A Holistic Approach to Recognising, Managing, and Healing from Stress

If I was to ask you, “Have you ever been stressed? Without any hesitation, the chances are high that the answer would be YES! 

Stress may be part of our daily lives, but do we really understand where it comes from and how to manage it in the natural way? As we age, we become more inhibited about expressing our emotions. If we don’t process our emotions in the moment, they become stored in our bodies. Over time, these emotions build up and create a stress reservoir in our bodies. When we encounter a stressful situation, we are dealing with that immediate trigger and layers of pent-up emotions. This can be overwhelming and leave us feeling out of control so we may overreact to minor issues. Healing from stress starts with recognising that your body is crying out for help and that it’s time to take your stress seriously.

What is Stress? 

Stress is your body’s response when you find yourself out of your comfort zone. Your nervous system releases hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, triggering the “fight, flight, or freeze” response. This response is positive in the short term, but if you are in a chronic state of stress, you may trigger the “freeze” response, leading to unprocessed stress and anxiety. Stress can manifest in many ways, including emotional, physical, and behavioural symptoms. Recognising common stress symptoms can help you manage them in yourself and others.

How Can We Spot the Symptoms of Stress? 

Here are some common emotional, physical, and behavioural symptoms of stress:

Emotional symptoms:

• Feelings of fear, panic, or unease

• Difficulty concentrating or feeling like your mind goes blank

• Irritability or restlessness

• Anticipating the worst

• Feeling like you are losing control or going crazy

• Worrying excessively

Physical symptoms:

• Increased heart rate or palpitations

• Sweating or trembling

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

• Feeling dizzy or lightheaded

• Stomach upset or nausea

• Muscle tension or aches

Behavioural symptoms:

• Avoiding situations that trigger anxiety

• Difficulty sleeping or staying asleep

• Avoiding social situations or isolating oneself

• Compulsive or repetitive behaviours, such as checking or cleaning

• Increased use of drugs or alcohol to cope with anxiety

• Difficulty concentrating or completing tasks

How Does Stress Affect Our Bodies?

How many of those symptoms did you recognise in yourself? Although it’s important to be aware of the symptoms, it’s also important to understand that stress is a normal response to challenging situations, and our bodies have developed a stress cycle to help us respond appropriately. The stress cycle starts with a trigger, which can be anything from a loud noise to a looming deadline. This trigger activates the body’s stress response system, which releases hormones like cortisol and adrenaline into the bloodstream. These hormones cause a range of physical symptoms, such as increased heart rate and blood pressure, rapid breathing, and tense muscles. These physical symptoms help prepare the body to either fight or flee from the perceived threat. Once the threat has passed or the challenge has been overcome, the body should return to a state of relaxation. However, when stress becomes chronic or overwhelming, the body may remain in a state of heightened arousal, leading to ongoing physical and emotional symptoms.

What Can You Do About It?

To break the stress cycle, engaging in activities that help activate the body’s relaxation response is important. 

If you are ready to take a different approach to reduce your stress levels, these 4 steps can guide you towards finding lasting peace. Taking the time to heal from within reaps many benefits for your future happiness. It will be worth every effort!

Step 1: Acknowledge Your Emotions
The first step in healing any wound is acknowledging that it exists. This means being honest with yourself about how you’re feeling, no matter how scary or painful it might be to do so. If you don’t acknowledge and accept your feelings, you won’t be able to move forward with the healing process. Take some time and allow yourself to feel whatever comes up without judgement or shame – this will help you gain clarity on what needs to be addressed. As a human being, you have an emotional guidance system, and your emotions are constantly moving and changing. Accepting and validating your different emotions allows them to move and release.

Step 2: Create Healthy Boundaries
Creating healthy boundaries is important to protecting yourself from further emotional harm and creating positive experiences instead. Setting boundaries helps you recognise when someone else’s behaviour is unacceptable so that you can protect yourself from unnecessary stress or harm. It also allows you to practise taking care of your own needs before attending to the needs of others – something that is essential for self-care and personal growth. Recognise that you deserve to be treated with respect. The more you love and accept yourself for who you are, the easier it becomes to respect and value yourself first.

Step 3: Speak Up for Yourself
For your boundaries to be effective, you need to be able to speak up for yourself whenever someone else’s behaviour or words cross them. Learning to say “no” and express your opinion without fear can help empower you in situations where you may feel powerless or unheard. Even if speaking up makes you feel uncomfortable at first, remember that it will become easier over time if you practise advocating for yourself regularly. We often hold tension in our jaw and throat area because there have been so many times in the past when we suppressed what we felt. When you start speaking up, in a calm and assertive way, you begin re-parenting yourself that it’s safe for you to communicate in this way.

Step 4: Practice Self-Care
When trying to heal from stress, self-care is essential – both physically and emotionally. Take some time each day (even if it’s only 10 minutes!) for activities such as reading a book, writing in a journal, meditating, doing yoga or spending time outdoors – anything that brings peace and calm into your life so that your body has space to heal itself naturally from within. By prioritising self-care each day, you’ll create a strong foundation upon which all other healing aspects can build! If you don’t prioritise how you feel, you are telling yourself and others that you are unimportant. Because your brain is neuroplastic, it gets moulded by what’s important to you. Finding 10 minutes for you every day starts to reform neural circuits that support and empower your thinking.

By acknowledging your feelings honestly, setting healthy boundaries around you, speaking up for yourself whenever needed & practising self-care every day; gives you the permission and space needed to heal & grow stronger from within.