By Nathalie Plamondon-Thomas
Do you live a busy life, constantly rushing everywhere? Are you losing sleep over problems that haunt your mind? When surrounded by external pressure causing you to accumulate and store stress in your body, detoxing may give you temporary relief and yet, if your mind is still polluted, detoxing your body is like emptying a sink full of water with a teaspoon while the tap is still running. Sooner or later, the water will overflow. Understanding how stress is created so that you can get a grip on its effect, will allow you to detox your mind and stop its flow from altering your enjoyment of life.
WHAT IS STRESS?
Stress is both a biological and physiological response to a threat we have no resources or ability to overcome. Stress is often an external pressure. It is what happens to us. It surrounds us every day. It is our alarm clock not going off, it is traffic, it is running out of milk, our boss holding us accountable for extra work, our child not feeling well, an unexpected expense, one of our parents falling ill, etc.
The threats that cause stress trigger the release of cortisol, a stress hormone designed to shut down non-essential functions and give us a burst of energy in the event of attack by a lion, tiger or bear! This was very useful for our ancestors who lived in a very different era. We may think that our modern lifestyle is much more civilized than the pre-historic days. Unfortunately, we are often provided with plenty of opportunities for increased stress, and very little opportunity for relaxation and calm. Therefore, our stress responses are hyper-stimulated, and give little or no reprieve. For some, the body is under routine assault by metabolic processes intended to be life-saving, and that ironically now contribute to the increase of disease and premature death in our culture.
PHYSICAL TIPS TO GET RID OF STRESS
EXERCISE
Have a good sweat! Any type of exercise will help us clear away stress momentarily. Exercise sends dopamine to our body which gives us a temporary boost of relaxation. Yes, the external pressure will still be there, but will not affect us for the time being. We will feel like a million dollars after exercise and at least for a time lessen the feeling of external pressure.
DOWN TIME
Make sure you take some time for yourself and have personal time to focus. Journal, meditate, write your daily gratitude. Even a few minutes with your eyes closed, inhaling and exhaling deeply will do the trick.
SLEEP
Go to bed early and ensure you have a full night’s sleep. Remove electronics from your bedroom, block all lights, wear earplugs or an eye mask, and let your logical mind fully rest. Repeat to yourself as you lay down that you will get a full regenerating night sleep and ask your unconscious mind to do the thinking for you in the background, while you sleep. If any thoughts bother you, refrain from using your conscious mind to think about it, trust that your unconscious mind will do it while you recuperate and ask to receive answers in the morning.
MENTAL WAYS TO GET RID OF STRESS
Although physical ways to get rid of stress work, they are temporary. Just like your emotions. In fact, an emotion only lasts between 30 and 90 seconds. You enter the loop and then, in theory, should exit it. You can see how this is true for young children who are happy for one minute and raging the minute after.
TRICK YOUR MIND TO AVOID CORTISOL PRODUCTION
When an event happens, we consciously or, more often, subconsciously respond with emotion. When we respond with anxiety, anger, fear, etc. our brain sends cortisol to our body which has a negative impact on us. What would happen if we consciously chose a different response? Can we trick our minds to choose a response with a positive emotion instead? Yes, we can.
Anxiety and excitement are both generated in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. In fact, the brain doesn’t even know the difference between them. Emotions are all equally created. However, their impact on our bodies is different. By turning anxiety into excitement, you send more positive chemicals throughout your body, like serotonin, oxytocin, and dopamine which will give you a healthy positive boost.
A powerful emotion like anger or fear is not designed to make our life miserable but to help us grow. If we only experience love, tenderness, peace, etc. we would not develop self-mastery as fast. Powerful negative emotions put us on our toes so that we can learn from them and get to the next level in our life. So, next time you feel uncomfortable, remind yourself that it means you are getting to the next stage of your life. It is actually a good thing. You are growing. Get excited about it. Instead of feeling down and staying in your negative loop, step out of it by saying to yourself, “Okay, I am feeling scared; I hate it, but wait, that means that I will become good at something I wasn’t before. This is awesome, I am excited about climbing the next step in my journey.”
By talking yourself out of the negative loop, and turning your negative emotion into excitement, you detoxify your mind by consciously choosing to allow positive hormones to thrive in your body.
