How are you feeling? Calm and relaxed or frazzled and wired?
With our increasingly busy lives, many of us are experiencing an unhealthy level of stress on a daily basis.
Stress increases our cortisol levels and triggers the immune system to produce an inflammatory response. This is ok in the short-term but unfortunately the inflammation caused by chronic high level stress can have a significant impact on our health, even if we are following the most nutritious diet!
As inflammation is a root cause in many health conditions and diseases, it is crucial that we manage our stress levels.
As a busy mum, I know how hard it is to find time to wind down but even 5-10 minutes a day is a great place to start.
Some simple stress management techniques include:
breathing exercises, e.g. box breathing, belly breathing, 4-7-8 breathing
doing a 10 minute YouTube yoga workout
using a meditation or mindfulness app
sitting outside while you have your morning or afternoon cup of tea
taking a few deep breaths while you're waiting at the traffic lights
going for a walk
cooking (unless you find cooking stressful!)
asking for help!
Managing stress is one of the most important things you can do for your health so try to make it a priority, especially at this crazy time of year!