The first Wednesday in November is International Stress Awareness day. So we asked a few of our staff members to share their go-to ways to reduce stress in their lives. But we also wanted to take it a step further and share with you why these strategies actually work. To learn more about how common stress-reducing strategies like warm baths and kettlebell swings actually work, keep reading!
- Lindsay: Going to the cottage/being out in nature & time with loved ones
- Cat: A good book and a warm bath
- Vania: Time with her cat
- Sean: Breathing exercises and 100 kettlebell swings
Lindsay: Going to the cottage/being out in nature & time with loved ones
Lindsay, the C.O.O. of Free Form Fitness, reduces her stress in a few ways. She is disciplined about her workouts and making healthy choices every day. She has also been practicing the idea of not sweating the small stuff. As an A-type personality, she recognizes that if she let everything get to her, she’d be living an overwhelmed and burnt-out life.
Her third stress-reducing strategy is to get out into nature and spend time with the people who are most important to her. If you’ve ever been out for a walk in nature, or have spent time with the people you love then you can understand why this works. But if you need any more of a reason to do either of those things, here’s the scientific reason why nature and important social interactions reduce our stress.
Nature is healing
There have been a number of studies done on the calming effects of nature. In fact, if you work at a desk or in an office building, by simply having a picture of nature at your desk you’ll have access to the stress-reducing effects of nature. Not only is looking at nature calming, but it also means a walk in the forest can be healing.
Since 2004, Japan has been studying the effects of something known as forest bathing and has even created a Forest Medicine as a new area of research. The best way to reap the full benefit of forest bathing is to go without technology. Now, if you are worried about the safety of walking into a forest without a cell-phone, you can bring it but just have it turned off for the duration of your walk.
Accessibility to nature has not only shown lower instances of depression, but it can also reduce impulsivity and improve overall health.
Humans are social creatures
It should come as no surprise that important social interactions with people we love can have a calming effect. As soon as we trust other people and feel safe in their presence, the value of social gatherings is crucial to our health.
Even the most introverted of people need social interaction to live a complete and healthy life. Being around other people, sharing hugs, and talking through important life events (or just the daily gossip) is all a part of the human experience. Things like hugs can release oxytocin and can act as an instant mood booster. Talking about our problems or our triumphs is also an important aspect of our social lives as it gets that information off our chest and into the social sphere.
So as far as stress-reducing strategies go, Lindsay has tapped into some of our most natural ways to reduce stress that have been programmed into our DNA and our minds for millennia.
Cat: Reading a book in a warm bath
For our Wellington West manager, Catherine, her favourite way to reduce stress is to get lost in a good book and have a relaxing bath. To sit and read in peace may sound like a luxury to some, but there’s also scientific evidence that supports these stress-reducing strategies.
Baths and Human History
Baths have been part of human civilizations for years. Before sophisticated plumbing, different societies used thermal baths, heated by geothermal energy, to relax, heal, and detoxify. Studies suggest that warm water immersion (bathing) is relaxing for humans because it takes a lot of the physical stress off of our bodies.
The warmth from the water encourages blood flow by opening up the blood vessels. It also opens up the pores, allowing for a detoxification process of sorts. It also relaxes the muscles and reduces tension throughout the body. And with our muscles relaxed, our skin detoxing, and our blood flowing, we are able to access the parasympathetic nervous system – our rest and digest system that is inherently relaxed.
Books Offer an Escape
As far as reading goes, getting lost in a story is another great way to reduce stress. In mindfulness practices, oftentimes you’ll pair breathing exercises with a mantra or something to focus on for the duration of the practice. Reading can act as a mantra or a focus. Instead of allowing the busying thoughts in your brain to take over and to continue to overwhelm you, you focus on something else.
Vania: Spending time with her cat
Anyone with pets knows that just a few quiet moments with their pet can make all of their worries go away. There is something about petting a cat or a dog that instantly calms the mind. This has been so effective that it is now common to have therapy dogs come into offices and hospitals just so people can pet them and spend time with these furry friends.
The science behind this is somewhat complex but is similar to why hugs and human interactions can be relaxing. Humans have, over time, developed special relationships with specific animals. That relationship, like our human social interactions, has a calming effect on our bodies.
In fact, some research suggests that children who grow up with pets around the house are less likely to develop stress-related health issues when they grow up. Researchers believe that this is because when we are interacting with animals our brains release oxytocin. Oxytocin is a neurochemical that is released when we hug, when we are intimate, and when mothers first see their baby. So it is a pretty powerful chemical that plays an important role in relationship building and stress-reduction.
Sean: Breathing and repetitive exercise
For Sean, our Metcalfe manager, he reduces his stress by focusing back on himself. He’ll make himself the priority by settling down and doing some breathing exercises. He also says that doing 100 kettlebell swings can be highly effective for lowering his stress levels. Now, 100 kettlebell swings may sound more stressful than stress-reducing to you, but there’s actually good science to support this type of activity.
Breathing Is Our Gateway to the Nervous System
For starters, breathing exercises are one of the best ways to “hack” the nervous system and get the body out of its stressed-out, “fight or flight” zone. There are two main states that our bodies can operate in. The sympathetic nervous system, which is a collection of neural pathways that activate our fight or flight system. This helps the heart beat faster to deliver blood to the extremities and give us the energy and fuel we need to run from, or fight, the proverbial bear.
The parasympathetic nervous system is our rest and digest system, which slows the heart and breathing rate down and focuses a lot of our energy on recovery and digestion. Almost every part of these neural pathways are involuntary – meaning you can’t make your bowels move, and you can’t control the beat of your heart. You can, however, control your breathing rate.
This is why belly breathing is such an important tool for stress reduction. If you are not expanding the belly, you are not giving the diaphragm room to create space and expand the lungs. So although you are still breathing, you are not delivering as much oxygen to the body as you could. The mind also interprets short, shallow breathing as a sign of stress (think about panting or your breath when you are running). The slower and the deeper your breath, the more that signals the brain that you are relaxed.
Resistance Exercise Activates A Natural Pain and Stress-Relief System
So what about repetitive exercise? To help you understand – have you ever heard of the “runner’s high” phenomenon? Turns out resistance exercise like kettlebell swings activates the same system that activates the “runner’s high”. We all have an endocannabinoid system that can reduce pain and stress levels in the body.
This system is what interacts with compounds in marijuana and enables the pain-relief and relaxing effects of marijuana. But it can also be activated by physical activity. So when Sean does 100 kettlebell swings, he is not just getting mood-boosting endorphins from repetitive, rhythmic exercise, but also tapping into his body’s natural pain relief and stress relief systems.
The moral of this story here is that if there is a stress-reducing activity (that doesn’t involve destructive behaviours), chances are there’s a scientific reason why it helps reduce stress. Whatever helps you relax, unwind, and reduce overwhelm is unique to your experience. So find what you like, test out new strategies when the old ones don’t work, and keep your stress levels low.
