Natural Medicine for Stress Relief
- Dr. Lexi Lain
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
These days we are inundated by stress. It is rare to find someone not overwhelmed by work, family, and responsibilities and in today’s uncertain, unsettling times, it’s worse than ever. The problem is, our daily stressors today affect our bodies just like the stressors of old (lions and saber tooth tigers and bears, oh my!) Yeah, that's right, sitting in traffic on the way to work, dealing with the humdrum of office work, running around to the kids' games, getting to all the social engagements... those things that eat away at us and add to the pressure; they all add on their little layers of stress and our bodies respond just like they are being attacked by the towering grizzly.
So what's the problem with that?
Well, stress is not kind to the body. In a stress response our bodies' nervous systems switch from the parasympathetic dominant (rest and relaxed) state to the sympathetic (freeze, fight, or flight) state, and often for a prolonged time (like years sometimes). Our modern lives lead to us being in a chronic, stressed out state. The adrenal glands are the hormone glands that help us deal with stressful events. Under this chronic assault these little glands (which sit above the kidneys) secrete a hormone called cortisol. This hormone helps us deal with stress, but it also has the unfortunate side effects of raising our blood sugar (leading to more issues with diabetes and weight gain), raising our blood pressure (leading to hypertension and heart disease issues), it breaks down connective tissues (leading to more pain, joint problems, and gut issues), it makes it difficult for our brain to remember things, it makes it harder to get to sleep and stay asleep (leading to other issues with memory and brain health), and it makes us just feel like giving up.
It's true, it becomes difficult to stay motivated and keep up with the daily tasks when we are overwhelmed by the stress of it all. It should come as no surprise that reducing your stress and reducing those cortisol levels can go a long way to improving your brain health, gut health, hormonal regulation, heart health, and more.
So how do we mitigate the damage of our stressful lives?
1) Assess Your Stress:
A. Are you feeling like "Stretch Armstrong" because you are overcommitted or have said, "Yes", to too many things?
If this is you, it's important to examine how you are choosing to live your life and ask if it is serving you and your family? Some kids and families thrive on being super busy, while others need their downtime.
People pleasers and perfectionist are usually the one's at higher risk of overcommitting themselves. The pleaser wants to avoid conflict and/or wants to be liked/approved of. The perfectionist wants to control all aspects of the situation and struggles to let go and/or delegate.
As your #NaturopathicDoctor, I think beyond labs and dive into these aspects of who you are because often times, the way we are living our lives is from the survival skills we learned in childhood. These patterns may have helped us in the past, but are no longer serving us or are needed as adults.
This is what it means to #treatthewholeperson.
B. Are you living at your stress threshold?
If you are living in the red zone level of stress most of the time, then you are definitely feeling the negative impacts in your body. Red zone is when there is an acute fright from something in the moment. It scares us and we react. Depending on the trigger or trauma will depend on how long your body stays in that "red zone" stress. Ideally, your body goes back to what I call "baseline" - which is about the grass green to yellow zone.
Some, however, are stuck in the red zone and struggle to come back down from a traumatic event. Others live in the orange zone due to their jobs or personal lives.
Either way, understanding what zone you live your life in on average, can help to determine what interventions to take.
2) Techniques to Reduce Stress:
There are numerous therapies, exercises, and techniques that can help you decrease your stress response, increase the activity of the vagus nerve (the one that calms everything down), and find a beautiful balance in life.
Let me go through the best ways to reduce stress in your life:
Deep breathing exercises
Taking the time for sitting and focusing on your breath can go a long way for slowing your heart rate, reducing blood pressure, and getting into a calm, parasympathetic state.
When you start to fill this way, take a moment right where you are, and close your eyes if you can. If you are driving, turn down the radio for a moment to focus on quieting down your body's response to external factors.
In this moment, take a deep breath through your nose counting to 6. Then exhale through pursed lips to the count of 10 or longer than the inhale. Repeat this a few times. With each exhale, let your shoulders drop and allow your body to surrender to feeling more calm.
Do this until you feel ready to face the challenge. This can take 30 seconds to a few minutes. Take as long as you can or as long as you need.
Get outside and walk in nature
Trees are amazing at taking our stress away. They secrete chemicals that will make us feel at ease. Even having views of the natural environment can provide us with a sense of calm and connection to the outside world.
Getting outside in fresh air, walking on a nature trail, and finding ways to exercise in nature is a great combination. Exercise itself is well known for managing stress, but combine it with the power of the natural world and you have one of my all-time favorites for healing.
Music
Music has an amazing ability to impact our brain, emotions, and experience of life. If you are feeling stressed, listen to some music that will help you to feel better.
If you need to quiet your busy mind and find tranquility - this is my favorite go to:
If you need to get pumped up for something that is making you nervous:
If you need to "Let GO" of something or someone, this song has been helpful at bringing me peace with that decision
Feel like getting up and dancing? What's your favorite go-to song?
If you love a really good classical piece of music, this movement from Karl Jenkin's "The Armed Man - A Mass for Peace" is so beautiful. Of course some movie scores are stunning, too.
The point is that music can have a powerful impact in how we feel; moving us to tears, pumping us up, and even making us want to dance. Whatever you need to get out of the stressful funk you are in - music can be a great choice to shift your mood.
Back off caffeine (especially coffee)
Caffeine acts as an adenosine blocker. Adenosine builds up in the brain and the nervous system shut things down. If this chemical is blocked, the brain cannot become quiet and relaxed. It why caffeine wakes us up and gives us energy.
Caffeine can also take very long to breakdown. Sometimes that single cup of coffee in the morning is enough to keep you on edge, anxious, and stressed late into the night. This can be impacting your sleep and general experience of life. I highly recommend weening yourself off of the caffeine habit to reduce your stress response.
Stress Management Supplements
There are some great natural supplements to reduce cortisol and feel at ease, too! Naturopathic doctors are experts in knowing what herbs, vitamins, and nutrients that can help reduce the stress hormone cortisol and get you into a more relaxed state. Common recommendations are magnesium and adaptogenic herbs.
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Talk to Dr. Lexi about which ones are the best for you and she'll get you started on feeling more relaxed and ready to handle the daily stresses of life.
Want More Help: If you want my help dealing with your stress or anxiety, let’s talk.
I invite you to schedule a free, no obligation discovery conversation here.
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Finally - Dr. Lexi has created an entire program for helping you change your brain and stress reactions. Ask Dr. Lexi about her "Get Your Spark Back" program.
Energetically,
Dr. Lexi
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