I’m just going to get right to it. The world has been an incredibly stressful place recently.
Add to that stress, that as women we often live in a chronic stress cycle. We have so much on our plates as women and caretakers. Stressful world events that add to our already overflowing plates can push our stress levels into overwhelm.
Chronic stress cycles cause an imbalance in cortisol. It’s like we are the Energizer Bunny at all times. Chronic stress cycles also cause our nervous systems to dysregulate. If you have been in one of my yoga classes, you’ve likely heard me teach on this subject. Stress is like a tiger chasing us. Our bodies don’t know the difference between a stressful job, aggravating rush hour traffic, stressful world events and that tiger. They are all the same in our bodies, they all produce the stress hormone cortisol. When we are being chased by that tiger, our bodies are only trying to survive, and can’t thrive.
So What Do We Do When We Get To The Place Of Overwhelm?
Recognizing the load we’re carrying is the first step in shifting the stress response. Since you’re here, reading this article, I’d say you’ve already recognized that you need support. Great job on step 1! To shift from surviving to thriving, we have to first recognize where we are, and that we want to shift how we are feeling.
Noticing that your body is dysregulated, and over producing cortisol. And being willing to choose differently for yourself is the next step.
1. Recognize & notice the dysregulation.
2. Be willing to choose differently.
Stress And The Stress Cycle Can Be Addictive.
We live in a world that is on, on, on… all the time. Our news cycles are programed to create an addictive cycle so we have to keep seeking more. And, the happenings in our world have been incredibly hard to process. And yet, feeding into these news cycles rarely serves our nervous systems well. Breaking this cycle is an important part of backing off nervous system dysregulation and calming the cortisol response.
As women, all too often we get to our 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and beyond and because our nervous systems have been dysregulated for so long, they go one step worse, and go haywire. This happened to me and it affected my whole body, I unfortunately had the most extreme effects of a dysregulated nervous system (more on this later).
The majority of my clients get stuck in this loop though too. It’s rather like the frog in the boiling water. It starts slow, and then gets worse and worse over time. And we get to the point where we can’t see our way out if it, or how we got there.
Then the greater world around us, contributes to making it worse.
It takes a concerted effort to break this stress cycle, and recognize what is contributing to it.
Peace And Calm Are What We All Need
Choosing peace and calm in our lives often go against the norm, which also make it difficult to get out of the stress cycle.
Yet, peace and calm are what we all need. We all deserve to have a little boring in our lives.
But how do we get there?
3. Choosing is the next step.
Choosing to move through life differently.
Choosing to let go of what is no longer serving us.
And choosing to bring different experiences into our lives, are what is important in this next step.
As you are choosing, be the observer of the causes of stress in your life.
Identifying where the stress is coming from, is a key to shifting it.
Start by making yourself a list of the things that are causing stress in your life.
Next, make a list of the things that create peace in your life.
The next step, is to take action towards creating a longer list of peaceful things. I’m also going to help you with that list below.
The Hardest Step Is Next
4. Taking small actionable steps.
Taking action can be the hardest step. Because we are so often addicted to the stress cycle. When we work to break the cortisol cycle, it can feel really uncomfortable. Just remember, uncomfortable doesn’t have to be “bad”, it can be something we recognize, and allow ourselves to move through, knowing there can be comfort on the other side of the discomfort. It will be a different type of comfort, that allows us to bring in more peace.
But where do you start? Keep reading… as I have given you some options and steps to take below.
Is There a Magic Trick?
I haven’t found that one magic trick works to breaking stress cycles. Rather a collection of tools are what works best in my experience. So as you go through this list, find a few things that work for you that you can rotate in and out of your routine.
There is definitely a theme as to how these all work, so you may see some familiar things as you read through. The key is to interrupt the stress cycle often and bring these practices in regularly. When I say regularly, I mean there you will want to do somethings daily, some weekly, some monthly, some yearly. This is how the chronic stress cycle gets broken, our cortisol rebalances and our dysregulated nervous systems have the ability to regulate once again.
- Be mindful of what you are consuming – Be cautious with shows, media, news, and stories that inflame your stress response. When you’re watching these shows, start with noticing how they make your body feel, and how long it takes you to shake what you consumed. This may be a good first step to recognize if it’s serving you. Turn off what is stressing you further and/or find shows that are soothing vs. inflaming. I know this can be difficult and it takes effort, because so many shows that are out there are built to cause excitement, but sometimes they also cause stress. A few years ago, as I was working through some big T trauma in my life, I had to really limit what I watched, or it would be too triggering for me. So I only watched the Hallmark channel for about a year. It sounds funny, but it was really soothing to me.
- Tea Practice – Morning or evening, the act of making yourself tea, especially with herbs that sooth your nervous system, like chamomile, lavender, tulsi, valerian root, passion flower, ashwagandha is a wonderfully soothing practice. Allow yourself to sit and sip your tea as well. Resist the urge to scroll your phone while doing so, instead sit, breathe, maybe journal, and allow that space into your body.
Green tea, Matcha and Black tea all of L-theanine which is supportive of the nervous system, and these also have caffeine, so if you try these, have them in the morning. - Yoga – Maybe you were in one of my yoga classes? My favorite way to think of yoga, is that it creates an assemblance of the whole. The yoga practice allows us to align the body, mind, and spirit. It helps us to shed excess energy, and ground our energy and our body. Be sure to choose a class that allows you to slow down, and get mindful.
- Walking & Hiking– walking outdoors is incredibly balancing to the body, it helps to curb anxiety and anxious energy, clears the mind, gets you some much needed Vitamin D, and with a morning walk, can help reset your circadian rhythms to support sleep. Also, being outside in nature is incredibly healing to the body.
- Skip the Cardio – Cardio exercise actually exacerbates the cortisol cycle. So when you are already stuck in a cortisol stress response, cardio can actually make this worse. Instead, choose strength training and walking for exercise. When you have broken the chronic cycle and your nervous system has settled, then you could potentially add in sprints for heart health.
- Spending Time in Nature – Nature is soul soother. A hike in the woods, spending time in the garden, a neighborhood walk to take in the flowers, trees and greenery – all help to soften our edges, and sooth our insides.
- Massage – is an incredible practice that helps to soften our tissues… but it also does so much more. The act of massage can actually even improve our microbiome. Why? Because it works to break the stress cycle, when we are in an active stress cycle, it can actually change the microbes in the gut. So do the massage for stress reduction in the whole body! A balanced microbiome is a key part to balancing stress levels.
- Cranial Sacral Work – is a gentle hands on, clothes on practice that helps to realign the energetic meridians lines of the body. Said a little differently, It helps to connect the skull, spine and sacrum as well as all of it’s extensions to realign the body and break stress patterns. It’s an amazing practice. If you do this, make sure to do a 60 or 90 minute session, so you get the full alignment effect.
- Meditation – Is the practice of quieting the mind, which in turn quiets the nervous system. I know this practice can be intimidating, but just start small. Sit for a few minutes, eyes closed and breathe. Watch your thoughts as if they are not yours. Just start there and see where it goes. Is it uncomfortable to sit in the quiet? It can be. And…on the other side of that is balance. Allowing ourselves to move through the discomfort, and look it straight in the eyes is a key piece. If you are afraid to sit still, notice what you are afraid to face, to sit still.
- Spending Time With a Friend that Fills You Up – This is literally a practice of filling the heart. It’s wrapping yourself in a big warm hug (physically and energetically), and filling your cup. I highly recommend!
The flip side of this is, to be mindful of who you are spending time with. If there are people that are not filling your cup, maybe make a different choice for yourself. - Go on Vacation – Give yourself the break your body needs, and use those vacation days up! That is exactly what those days are for. Challenge the narrative that there isn’t enough time to use those days, that you are too busy, or there is too much work. Immerse yourself in the need for these breaks. If you work in a company culture that tells you otherwise, re-evaluate who you have partnered with.
- EFT Tapping – Tapping is a really cool practice. You can learn it on your own through a video lesson, or with a practitioner. You tap on specific points while focusing on the stressful situation at hand, and through a routine of tapping on the points and repeating phrases, the nervous system releases the stress and energy. It’s a really great way to break stress patterns, and I have done it with my kiddo too.
- EMDR – EMDR is a practice done with a practitioner that uses bilateral stimulation and Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing to help with trauma, CPTSD and PTSD. Through all of my nervous system work, I kept hitting a plateau due to CPTSD. It was EMDR that finally helped me break that plateaued cycle. Once I did this, my other practices worked on a deeper level. So sometimes we need to do the bigger work, to help the smaller everyday things work more efficiently. If you have Big T or Little T trauma this might be a place to explore.
- One on One Support – Sometimes the process of going it alone can be even more overwhelming. An accountability guide or coach is an excellent way to help us break stress cycles, and bring mindfulness into our lives. Your accountability partner can help you weed through what is working in your life, what is not working, where you need more support, and how to bring new practices in.
In my own practice, I often teach breath work, mindfulness work, journal exercises, stress shifting exercises and so much more. Find the right partner to work with you, that can support you and help you create success with your practices.
There are many more things we can do, maybe you thought of others as you were reading through this list?
Start creating the list that works for YOU. Then, rotate the practices for your own mind, body and spirit. Remember… choose some that you can do daily, some that you can do weekly, and some that you do yearly.
We All Deserve Peace In Our Lives
Keep remembering… peace is where it’s at.
And you deserve to feel peaceful in your body, mind and spirit.
I hope this helps you. Take good care of you, and if you need any support please reach out, click the link below, and let’s get started.