Do you feel tired and stressed more often than not? Are you noticing that you’re gaining weight easily and struggling to lose it? These can be signs that your levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, are high.
Chronic stress is a big reason behind hormone imbalance and disease processes. Our bodies release stress hormones such as cortisol as part of the “fight or flight” response. When we are under chronic, long term stress these hormone levels can stay high much longer than our bodies have the capacity to sustain and can become dangerous for health.
Fortunately, even in times of long term stress, there’s a lot you can do to support your body’s stress response and cortisol levels:
- Since chronic stress is one of the biggest reasons why cortisol levels stay high, stress relieving activities are hugely beneficial. Meditation, mindfulness, deep breathing, getting out in nature, physical activity, time with friends and journaling have all been shown to help tremendously with stress management. I recently I started a practice called “Morning Pages” recommended by Julia Cameron in “The Artists Way” – just allowing myself the space to get all the noise and worries out of my head helps me to be so much more productive and calm throughout the day. There are lots of good resources out there – find one that speaks to you and try it!
- Getting plenty of sleep is super important too but this can be a catch 22 situation as you can find it hard to sleep when cortisol levels are high. You may also find that you feel tired in the day but wide awake at night. One of the MOST important things you can do if you are struggling with night time wakefulness and daytime sleepiness is to set your alarm and GET UP at the same time each day, even when you’re exhausted. That also means you need to go to bed at the same time each night, teaching your body to function on a healthy cycle is crucial. I also have a whole series of posts on different herbs that can help with sleep issues, you can find a list of those posts here.
- Food is our best medicine – especially foods with anti-inflammatory benefits. Chronic inflammation can be a factor for high cortisol levels so it makes sense to eat a diet that is low in processed foods and rich in nutritious, anti-inflammatory foods. Stay clear of high glycemic foods, trans fats and refined carbs (or try to keep them to a minimum, at least) and up your intake of fiber, lean protein, probiotics and healthy fats. Want some help with your diet? I make suggestions for foods that help support detoxification here and here. Keep your eyes out for some fun challenges I’ll be doing to help you clean up your diet as we move into spring!
- Regular physical activity has been proven to help to manage stress and balance hormones. For cortisol, it can bring things back into balance and can be super effective at helping your body to deal with stress more efficiently. Even a simple walk, a five minute dance party or hula hooping can help and also has added benefits of helping insulin resistance, anxiety and the cardiovascular system.
- Essential oils can also help to reduce perceived stress levels and thereby help balance your hormones. Lavender, bergamot, frankincense and myrrh are just a few examples of essential oils that can be helpful when used for aromatherapy. Its important not to keep a diffuser on continuously. Twenty minutes every 2 hours is effective and safe.
- Adaptogenic Herbs help the body to better manage the stress response. This also means they help to balance hormone levels naturally. Many are anti-inflammatory and also balance blood sugar levels. A few of my favorite adaptogens are Ashwagandha, astragalus, medicinal mushrooms, holy basil and siberian ginseng. If you’re new to using herbs and especially if you’re on any medication or have any preexisting health conditions and want to make sure its safe to start any of these herbs its a good idea check with a qualified herbalist or health care practitioner.
Wondering how herbs can help YOU? I’d love to chat – book a free 15 minute call with me here.
I love this so much. I try to meditate, but honestly I am stressed because i “have no time”. I appreciate the links to the anti-inflammatory foods. I need this so much! I have been very stressed the past week, and have been doing so much, and I have pretty bad inflammation right now, so this will be so, so helpful. Along with the “spring Clean”. I cannot wait! Thank you so much!