Lets Talk About Stress - Fitness Incentive

“Find something that can focus all your senses, challenge you, and bring you joy. This is completely unique to YOU. Experiment with different methods to find what is right!“

Sabrina Morici

Let’s Talk About Stress.

We all have it, and many of us run from it. A certain amount of stress is healthy, but for it to be healthy, it has to be manageable. The criteria for what is manageable will be different for each of us. Getting to know how your mind, body, and spirit react to change, fear, failure, and other stressful factors will help you grow your capacity for stress. But why would you want to be able to handle more stress rather than just eliminating stress from your life? Well, I’m sorry to say it, but we can not just eliminate stress. There will always be stressful situations in our lives. So, we learn how to keep our internal peace throughout it.

Cortisol

When we talk about stress, we usually hear about the hormone Cortisol. The National Library of Medicine explains, “Cortisol has many functions in the human body, such as mediating the stress response, regulating metabolism, the inflammatory response, and immune function.” Cortisol is tied to many other systems in your body with stress, meaning stress can affect us on a larger scale than we think. This is why it is common to become sick when under a lot of stress or to feel bloated when you are anxious.

When heightened, cortisol triggers our Sympathetic Nervous System, known as the fight or flight response. This instinctual response to danger causes our body to prepare to fight or run from the threat it detects. To prepare for the fight or the flight, your body will produce glucose for energy. But these days, our stressors are not usually something we actually have to fight or run from. So, this glucose, or sugar, is not burned up and used. When it is unused by our body, the sugars ultimately cause inflammation and weight gain.

But Don’t Let Stress Stress You Out!

You can do many things to relieve stress. One is to shake your body—kind of like a dance—to shake off the stress and burn the sugars. Another great thing you can do is find a mindful practice that helps you feel relief. Yoga and Pilates have been proven to reduce stress and anxiety. The practices also improve joint pain, bone density, injury recovery, posture, core strength, balance, muscle tone, mental well-being, and so much more. Some other ways to relieve stress are walking, breath work, singing, dancing, or crafting. Find something that can focus all your senses, challenge you, and bring you joy. This is completely unique to YOU. Experiment with different methods to find what is right!