#BeTheChange

This year's Stress Awareness Month (April each year) has focussed on the theme #BeTheChange, encouraging proactive steps to manage stress and improve wellbeing.

I've had a pretty stressful couple of years, with a lot of significant life events, including death and serious illness in the family. I am actively working on my stress as much as I can, as I know that not managing it could create significant mental and physical health issues now and later on.

As well as eating well, exercising, getting into nature and a bit of self compassion, one of the things we need to do when in stress is focus on our parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).  The PNS is half of our autonomic nervous system, which runs our body naturally. When we are under severe stress, the other half of our system, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) kicks in- giving us that recognisable “fight or flight” response, while the parasympathetic nervous system is our “rest and digest” system. It helps us to regulate blood pressure and breathing, relax muscles and conserve energy. If you have been under significant stress you will likely have noticed an increased heart rate, tense feeling in your body and racing thoughts (a sign your sympathetic nervous system is triggered).

If our PNS is not being 'charged' enough, it can lead to chronic stress and anxiety, poor sleep, weight gain, burnout and fatigue, and increases our risk of hypertension too.

So what to do?

First things first, recognise you might have an issue with stress and the impact it is having on you.

Then think about which of these interventions could work for you. You need to choose activities you will enjoy and can make time for, so as not to increase your stress further!

• Intentional breathing exercises (Try: inhale for 4 seconds, exhale for 6–8 seconds)

• Mindfulness and meditation (apps like Insight Timer are good for getting started)

• Gentle movement (Tai Chi, yoga, stretching and walking)

• Social connection (Talking, laughing, fun all help)

• Better sleep habits (bedtime routines, less screen time etc). Without good sleep, all of the other things become more difficult- it can be a circle we need to try our best to break

I am proactively working on all of the above. Do let me know what is working for you.