Stress is a rather complicated topic. It feels different for everyone, there are good and bad types, and chronic stress (negative stress that persists over the course of months) is the leading cause of aging on the molecular level.
Much of our lives are spent in either two frames of mind:
1. Being stressed out
2. Attempting to manage our stress.
Think about your day: You wake up, and realize how many things you need to get done.
You make a cup of coffee, hop in the shower, read the news, or whatever prepares you for the day. You get in the car, and drive to work. Stress is the release of cortisol in the body, which has much to do with your ability to focus.
But when you get off work, hop in your car, you take a big exhale. Work is done, you
begin to focus a bit less, or at least at a much lower level of intensity. You don’t listen to the same music you drove to work listening to because you don’t want to be amped up, you want to calm down. Calming down, by its definition, means becoming less stressed, and not feeling a sense of urgency.
You get home, walk into your house, and begin your evening routine. (whatever that may be) An evening routine is designed to line up a series of behaviors that match the decline in cortisol and dopamine that are spiked throughout the day, and an uptick in serotonin, and GABA. Both of these neurotransmitters work to produce drowsiness, lower levels of alertness, and produce a calming effect on your nervous system. (Chronic stress really takes a toll on your ability to produce these two chemicals.)
Your body is designed to be high stress during the first 8 hours of the day, and gradually get lower in the last 8 hours of your waking day. So, one of the main ways we can manage our stress effectively is by working with our bodies and not against it.
What that means is: high stress activities in the morning, and low stress activities in the evening.
Obviously this will not always be perfect, and that’s okay.
Three low stress behaviors that you can do in the evening:
1. Box Breathing: (4 count nasal inhale, 4 count hold, 4 count deliberate exhale) This
stimulates our vagus nerve, which has a massive role in regulating our body. (It is the
longest cranial nerve in the body connecting brain to heart, and digestive tract)
2. Reading: This doesn’t work for everyone, but spending time focusing on a book (if it isn’t too stimulating) can help your mind disconnect from the stressful activities of the day and allow you to settle in to low stress mode)
3. Going on a Walk: Going on a slow, intentional walk, without looking at a screen, can be incredibly therapeutic. It’s one of my favorite low stress behaviors because, you get outside and that aids your circadian rhythm, (morning walks aid in waking up as well) you will probably see other people, (community) and you allow your mind to process what has happened during the day.
Lee Ramsey has a passion for fitness as a way to help people grow and change into more adaptable, capable and resilient versions of themselves. He is owner of Sanctify Fitness in Covington and a regular fitness columnist for the NKyTribune.