Over on my Instagram stories last week I asked some questions via Polls to gain an idea of how many of my peers were feeling stressed and if they were doing some small things to manage that. This is what I found:

Do you feel rested when you wake up?
35 participants said yes / 84 participants said no

Do you practice meditation or deep breathing?
32 participants said yes / 88 participants said no

Do you exercise regularly?
78 participants said yes / 45 participants said no

Do you feel stressed?
89 participants said yes / 32 participants said no

Do you wind down before sleep (without screens)?
37 participants said yes / 83 participants said no

Do you drink 2L+ water a day?
61 participants said yes / 59 participants said no

Do you eat every 2-5 hours?
76 participants said yes / 47 participants said no

You may have caught on if you participated in these polls, but all of these questions directly correlate to things you can implement into your routine that will help with your stress levels. Let’s break it down.

1. Sleep Routine
   Our circadian rhythm is our sleep-wake cycle, and if it is dysfunctional we will experience; difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, fatigue/exhaustion, difficulty concentrating and daytime sleepiness. This also directly correlates to our cortisol regulation - and cortisol is our stress hormone. 

   We all have something called a cortisol curve and this dictates our sleep-wake cycle, but it also helps our body deal with stress throughout the day. If we don’t have a consistent bedtime and wake-up time then our cortisol curve gets confused, and it’s harder for our body to deal with the stress load. We may have excessive productions of cortisol or not enough, but the bottom line is that sleep routines are important!

   In my opinion, sleep is the first domino, if you don’t have a consistent sleep routine then you’ll probably experience other health issues like lack of energy, decreased immunity, digestive dysfunction, mental health, etc. which may then lead to poorer nutrition choices, lack of movement, lack of mindfulness, and this creates a cycle of feeling shit in general.

   How do you improve your sleep routine? First up, have a consistent wake-up time, this will signal to your body (and your cortisol curve) to start at the same time each day, which will then make it easier. Next, build a consistent bed-time, and as you do this create a wind-down routine, including things such as dimming the lights, reducing screen-time, reading or other calming activities.

   If you reduce your exposure to bright lights and your screens this will help to signal to your brain, ‘hey it’s time to get those sleep hormones pumping’, along with calming your nervous system down before bed through your chill wind-down activities. With these two routines in place, you may experience more restful sleep and higher energy levels and motivation throughout your days.
   

2. Meditate or Deep Breathing

   Meditation kinda has a bit of a taboo or stigma attached to it, I find that it’s perceived as completely clearing your brain and not allowing yourself to think. This is totally untrue!! Meditation is all about connecting to your breath, your mind, your body, and finding presence. And the more you do it, the better you get at it.

   That being said, it’s a difficult practice to build up, the mind is a tricky thing. So A good way to implement it is to just focus on deep belly breathing.

   It is common for the general population to breathe quite shallowly and sharply, and this actually signals to our brain that we’ve gotta be on the lookout for danger. Heard of the ‘fight or flight’ response? It used to be extremely helpful back in caveman/primal times when there was proper danger around (like predators), however these days things as simple as emails and phone calls, or a huge workload, can cause us to stay in our fight or flight mode.

   This happens on a physiological level involving our sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight mode) and parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest mode).

   Deep-breathing is a super-easy way to signal to your brain and your nervous system that you’re all good, you’re not in danger, and it’s time to chill out!

   5 minutes is all you need - put one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly, and focus on breathing in and out through the nose, directing your breath past your chest and into your belly (the diaphragm).

   Give it a try! You’ll feel so much better in that short time. And once you build a practice out of it your body and brain are able to handle day to day stressors a lot better. And surprise… that’s meditating.
   

3. Regular Exercise
   You’ve probably heard it before, but exercise helps hugely with your stress management and overall mental and physical health. This could be as simple as walking every day, or it could be more like participating in a sport, hiking, strength training, pilates, yoga, any kind of movement.

   When it comes to strength training (which as a coach I’m obviously a big fan of) there’s an extra level of benefits to it. On top of getting those feel-good endorphins flowing, you get time to focus on yourself, and my all-time favourite aspect of strength training: you build this mental resilience. Pushing through difficult exercises, difficult reps, challenging yourself with heavier weights; it all helps to build this resilience both physically and mentally, which you then start to transfer into everyday life and how you deal with challenges.

   And after the above write-up of deep-breathing, you know I’m going to say that yoga is taking that to the next level. It combines the mental resilience of holding challenging poses and focusing on your breath in the present moment. Win-win. (Also side-note: everybody can do yoga!! You don’t have to be flexible or ‘good’ at it, you’ve just got to get on that mat.)
   

4. Drink Enough Water

   It’s simple and it’s heard all the time, but something that we don’t think about is that when not drinking enough water, we are putting our body under stress (by not giving what is required) which will then put our mind under stress. Our body is made of up to 60% water, and having enough water is essential for digestion, circulation, transportation of nutrients, cell health and so much more!

   So drink more water babe.

   I like to use little rewards throughout the day as my motivator for water, e.g. 1 bottle/glass of water before my coffee, drink x amount by this time of day, have a fancy drink bottle you can carry around.

5. Eat Every 2-4 Hours

   Another simple one but I certainly struggle with this when I am stressed. My appetite goes out the window for most of the day and then I am ravenous later in the day and eat everything in sight.

   Ever heard the phrase ‘eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper’? It sticks with me because it makes total sense physiologically. When do we need the most energy? Early in the day. When do we need the least? At the end of the day, because we’re just going to go to bed.

   If you eat regularly throughout the day, including lots of nutritious whole foods (whole grains, veggies in a range of colours, and minimally processed food) you’ll be serving your body the nutrients it needs to function and you’ll be providing the energy and sustenance needed for the day. And on the plus side, it will help with the ‘eating-everything-in-sight’ mode that creeps up in the evening, which then will improve your digestion in the evening, which then will improve your sleep quality. See?? It’s all a cycle!

   What’s an easy way to get started? Prep your breaky the night before. I also like to set up a “food schedule” in my brain, like breaky at 9, lunch at 1, dinner at 6, etc.

So my friends, I truly hope this blog inspires you to implement some new routines into your daily life. We all get stressed, but ultimately it’s how you deal with your stress that matters.

What this blog highlights is that it’s the small consistent things that will help you overall, but don’t forget that if you are struggling it’s a good idea to reach out to your support crew, talk to them, write shit down and take time for yourself.

Until next time, sending love and light your way.