I’m excited to share with you a selection of my favourite healthy tips to alleviate stress I’ve learned whilst training in kinesiology. I wish I’d had this toolbox and understanding of stress years ago! It has taken time to compile, and through personal experience I know I can rely on them when I need them. I encourage you to compile your own list that you can refer to when you need it, here’s some inspiration :)

There is a sense of urgency that comes with stress that makes us obsess over a problem that demands to be figured out now! Or that we feel we have to do everything and have it done yesterday, when most of the things we put pressure on ourselves to do are most effectively done at a slower pace anyway. Give yourself permission to slow down, you do have time to reach calm and grounding from which point it will be far easier to make decisions and get things done. Even spending just ten minutes on stress relievers like the ones below will dramatically improve your sense of ease in the moment.

The following tips will help you stay calm and grounded, and lessen the impact of stress on your well being, so you can feel happier and get on with things and not get tetchy with your family or at work, so you will be less vulnerable to colds and bugs going round (stress weakens the immune system), so you can sleep well at night, stay present/in the moment and enjoy life.

1. Emergency Stress Release (ESR) – hold your forehead with one hand for 3-5 minutes to bring fresh blood to your pre-frontal cortex, calming you mentally and physically and help you think more clearly. Doing this while laying down on the floor is lovely and grounding, or even while sitting during a bathroom visit!

2. Drink water – highly stressful situations can make us sweat lots, making the body lose more water than usual so heed your thirst and increase your water intake between meals. If you find that your energy gets depleted after a highly stressful time drink water or calming herbal teas either hot or at room temperature. Chilled water when stressed can cause us to lose strength. Water is an all-round tonic to support your whole body and brain to function at its best. Remembering to step away and take care of this basic essential will be an excellent excuse for a breather.

3. Rescue Remedy – add a few drops of Rescue Remedy to that water you are drinking to hit two birds with one stone. I have found it frequently shows as a priority with very stressed out clients when muscle testing in a kinesiology session.

4. Fast-acting, calming self-massage – using your finger tips rub below your collarbone, on the fleshy part just in front of your shoulders in the shape of a banana. Make this a poke/rub so that you feel what’s going on under your skin – if this area is sore and feels tight and painful to rub, well done! You are safely releasing congestion in the lymphatics for your brain and nervous system. Find the painful areas and get rubbing! Rub this area in front of your left and right shoulders for 10 seconds a time for 3 or 4 rounds to notice the benefit mentally and change in pain/tightness level. This is a key stress release technique in kinesiology. If you are dehydrated you won’t feel a change so have a glass of water first!

5. Come back down to Earth – stress makes our thoughts race and muscles tighten, it’s as if we literally exit all sense of being embodied and kind of fly away! It doesn’t matter what has brought on the stress our hormones still register the situation as a threat to our safety and a racing heart, fast, shallow breaths, tightened muscles and digestive organs are part of the physiological effects that come with the fight or flight response that highly stressed people live with every day.
One way to release excess adrenaline, created to enable this fight or flight response, is to shake. So keep your feet planted on the ground hip-width apart and gently shake through your hands, shoulders, then the whole body, and smile to yourself – it’s hard to be stressed and smile at the same time. Continue for a minute or two. This is a Qi Gong called Shake the Tree.

6. Let yourself off the hook - we all are prone to engage in old, self-destructive behaviours when highly stressed, now is not the time to be hard on yourself. We are all prone to look to stimulants and distractions to survive the demands of the day, and to switch off from distressing, uncomfortable mind chatter. Many people live in this state for years without realising, so it’s fantastic you are aware enough to realise when stress is in charge of your decisions and behaviours. And know how empowering it is to have tools at your disposal to support yourself through trying times. Believe me using them will make a difference!

7. High Quality Rest Time – being stressed is exhausting, it uses a lot of energy to be physiologically prepared to flee or fight constantly, and when you are able to rest you may just want to sleep or switch off in front of the TV with a bowl of ice cream. If you need to do that please do it, but as soon as you feel ready to focus on high quality rest time, which will be far more helpful and nourishing in the short and long-term. This means healthy, calming, positive activities that you find always work for you personally and keep phone/laptop use to a minimum, and could range from reading an uplifting book, having a bath with a lit candle on the side, playing a guided meditation, writing in your journal or gratitude journal for example.

8. Move – some of my clients’ favourite de-stress activities involve moving... Going for a walk while listening to music, or walking somewhere in nature with the dogs, a visit to the gym or a bike ride, yoga or qi gong. It’s a very good way to direct and release tension that builds up in the body at stressful times and relax.

9. Foods & drinks for stress release - Wanting sweetness as a soothing balm? Honey has the ability to relieve stress and anxiety. Try taking it in a herbal tea such as those containing lavender or chamomile before bed, or as part of your emergency package of stress relievers to help you in the moment. Other foods that aid calming include good quality animal proteins, think eggs, fish, chicken, green vegetables and carbs like sweet potato.

10. Some other favourite de-stress tools - I asked some of my clients what their fave healthy things to do to relax are, and these included: going through the simple everyday ritual of making yourself a cup of tea, making a soup from scratch, pampering with a face mask and a self-foot massage. Playing sea sounds to fall asleep to. Personally I love Spotify’s Peaceful Piano playlist, Clannad (well, I do live in Glastonbury!), classical music and healing frequency ambient music from Magnetic Minds or Jason Stephenson are other personal favourites for calming or as background music to write to.

Further to using healthy ways to release stress please explore the causes of the stress and how to either change your perception of the situation or leave it behind. Is this just the latest in a long-term pattern of similar experiences? There could be a message in it for you to receive and understand before it can release. It may help to explore this with a friend, and know that I am always here to help you in addressing and releasing causes and the effects of stress too using Kinesiology and PSYCH-K.