One key factor in disease and chronic health challenges that is unavoidable today is stress. We can’t control the outside world, but we can improve our response to it and capacity for it. Stress unchecked is detrimental to both our physical and mental health.
It’s essential to find ways to release and ground ourselves regularly to combat daily stressors. It doesn’t have to be expensive or time extensive either!
Signs you may be carrying extra stress:
- frequent headaches or migraines
- painful PMS symptoms
- anxiety and/or depression
- tight or locked muscles
- inflammation in different areas of your body such as skin, joints, etc.
- difficulty falling or staying asleep
- trouble focusing throughout the day
Here are 10 of my favorite ways to support my body and help release stress on a daily and weekly basis:
1. **Breath Work**: One of the most accessible and effective ways to release stress is through conscious breath work. Deep, intentional breathing helps activate the body’s relaxation response, calming the mind, reducing stress hormones, and releasing deeply held tension in the body. This is an amazing tool to help the body do what it does best…heal! Join us in the VIBE Tribe Membership here to experience a powerful session with our guest teacher Samantha Cozzo! Can’t join us live on 9/13/23? The replay is always available for our members!
2. **Magnesium Bath**: Magnesium is a mineral that is used in over 300 chemical reactions in the body. When we’re low in this mineral it affects everything from muscle tension, acid reflux, anxiety, arthritis, asthma, diabetes, headaches, kidney stones, fatigue, insomnia, and autoimmune diseases, just to name a few. I love using liquid magnesium oral supplements can be hard for the body to absorb and tough on the digestive tract. Soaking in a warm magnesium bath hits on another level of relaxation in my body that I haven’t found any other way! Check it out here and use code revivedliving to save 10%.
3. **VIBE & Embodiment**: Using intuitive movement, music, and visualization is an amazing way to enter a state of flow. A place you can release your mind from tracking the to-do list, being hung up on the past, or fearful of the future. Drop into the present moment and focus on being, feeling, and breathing to process and release the stress your body has been holding onto unconsciously for you.
4. **Journaling**: Writing down your thoughts and emotions can be therapeutic to get it out of your spinning mind. I love me a good journaling prompt to help direct the mind (check out our VIBE & Embodiment Immersion for this), but a free flow brain dump journaling is just as helpful! Start with a blank page and without judging or trying to control your thoughts, write one after the other until the whole page is full. After journaling, consider physically releasing the stress by ripping up the page or burning the pages, symbolizing the letting go of negativity and past burdens. Obviously make sure you have a fire safe container or way of burning the paper safely!
5. **Tapping**: Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also known as tapping, involves gently tapping on specific acupressure points while focusing on your stressors. This practice helps alleviate emotional distress and promotes a sense of emotional release as you move the stuck energy through your body.
6. **Purging Unneeded Items**: Clutter in your physical space can contribute to mental clutter and stress. Declutter your surroundings to create space for the new you are calling in by purging unneeded or unused items. Consider donating them to friends or organizations who could benefit from them.
7. **Coffee Enemas**: Although unconventional, one of my fav practices I started two years ago was coffee enemas. While they are commonly thought to help release backed up stool, the main purpose of a coffee enema is to stimulate glutathione production in the liver. This is a master antioxidant in the body that helps you naturally detox all the time! I share the exact step by step process and tools you need for this in my stress release mini course.
8. **Screaming**: Sometimes, letting out a primal scream can be the cathartic experience you need! It can help release the build up of cortisol most commonly associated with stress while adding a hit of dopamine. Find a private, safe space, and scream out your stress and frustrations. I personally love the car or an open space in nature. Remember this doesn’t have to only be used when you are stressed in a negative way. Sometimes there is a lot of good exciting things happening and you need to release the build up of energy through an excited scream!
9. **Swapping for Toxin-Free Products**: Chemical toxins in everyday products can contribute to stress on the body. As much as we want to think products on the shelf at stores are absolutely safe, that unfortunately couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s important to become educated consumers so we know what ingredients to look out for that can disrupt our hormones, irritate our skin, cause headaches, or lead to cancer. I share tons of resources and healthy alternative swaps over in my free Clean & Conscious Community here.
10. **Release Judgment with Your Thoughts**: Lastly, practicing self-compassion and releasing judgment toward yourself and others can significantly reduce stress. Negative self-talk and harsh judgments often exacerbate stress levels. Realizing I am not my thoughts and I simply have to observe them with curiosity was SUCH a game changer for me many moons ago! It’s my favorite to help others with 1-to-1 or in our group programs like VIBE & Embodiment.
There is no one magic pill we can take to mitigate the effects of stress on the body. Start by incorporating one of these at a time into your routine until it becomes a habit. It’s about making stress release part of our lifestyle and not something we focus on intensely for 2 weeks once a year.
Start with the one that feels easiest and from there ask yourself! Start to tune into your intuition to better understand your bodies needs and what next step feels best for you. Tune into what peaks your curiosity and feels fun.
Curious about other ways to release stress or more how-to support on a few of the items listed above? Check out my mini course on stress release here!
Here’s to living a high-quality LONG life!
Hugs,
Samantha