Do you admit to feeling stressed?
In my experience, few people like to admit they are feeling stressed or not coping in some way, let alone express how their stress levels are pushing them over a comfortable edge into the realm of anxiety, feeling restless, sleepless, exhausted, or ‘frazzled’. But let’s face it – life in most places is fast-paced at the best of times, often demanding, and commonly involves long hours, late nights and juggling competing priorities. These elements are all ‘stressors’, which put you under pressure and, depending on your ability to adapt at any given moment in time, can have a detrimental impact on your overall wellbeing.
Stress is not a dirty word
It’s simply a description of what it is to be under pressure of some kind – physical, psychological, emotional, even biochemical — as the foods you choose to eat (your nutritional intake) is, at its foundation, biochemical nourishment (or not). Because if this is lacking, your diet will also put your body under some degree of stress — or undermine its ability to function as well as it could.
When put in this light, being asked if you are feeling stressed is not a suggestion that you are not capable. Instead, it’s an opportunity to be honest with yourself and examine how you are feeling; and what elements in your life could be adjusted or improved to allow you to not just get through the day, but feel energised and remain healthy for the long-term.
Be honest—do you get sufficient sleep?
One of the most common stressors I come across is people not getting enough sleep (7-9 hours a night really is what you should aim for), or experiencing disturbed sleep because of eating dinner very late (this one’s easy — avoid eating three hours prior to going to bed), or maybe because of difficulty quieting the mind. It’s hardly surprising so many people experience fatigue and are less resilient when they are sleep deprived — and no supplement in the world can replace a regular good night’s restorative sleep.
Are you really busy?
Another common stressor is being ‘on the go’ all the time – a big energy drainer. Scheduling time to relax every day is essential for overall wellbeing. At least 30 minutes is a start (an hour is better) doing something you love, for yourself only, and something that can help you regain some balance. This could be reading a good book, taking a gentle walk in nature, creating an art journal, listening to a guided visualisation, practising a quiet seated meditation — these can all help switch on your natural relaxation response, which is what needs to occur daily to help you restore those internal batteries and build some resilience against the pressures of everyday life.
Whilst a good workout at the gym is great for some peoples’ stress management strategy (going for a run is good for some) — regular intense exercise doesn’t negate the need for actual relaxation time.
Solutions to help you unwind
If you have difficulty switching off a busy mind, you may need something specific to help you get started. There are herbal solutions to this challenge, but personalising these for each individual is the key to their success. For some people, a tea made from chamomile flowers taken three times a day is a start, or perhaps some lavender flowers blended with a little spearmint leaf will be what resonates with you.
For others, a herbal formula is a way to go — it may include some calming herbs to help you ground and centre yourself more easily, or some ‘adaptogens’, a class of herbs with very specific individual uses but which can help improve mental and physical performance. A tailored herbal formula can be wonderfully supportive and nourishing, helping to correct any imbalance you are experiencing, and give you some space to make the changes you often need to make for the longer term. You just have to make sure you are taking the right herbs for you.
Take a personalised approach to stress
Blending herbs will always be my preference for supporting someone experiencing some sort of stress because it allows for a truly personalised approach to each person’s unique situation. Whilst one person may want to feel calmer throughout the day, another may be exhausted (perhaps because of frequent travel) and want to feel more energised or able to focus better — choosing different herbs allows me to tailor the remedy to each person. Whilst there are some helpful pre-made formulas available, these don’t suit everyone, therefore, don’t always achieve the same outcomes as a tailored approach.
The solutions to stress don’t just come in a bottle
Before I became a naturopath, I had a background as a meditation teacher, Reiki practitioner and also a holistic massage therapist; all therapies that have been shown to help clients manage the effects of everyday stress and life challenges better. I still encourage clients to have regular monthly Reiki sessions for the deep relaxation and balance this can bring, as well as to learn how to meditate. I like to also encourage everyone to take frequent ‘breathe breaks’ each day, and also to enjoy a regular relaxation massage for some ‘time out’.
These practices, with the right practitioner, can all help balance the subtle anatomy — the one that’s unseen but still essential to good health. You may have come across a reference to this subtle energy system if you are familiar with the Ayurvedic chakras and nadis, or the traditional Chinese medicine meridians. Balancing the flow of energy within these channels also leads to better wellbeing I find.
How to pro-actively manage any current and future stress
Everyone experiences stress individually, and whether you have just become used to operating at a higher, faster level, or adapted to surviving on 6 hours sleep per night — like it or not, your exposure to stressors may well be having a subtle (or not so subtle) impact on your long-term health and how well you are ageing.
Fortunately, you have a choice to improve this situation as the impact of stressors and your degree of resilience to everyday life challenges will directly relate to the choices you make every day regarding how well you eat, move, sleep, relax, and support yourself with some extra help as needed.
Take the long view and ask yourself whether you could be more energetic, feel calmer, sleep better, digest better, or maybe something else which is less than optimal. If so, I’d encourage you to be proactive and manage these elements specific to you with equally specific personal strategies. What’s most satisfying to me is watching clients who are truly engaged with their own wellbeing, and who want to age well with more resilience and less stress, creating the lifestyle changes they need to enjoy a life lived more smoothly.
That, along with an appropriate herbal tonic, and/or an applied nutritional strategy that supports healthy hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function (what we used to call ‘supporting the adrenals’) can help even the most unfazed of us to more comfortably tackle the stressors the future will inevitably bring sooner or later. This is the key to remaining as well as possible during that time.
A version of this article was first published on the Central & Stanley Wellness Centre blog
Feature image by sydney Rae on Unsplash
