Managing stress - the catalyst to your wellbeing.
There is this dichotomy between what we know and what we do - and so many of us know this. Yet we get sucked into the doing and go go go and can’t seem to settle into the settling. Knowing what I know about perimenopause, bodies changing and our ability to harness our physiology, one of the most important tools in our tool belt is how we learn to manage our stress. Here are a few proven tips to do just that.
Breathing techniques allowing for deep diaphragmatic breathing is one techniques that is truly helpful.
On your back, taking deep breaths in through your nose and out through pursed lips (think breathing out through a straw) while your eyes are closed, help to settle the nervous system, promote better lung perfusion (oxygen exchange in the body) and relaxation. Doing this regularly has shown clinical improvements in anxiety and mood. My tagline is always, do this as a practice, so that when you need to pull it out in a moment of uncertainty, you aren’t trying to learn it.
visualisation is a powerful tool in situation management
There is good reason that our Olympic athletes use this as a way to set them up for success on the race course. In working with an Olympic Bobsleigh team member I remember her actively explaining to me that she would sit in her living room, eyes closed and visualize the course regularly to help engrain the twists and turns to memory. Spending time visualizing a certain situation to a successful conclusion can help us in the real world given that our brains recognize the situation as if it had lived it before. How cool is that.
Self talk works.
In those physical situations where the fear and anxiety creep up, talking to myself has been a go to strategy to help calm my system down. Many a mountain climb has seen me talking to my inner self as I would with a novice climber, hiker or skier “you’ve got this, one step at a time, gently and hey! Way to go!”. What might seem silly is enough to help settle the racing heart and fight or flight response in a time where calm needs to reign and has been my trusty side kick on mountain passes, rock climbs and awkward party moments (yep even social butterflies need a support from time to time).
Feel your power - go lift something heavy
There is no doubt in my mind that exercise, specifically resistance training (pushing, pulling, squatting, lifting, anything with weight) is a powerful tool for our health. I initially meet women at a crossroads of injury, once we move into rehabilitation the inevitable shift from lifting a weight to feeling powerful starts to take hold. Feeling strong in our bodies is a tool that I have found helps to navigate the feelings of helplessness and does our bones, muscles and brain a favour too. Stay tuned, there is so much more to say on this topic in coming blogs!
Saying Nope
Listen, we haven’t gotten to this phase of life without learning a bit about ourselves. This is also the time where on the flip side of everything, we can also say “Nope. No thanks!” to the things that don’t serve us any longer. Nope, don’t have to jump into a kayak to run the class 4 river, nope, don’t have to run three 1/2 marathons in a year, nope, don’t need to be racing from one activity to another every.single.weekend. Nope to the extra shift just because they asked and definitely nope to the person who is an energy drain rather than the bucket filler. I am all for pushing our boundaries, there is merit to “try something new everyday” but no one ever did anything well by saying yes to absolutely everything.
Fear, anxiety are very real feelings that seem to creep up on us during this transition in life. Knowledge is power and stocking various tools into the tool belt is what helps navigate this phase of life that much easier.
Stop Playing Small.
Breath.
We’ve got this.
xo
Karin