How to reduce stress immediately without medication

A personal story

So this is a personal story. Something that happened to us today. We like to share it hoping it can help you and others.

Especially nowadays in this crazy times we live in. We all experience stress at some level. We too have stress. And we did have stress a lot today. Not just normal stress. No so much stress that we were screaming to each other while our kids were watching.

Not nice

Not nice at all.

We were doing it all wrong while we forgot 1 very important thing! It is not about the amount of stress you have how stressed you feel, it is about your actions, what you do to cope with the stress or how you can diminish our stress.

Today, while being so stressed we forgot a very essential knowledge that we have. The knowledge how we can decrease this stress immediately, without medications.

We like to share what happed to us and how we were able to change our stress, so hopefully we can help others who are stressed.

What we did wrong

So here is what we did wrong:

We watched the news and checked our iphones every couple of minutes. So wrong… the news is so depressing these days. It is way better to just check the news once a day on a set time and the rest of the time live your life…

We tried to teach our kids from home (as most parents nowadays are bound to do so) while we were trying to work at home at the same time.

We became very worried about our loved ones, our families in the Netherlands, Andorra and Spain just because we heard terrible stories, but we had not even talked to them ourselves that same day.

My iPhone broke, all my pictures, videos, all data cannot be recovered due to what they called a software problem, and I got so stressed about that, that even the kids started to think that that was the worst that could happen in the world.

We were stressed, our kids started to fight about a toy they both wanted to play with.

Screaming

And then… we were screaming to each other about something so unimportant I don’t even know what it was about.

Anyway, we became super stressed and angry and at one moment I got a clever idea: I told Manel to lay down so I could massage him. Well, of course he did not feel like getting a massage from someone who was screaming at him and being super stressed. I begged him, and he gave in.

Wow…

I was astonished what happened in just a couple of minutes…

While starting the massage my muscles became softer, my head became clean, my breath became slower. Within some minutes I felt that I was in total meditation giving Manel the massage. I glanced to him and saw that he looked super relaxed himself as well. Our daughter was laying next to him and started to smile.

Of course I knew what massage can do. How it can relax you, we see that in all our lessons and treatments for many years, but we both just forgot about that in the heat of the moment.

Tell everyone

Our 8-year-old daughter immediately reacted by saying: ‘You should tell the whole world how massage can make you so relaxed. So all parents can be relaxed because of massage. Shall I write it down on our window so people can read it in the street, or better put it on Internet so everyone knows.’

So here we are with our story!

But now, let’s explain it in a scientific way, how stress works:

What happens in your body during stress?

When you feel threatened, your nervous system responds immediately by releasing a flood of stress hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline. These stress hormones awaken the body for emergency action. Your heart pounds faster, muscles tighten, blood pressure rises, breath quickens and your senses become sharper.

Fight or flight?

These stress hormones, cortisol, and adrenaline are very good when you need them. It is amazing that in a split second we can release these hormones in our body to become more alert. In the so-called ‘fight or flight’ situation.

This is a moment in which you need to decide quickly if you need to escape (flight) or if you need to take action (fight) in a dangerous situation. It does not have to be so dramatic, your body also releases these hormones in the case you need to be more alert, like for an exam.

Good stress

There is good stress and bad stress. Good stress is stress that helps you to reach your goal. To help you to save your life for example, as we explained the ‘fight or flight’ situation.

Bad stress

On the other hand, there is bad stress. The bad stress is when you keep these levels of cortisol in your body in your bloodstream for a longer period during the day. Being stressed a couple of hours a day is very harmful to your body.

How to de-stress?

So in short: You need cortisol in your body to be alert or when you are in a ‘fight or flight’ situation. However, stress for a longer period is bad for your body. So what do you need to do to when you are stressed, to de-stress? Well, obviously you need to decrease the cortisol in your body.

Lowering cortisol

The best to lower your cortisol level in your body is to improve the blood circulation. You can do that by exercise or massage. Both improve your blood circulation.

Too tired to exercise?

However, many people who are stressed are also tired. They don’t feel like doing exercise. Therefore a massage treatment is a very good option. By massage, you also improve your blood circulation, and it is a passive form of exercise. You don’t have to do much. It is the masseur who is actually doing the sports to you.

How does massage reduce stress?

When receiving an acupressure massage treatment, the acupressure you receive is working on the 12 systems of your body. Also the endocrine system, the hormone system. By receiving a massage, your blood circulation improves.

Endorphins

The blood can filter the cortisol out of your body much quicker than if you did not receive a massage. And In the meantime, your hormones are being balanced due to the acupressure you feel when you get a massage. Your body is releasing instantly what we call happy hormones, like endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. And what we call stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are reduced by massage.

Are you stressed?

So do you feel stressed? Or do you know someone who is stressed? Please recommend them a massage, if they can.

Stay safe, healthy and happy! We are in this together!

Create a stress-free day,

Manel & Nicole

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