially when we look at the role they play when you experience stress.
The Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) is dominant when our ‘fight or flight’ response is activated.
The Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) on the other hand promotes the ‘rest and repair’ state.
As you can see, both are vital and irreplaceable, but their dominance throughout your day will make a big difference in almost everything you do or feel. The more your nervous system spends in fight or flight response, the more stressed and overwhelmed you will be.
The chain of reactions will lead you to brain fog, fatigue, sadness, or even anger and your productivity and self-reliance are out of the window.
Making any lifestyle choices in such a state is not going to be easy.
It can be very challenging to follow through on your goals, stick to your fitness regime, or make healthy food choices all the time if your SNS drives you.
Unfortunately, so many of us get stuck in our stress response, that the SNS is in dominance far too often and for far too long than it should be.
How to Breathe
Our health goal must be to live in the PNS more often than in the SNS. When you live in a state of rest and repair, you can make common-sense decisions, support your mental and physical health, and thrive.
What’s more your body will thank you for it.
The only time when the PNS does not compete with SNS for dominance is during sleep. After all, this is the time when all your repair and regrowth functions happen. I cannot stress the importance of good quality sleep, especially when you are under a lot of stress.
But what can you do when your life is a rollercoaster, your to-do list has so many items listed that you lose count and you always feel tired?
You need to breathe.
Diaphragmatic breathing is the only known way (so far) to activate our parasympathetic nervous system. Diaphragmatic breathing signals your body that you are safe and that PNS can take over the control.
Diaphragmatic breathing, also called deep belly breathing, helps you to stay calm and feel relaxed. It also delivers more fresh oxygen to your body, including your brain which helps you to think clearer, stay focused, and look for positive solutions.
So, let’s breathe!
4 Steps to Diaphragmatic Breathing
Our breaths are shallow for the majority of the day. And, as you have just learned when your 'flight-or-fight' response kicks in, your breathing gets even more shallow. What's more, if you are battling anxiety, or depression, or are overwhelmed, you most likely hold your breath too.
We want to start taking deep breaths (also called belly breathing or diaphragmatic breathing) to calm our vagus nerve and activate our parasympathetic nervous system.
Here are easy steps to practice belly breathing:
1. Get comfortable by sitting either in a chair or on the floor (whichever works better for you) with your back, shoulders, head, and neck strengthened and supported. (If you are in a public place, and you can’t sit down, stand up in a comfortable position, with your back straight and your shoulder drawn back).
2. Take a deep breath through your nose. You’re trying to fill your belly with air (if it helps you, you can place your hand on your belly to feel it rising as you breathe in).
3. Breathe out through your lips (or your nose if you are in a public place and don’t want to be seen).
4. Repeat it three times (or as many times as you need to feel relaxed).
In the beginning, this way of breathing may feel strange to you. After all, we go through our days with shallow breathing. But the more often you use it, the easier it gets to lower yuor stress.
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How to Lower Your Stress Quickly
Our nervous system plays a major role when it comes to stress. First of all, it is important to understand that we need both, PNS and SNS to function well. Neither is good nor bad because SNS has to be activated from time to time to well, keep us out of trouble.
But the problem starts when our primary dominance is SNS. If you stay in prolonged periods of SNS dominance, your decision-making abilities, especially when it comes to your health, are tempered.
What’s more, SNS dominance means that your body is in a constant stress response, and major health changes can happen.
The PNS should be your dominant state. The only time when PNS doesn’t compete for dominance is during sleep. But through the day to switch from your SNS dominance to PNS dominance you need to breathe.
Diaphragmatic breathing will do wonders for your mental and physical health and will keep stress at bay.
So, are you ready to breathe?
Are you part of my community? Join my newsletter to get the latest action steps on how to eat a healthy plant-based diet, de-stress, manage your time better, prioritize yourself, and anything in between so that you INCREASE your energy, SAVE time, and INVEST well in your wellness!
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