Stress is a word we hear a lot, especially in the last year. The thing that most people don’t realize is that stress isn’t about the things that stress us out. It’s not the job, or the economy, or the weather, or the relationship. Stress is our natural, automatic response to anything that our subconscious mind perceives as a potential threat.
This also has nothing to do with how well we manage stress. We are natural adapters, and we build coping strategies that help us get through just about anything life can throw our way. Behind the scenes, the body is still responding to stress in the same way.
Our subconscious minds trigger the stress response in our bodies (“fight or flight”) in response to things that are happening outside of us, like heavy traffic or a big presentation at work. It is also triggered by internal things, like illness and injury. And because our subconscious doesn’t differentiate between things that are actually happening and things we are imagining, the fight or flight response is also activated when we think about stressful things.
As soon as your brain perceives a threat, it sends signals to your adrenal glands telling them to release the hormone adrenaline. Adrenaline increases the heart rate and blood pressure, among many other things.
Your brain’s hypothalamus also sends signals to the adrenal cortex through the pituitary gland, telling it to produce the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol keeps your blood sugar and blood pressure up to help you escape from perceived danger, among other things. Long periods of raised levels of cortisol can lower your immune system and impair your memory. It can also affect your blood pressure and the risk of heart attack or stroke.
During the stress response, your heart rate goes up, your breathing gets faster and shallow, and some senses fade as others sharpen. Once the perceived threat is gone, your body settles down. When stressful situations are ongoing, it results in high blood pressure, soreness in the jaw, neck, and back, headaches, overeating, sleep disturbances, irritability, fatigue, illness, aches and pains, sugar and carb cravings, difficulty concentrating, and more.
It is in our best interest to lower our overall stress, and to change the way we respond to things that used to trigger the stress response.
Taking some time each day to do something relaxing, using breathing techniques, hypnosis, meditation, and other tools can dissolve your current stress and train your mind and body to choose relaxation instead.
Practice Relaxing
Let’s take some time this week to relax. Taking just fifteen minutes a day to practice relaxing can shift your focus, lower your blood pressure, and help restore your sense of calm and wellbeing. Just like learning any new skill, practicing relaxation regularly causes you to change your automatic response to stressful situations.
Notice Your Muscles
Take a break from whatever you’re doing. Starting at your toes and working upwards, spend a moment focusing on each part of your body, slowly tensing and then relaxing the muscles of each part of your body.
Breathe
Sit comfortably and let your eyes close down. Take a deep breath while pushing your belly out. Inhale for the count of four. Hold that breath for a count of four, exhale for a count of four, and hold for another count of four before inhaling again. Repeat this cycle four times to trigger a vagus nerve response that turns off the stress response in your body.
Take a Vacation in Your Mind
Sit back for just a moment and take a few nice deep breaths. Let your eyes close and imagine a time when you felt the most relaxed. Maybe it was a vacation, or just relaxing on a beautiful day. Imagine that moment as if you are there again, with all that you can see, all that you can hear, and how it feels being there. After a few moments you’ll feel like you’re ready to open your eyes, feeling much better.
Self Hypnosis
Hypnosis is a specific set of tools designed to help people use their own skills, abilities, and resources more effectively to take back control of the parts of their lives that felt out of control before. Hypnosis breaks down the barriers that held you in unwanted behaviors and habits, and empowers you to create new healthier behaviors in their place. A great way to begin is by using self-hypnosis. The steps below will guide you through a very basic introductory self hypnosis experience.
Remember that you don’t have to create pictures in your mind in order to be successful. Some people see things very clearly in their minds. Other people just get a vague idea of the thing they’re thinking of. As long as you can “sense” what you want to achieve, you can be successful.
Find a comfortable place where you can safely sit with your eyes closed for about 5 minutes. Turn off your phone and minimize other distractions. Take a few deep breaths. Let your eyes close or let your vision go soft and blurry. Imagine yourself in a place where you felt truly relaxed and step into that memory, seeing it through your own eyes, hearing it through your own ears, and feeling those relaxed sensations in your own body. Imagine that you are in that moment from your past again right now. Just sit quietly and let your mind wander or rest. After a few minutes you’ll feel like it’s time to open your eyes. When you do, your vision will clear and you’ll feel awake, alert, and refreshed.
Self hypnosis is a little different than using hypnosis with a professional hypnotist, so you’ll want to do this once a day for at least a week. You’ll begin seeing positive changes in the way you think and feel almost immediately.
Lowering your stress in the moment, and using tools to change the way you respond to stress can lead to better mood, increased health, and better sleep. Find the tools here that work best for you and start enjoying the benefits. 🍥
Karen Gray is a Certified Hypnotist, Registered Nurse, and Director of Green Mountain Hypnosis.
To learn how you can use hypnosis to change your life,