Here are a few simple ways to eliminate stress in life

Did you know there are two very different types of stress?

1 – Obvious stress

This is when someone runs a red light and almost t-bones you in an intersection but you slam on the breaks and your heart drops into your booty.

2 – Subtle stress

This isn’t a major “fight or flight” moment; it is a gradual build up of minor things that can potentially lead to an explosion.

We all have many intricate series of hormone loops that run in our body. With the first type of stress, obvious stress, the event triggers hormone production in the brain’s hypothalamus which leads to the next trigger for hormone production, etc.

Eventually the adrenal glands are triggered and the cortisol and adrenaline produces loops back to the brain to signal, “Mission Accomplished. We did our job, you can switch off that stress response Bat signal now.”

Here’s the problem with the second type of stress, subtle stress: when your stress triggers are too close together, too frequent, or something is upsetting the signal to tell the brain that the appropriate stress hormones have been produced, it won’t ever turn off that stress response Bat signal.

Essentially, you’ll be walking around all day with a low-grade fight or flight response pumping through your body.

This is a recipe for disaster when it comes to your sleep quality, metabolism, sex drive, and GI and digestive issues.

Here are a few, simple ways to eliminate common stressors in life:

1 – Set social media limits

2 – Limit checking the news or “doom scrolling” to 1-2x/day

3 – Establish work/life boundaries (i.e. no email 5pm-8pm)

4 – Outsource your least favorite chores/responsibilities

5 – Automate your least important decisions

Still struggling?

Spend more time outdoors. Invest in meaningful relationships. Try yoga, meditation, breath work, or visualization practice. Practice gratitude.

Most importantly, focus on that which YOU have control over!