Stress and recovery

If you were to constantly run your food mixer, or your car, at full speed, both machines would wear out faster. Being on top of your game simply takes a toll. Not least for us humans. We need to pause, relax and release stress and pressure in order to stay healthy. If you and I were zebras on the savannah, and a lion suddenly appeared, feeling stressed would be a natural response. It would make us alert and hopefully save our lives. Once in safety, our stress levels would naturally decrease and we would have recovered before the next dangerous situation.

High levels of stress

Even though we don’t deal with too many lions on a daily basis. Many of us still live very stressful lives. We are faced with a busy schedule and a complicated life puzzle. With constant stress as a result, which wears us out. It has been shown that both the brain and the gut flora are adversely affected by excessive exposure to stress and insufficient periods of recovery. When our stress levels are high, the body perceives danger and our fight-or-flight response kicks in. The body then shifts its focus away from important functions such as digestion and intestinal function. This is fine if it happens occasionally, but constantly experiencing high levels of stress leads to diseases. Research has shown that the brain takes a beating from stress as well, if you don’t give yourself sufficient time to recover, which affects learning, memory and speeds up aging.

A daily meditation practice

Fortunately, there are things you can do to relieve the body of stress. Research shows that a daily meditation practice can lower stress levels and have a positive health impact after only a couple of weeks. Taking continuous breaks from the tasks you engage in throughout the day can reduce the secretion of the stress hormones that can cause imbalance in the gut flora and will calm your stomach. There are quite simply many good reasons for creating pleasant moments that lower your heart rate. Do you often feel stressed? And what does recovery mean for you? Reflect on that and try to find your own method for relaxing. Reflecting on your personal stress levels, and then trying to find moments of relaxation, can have a beneficial effect on your general health.

Relaxing meditation

Meditation is a proven way to induce states of relaxation and well-being. People have been meditating for over 5,000 years and there are currently many different methods for creating presence and relaxation. There are those who say that our even more distant ancestors benefited from meditation when they sat and gazed into the campfire. In any case, relaxation is important. Not least in nowadays.

Tip!

• Put your phone away and focus on your breathing for a few minutes – you can do this in the queue at the grocery store, or while commuting.
• Don’t be too focused on whether your meditation session was successful or not – the important thing is that you’re doing it!
• You can learn more about meditation by googling the subject.
• Find a suitable meditation group near you.
• Download a meditation app if you want to meditate at home.
• Find a suitable time to meditate to ensure a continuous practice.
• Decide for how long you want to meditate and set a timer.

References

Kuo, B., Bhasin, M., Jacquart, J., Scult, M. A., Slipp, L., Riklin, E. I., . . . Denninger, J. W. (2015). Genomic and Clinical Effects Associated with a Relaxation Response Mind-Body Intervention in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Plos One,10(4). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0123861

Luders, E., Kurth, F., Mayer, E. A., Toga, A. W., Narr, K. L., & Gaser, C. (2012). The Unique Brain Anatomy of Meditation Practitioners: Alterations in Cortical Gyrification. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6. doi: 10.3389 / fnhum.2012.00034