Instead of “you need to reduce your stress,” try this

How many times have you heard, or thought to yourself, “You need to reduce your stress”?? 

You likely know by now that stress is often the root cause of a seemingly endless list of preventable conditions including heart disease, heart attacks, menstrual problems and gastrointestinal issues, to name just a few. 

And you can feel it. You’re tired. You have energy slumps. You’re cranky. You have digestion issues, etc., etc., etc. So you know it is super important to crack this nut.

But, hearing “You need to reduce your stress” is like being told “Here are the keys to the 747. Good luck!” I mean, what?? How?? It’s too nebulous, too vague. 

I loved the alternative that I heard in a workshop called “Science of Spirit: Why Our Bodies Need Daily Spiritual Practice for Optimal Health” by Dr. Alexandra Crosswell. She said, instead of trying to reduce stress, focus on signaling to your body that you are safe. 

When your body is under stress, your Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS - Fight or Flight) kicks into gear. Thank goodness for your SNS when you are running from a bear. In that moment, you want all non-critical functions to pause in order to keep you alive. 

The problem is, your body doesn’t know the difference between running from a bear, and having a long to-do list. Or having a difficult conversation. Or getting an irritating email.

So, if that sounds like your average work day, then your SNS is active all the time. Meaning, your body is literally shutting off digestion in an effort to keep you alive while you respond to your emails, to give just one example. Sound like a bit of an over-reaction? Understand now why you might be having digestive issues?

So, what do you do? You can’t control the annoying tasks and upsetting emails. But, you can control your reaction to them. The fastest way to elicit your Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS - Rest & Digest) and signal to your body that you are not under serious threat, is to breathe using your diaphragm. Yes, it is that easy. 

Although we all came into the world breathing this way, most of us need to re-learn how to do this. For a quick how-to video, see my video on diaphragmatic breath.

Your diaphragm is your “breathing” muscle. It lives at the bottom of your ribcage and separates your thoracic cavity (heart and lungs) from your abdomen.

When you inhale, this dome-shaped muscle starts to flatten down toward the abdomen, increasing pressure in your abdominal cavity and creating a vacuum that helps pull oxygen into the lungs. When you exhale, it returns to its resting dome shape. When you breathe using your diaphragm, your belly expands while your chest remains relatively still (which is why you sometimes hear this referred to as “belly breathing”). 

Living in a chronic state of stress, where your SNS is constantly pumping blood to your muscles in anticipation of a serious threat to your life, wreaks havoc on your health in the short and the long-term. Not to mention it’s exhausting. And wasteful - you could use that energy to repair cells and stave off aging instead! 

Being told to reduce your stress may seem impossible - you have to work, you have to run your household, you have to do all the things. The good news is, you CAN control your breath. And your breath can control your bodily systems and how your body responds. 

Diaphragmatic breathing can be done anywhere, anytime. Start with just 5-10 deep breaths at a time, a few times a day. The relief will be immediate.  

p.s. Want to geek out on the function of the diaphragm? See this article for an excellent scientific description of your diaphragm and how it works.