Are you Sick of this Global Pandemic?

There is so much stress and fear in our society at this time. Not knowing if we will get sick, if our family will get sick, if our loved ones are going to die. Not knowing how we are going to make it financially when our business is shut down. There are so many reasons for fear to get the better of us right now, but one of the things I find myself saying to my patients frequently is, “Is the stress helping us in any way? If the stress is helping us be motivated to make changes and precautions to improve the outcome of the situation, go ahead and be stressed. If the stress does not improve the outcome in any way, work to let it go.” Letting it go is a practice. You have to work at it, but stress not only impairs our immune system, increasing the risk of us getting sick, it greatly increases cardiovascular disease such as heart attacks and strokes, which is the number one cause of death world-wide. Let’s discuss things you can do to help lower your stress response.

Stress Management 

Deep breathing, meditation, yoga, tai chi, qi gong, and prayer are all practices that help lower stress hormone production. By practicing stress management daily, you can be in the same stressful situation but you no longer get the large production of the stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine. Just doing 10 slow deep breaths (that raise your belly, not your chest) you can lower your systolic blood pressure by 10 points. It is harder to fully relaxed when you are stuck in the “fight or flight” response, but you just have to keep working at it. Try to get these stress management options in first thing in the morning to help you stay grounded throughout the day. You do not have to go to a class, you can follow along to videos on youtube. A favorite of my patients is “Yoga with Adriene” who offers a 30-day beginners yoga video series. For my busy mama’s who have no time between working and taking care of their kids and families, I recommend just doing slow deep breathing while you are in your car on the way to and from work. Just going for a walk and focusing on breathing and appreciating the world around you, is enough to calm down your nervous system. 

Exercise 

Maintaining a healthy exercise routine during times of stress help with balancing out stress hormone production. Ideally, we want mild to moderate exercise, since high intensity exercise can raise stress hormones. It helps release endorphins which are important for the immune system and to help with improving mood and sleep. 

Calming Herbs 

Calming “Nervine” herbs help lower sympathetic nervous system activity resulting in lower stress hormones in the body. Often times these are the same herbs used for sleep: valerian, kava, skullcap, avena. If you are already tired, you do not want to use these specific herbs since they can make you more sedated, but if your stress is very high, they work well to calm down your stress response. If you are more tired and burned out, calming herbs that are less sedating include lemon balm (which also has anti-viral activity), ashwagandha, and Holy Basil. 

Although these times are stressful, focusing on the benefits of this time can also be beneficial. For example, “I appreciate having more time with my family, working in the garden.” “I appreciate life slowing down so I can focus on what is really important.” When you are feeling overwhelmed, take a step back and focus on what you do have control over, what you do love, and spend more time doing activities that give you fulfilment. Work on stress management, getting in your exercise, and if needed add in some herbs to help. This pandemic will end and we will go back to life as we know it. Use this time to refocus on what is important.