Stress free zone? How to hold the energetic frequency and connect with yourself in a moment of “fight or flight” mode.
Stress is present in our life. It would not be possible to list all of the stress triggers, as we people stress a lot about everything. From political arena, through work to home issues. No doubt about that. There are many articles, many calming techniques available, yet not many of us can recognise that moment where we can apply calming techniques effectively. When we recognise to apply it in our daily routine then it is so much easier to manage stressful situations.
I recently was listening to the podcast where one of the Polish psychologist mentioned that reaction to the particular emotion lasts for 90 sec, the rest is our choice. I can think about the traffic jam, plane delays, missed trains (I have been there 😉) and the first response was anger. On the other hand do I have a control over a traffic jam? Or a delayed plane ? Not really, and it this moment I can take a deep breath and use a calming method suitable for me. I will name some of them later on. The other therapist mentioned practicing Om sound daily (check out the link below).
When I approached the topic of stress I thought it will be a fairly easy one to write about. The more I thought about it, the more I realised it is all rooted in our subconsciousness and how we have learnt coping with stress as children. We have learnt the mechanism and it takes time to unlearn them. I could compare it to homeopathy. It takes time to go through the process and it is always worth remembering that it is a p r o c e s s. Standing by your side is so important here.
How to navigate from stormy situations and how to create time and space for us, well, that is another story.
When I listen to my patients, I hear stories about permanent lack of time. This is true to some extent, as I believe that creating daily habits help us to achieve our health goals faster and more efficiently. I, myself, was caught in that vicious cycle of overdoing, creating more pressure in my life, bad diet, and less sleep. Until I realised, I needed to organise my time better as I could not navigate my life like that.
It came to me that my life force energy matters. Instead of chasing everything and everyone I needed to pause and that was difficult to me. I can not p a u s e in that moment! I need to do so many things. I needed to figure out the solution. Otherwise, I knew I would repeat the cycle and I would end up in the same situation again. This time I wanted to do things differently. I made myself a cup of tea, I sat down and I asked myself a question : What is the most important thing you need to sort out to make my day go smoother ?
As I paused, I new the most powerful thing for me would be redesigning my mornings. I had to wake up earlier and... go to bed earlier. Now, sorting my errands in a morning would free up some of my time around noon. Also what came to me is that I would like to read books during the day, at least a couple of chapters. Reading is like meditation for me and I absolutely love that. It is my moment and I also learnt to recognise moments where I sabotaged myself to not do that, as there were more important things to do ( apparently …).
Well, this was the moment when I learnt a lot about resistance and I was astonished how cheeky and cunning it can be. I was so intrigued by it that I took a course about learning about power of resistance. I will share about my findings in my other article. I believe it is strongly connected with stress coping mechanism.
Was I afraid to implement new changes in my life? Oh yes ! As our brains are wired to protect us, to keep us in our comfort zones, to keep us in a loop of pleasure, journaling and yoga was the last thing on my mind. However I was determined to create new habits, new neuropathways as I believe only by implementing things daily we can rewrite our history. I figured it out - the more energy I have the more it will reflect in my other areas of life. The inspiration came out of burning myself out, and that is also a part of the process, however when repeated many times it is also not sustainable. I can only speak from my own experience.
So what is up with this stress?
When the body is placed in an almost constant state of alert, the adrenal glands become tired eventually and people are depleted and panicky rather than awake.
“Stress is any strain or force on the body or mind; a power that deforms the shape of the body subjected to it. It is a dis-harmony or instability of a once-balanced state. Dr Hans Selye, the most renowned authority and researcher on stress, defines it simply as the rate of wear and tear on the body. Each time we are stressed, specific bodily responses occur.”
Cortisol is responsible for causing raised blood pressure and release fat and sugar into our blood stream. Adrenaline and neodraline are the “flight or fight hormones“, causing our heart rate and blood pressure to rise and making us sweat even more. Stress, if left untreated, can cause problems with heart or mental health issues such as anxiety or depression, frequently with accompanying insomnia. (https://homeopathy-uk.org)
I read an article written by Dr Jeffery Gero, who is a pioneer in the field of stress management and the creator of the Success Over Stress System. For over 30 years, Dr Gero has worked with many organizations and individuals dealing with a variety of stressors. I include a link so you can get familiar with his stress management programmes.
He also recommends meditation as tool to cope with challenging situations. There are thousands of schools which teach yoga relaxations. Yoga means different things to everyone. Some associate it with religion, some people may think about it as bizarre practices, long robes and sitting and sitting on the floor with your legs tied in a knot for hours on end. The times have changed however and you can meditate while you're doing your dishes. You can download an app on your phone. I recommend yoga Glo app, and Yoga with Adrienne on you tube (yoga and meditation). The aim of the game is to be able to dedicate some time, even 5 min a day, and be able to sit still. You can lie down, sit down, and concentrate on your breathing. In my sound weekend healing clinic, I start and end my sessions with mediation. This is a beautiful start to our recharging gong sound inner journey. Gongs are very powerful tools and I learnt about them from Sheila Whittaker. That was a profound experience for me and I am grateful I can share it with my clients over the weekends now. The feedback I receive from my clients is that it helps to reduce stress. I also use essential oils in my weekend sessions therefore they are called Aroma Gong sessions. Amongst all the oils, today I recommend the Lavender oil for stress (4-1-317-920.pdf (journalofsports.com).
You can read about my gong and essential oils sessions here:
Homeopathic approach to stress
Here are some homeopathic remedies which can help with stress related issues.
I will only name three of possible causes of stress:
IBS Irritable bowel syndrome is the most common intestinal disorder. It afflicts 10-20 percent of adults in parts of the developed world and twice as many women as men.
A homeopathic practitioner will take a full medical history paying particular attention to food preferences and IBS triggers. Constitutional remedies will be determined largely by an individual’s symptoms but certain remedies have an affinity with the colon.
Argentum nit is indicated for irrigation of the mucous membranes of the intestine and problems with the control of the gut by the autonomic nervous system. Cantharis is associated with inflammation of the whole gastrointestinal tract, especially with the lower bowel. Colocynthis is also used to treat irritation of the gastrointestinal tract. Other constitutional remedies often used are Arsen.alb, Carbo veg, Nux vomica, Pulsatilla, China.
Relaxation will help stress related problems. Fluid intake should be increased but alcohol consumption should be reduced.
Insomnia – describes a persistent pattern of intermittent sleep that leaves the sufferer feeling tired and unfreshened.
Try to increase exercises you do during the day and avoid eating late in the evening. I enjoy drinking herbal teas or warm unsweetened non diary “milk” before I go to sleep.
Indicated remedies:
Coffea
Nux Vomica
Aconite
Heartburn is common form of ingestion consisting of a burning pain in the stomach or the oesophagus and the chest. It tends to worsen with age and may be associated with a hiatus hernia. It is exacerbated by stress, and by eating too much , and swallowing air is also aggravate the condition. Heartburn is very common in pregnancy when digestive efficiency is impaired.
Avoid eating late at night, do not rush food and relax at least 30 min after the food. Avoid on food which may cause problems and cut down on refined carbohydrates.
Example of remedies:
Carbo veg
Nux Vomica
Pulsatilla
When we accept that the only constant is change it becomes easier to navigate our daily life and it will help us to approach stress from a different place.
I asked one of my mentors - Sheila Whittaker (www.sheilawhittaker.com) about the stress management: "The gongs can be very useful for relaxation and relief of stress, as the gong sounds create slower brainwaves, and this puts the listener into a state of meditation quite naturally and automatically.. just from hearing the gong sounds".
Here are some useful links for you :
Wellness Magazine – https://www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com/article/stress
Mindfulness – https://www.mindful.org/magazine/
Breathe – https://www.breathemagazine.com/
With Love,
Lucia