Where Do You Hold Your Stress? And 5 Steps To Combat Stress

You heard me say it before and I will say it again: your mind and body are always connected. One influences the other and when one is out of balance the other will be as well.

[tweetthis]Your mind and body are always connected. One influences the other and when one is out of balance the other will be as well. [/tweetthis]

Good, now that we got that down let us talk about how you can combat stress easier.

So if the body is connected to the mind and vice-versa that means that by relaxing one of them the other will relax as well. Right? (good, happy you agree with me).

Now, the mind is a very complex system and sometimes it just does whatever it wants. Sometimes it’s just difficult to calm it down.

However, we can easily address the body. Well…..easier. By releasing physical stress, tensions, pressures in your body your mind will follow this process of relaxation.

We hold much of our mental stress from being business owners, mothers, wives etc in our bodies. Probably all of it. Everything that happens in our lives may be stored in our bodies.

neck-pain — Photo Credit: micolumnasana via Compfight cc

You may hold stress all around you body however the 2 most common areas are:

1. Shoulders and neck. Very painful stuff and the problem with holding stress and tension here is that you are restricting the nerve pathways leading from your cervical spine (The Arch Of Life) down your arms and so end up with pain and numbness in your arms, wrists, fingers

2. Lower back. Do I need to say anything about this? We all know that nagging and painful pain. The problem with holding stress and tension here is that you block other nerve pathways leading down your legs and can lead to problems such as knee pain which can lead to other problems.

The consequences of holding psychological stress in your body:

The less time you spend to relax your body the more tension you build up. And it builds up until the system collapses. Holding that tension in your body for years and years may lead to:

• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Compression the intervertebral discs
• Chronic Lowe back pain
• Knee pain and even meniscus damage.
• Ankle pain and even Achilles tendonitis
• Should pain as mentioned before

The worst ones are those that send shooting pain down your arm or leg. Have you ever experienced that? Tension, tension and more tension.

How on earth are you going to RELAX?

Many of us struggle to relax. I know I used to, but not anymore. I learnt how to “let go” of my shoulders and arms with every occasion I have and I teach this to my students as well. The result: instant stress relieve.

So here are 5 steps to help you relax, let go and….get floppy as I always say:

1. Become aware of your body
2. Become aware of the places you hold stress and tension
3. Find a position that does not cause you to tens those areas (i.e. some desks make you unconsciously raise, and tense up, your shoulders when you type, that might be because the chair is too low or the table it to high)
4. Breathe into those areas
5. Visualize the muscles melting away and relax

Benefits of doing these steps:

Besides the fact that you feel awesome in your body again:

• you release that tension you put on your body and help it heal and recover
• you can be more focused and productive (of course with less pain to nag you you can actually do some work)
• you are more patient and calm with yourself and those around you
• you achieve more freedom of movement
• you age gracefully

I practice and teach more advances techniques. So if you feel the above steps don’t work for you then give a shout and I will step in and give you others that will work better in your case.

These relaxation practices and methods I teach should not be used to replace professional medical treatment. You may use them together with your treatment if you believe they are beneficial to you. Please also bear in mind that I am not a doctor or a therapist, but I do have experience and work with women who hold stress and tension in their bodies to help them let go it and achieve more freedom of movement.

March 17, 2015

3 Awesome Benefits Of A Great Posture

As a Martial Arts kid you never get a break. I’ve been practicing Karate Shotokan since the age of 8. Now that’s a long time, 20 years to be more exact.

Posture, precision, focus, body control, emotional control are some of the few elements of a great Karate-Ka. And I do consider myself a great Karate-Ka.

But today I want to talk to you about one of these elements, that is Posture.

As a professional or entrepreneurial woman you have a lot going on. You have the business, family, friends, and yourself to look after. Probably more to add to the list.

There is a lot of stress and tension piling up and then you feel exhausted, burnt out and overwhelmed instead of energized and excited.

But the real problem is…

And the problem is not that you feel like this for a day or two. The problem is that you feel like this ALL the time and it’s difficult to change that state in a blink of an eye if you don’t know how.

You go for a run from time to time, you try to eat healthy and at regular times and to sleep well but sometime things don’t work out as planned.

Well I am here to tell you that there is a simple solution. Things that really work do not need to be the most complicated ones, many times the simplest elements make the greatest differences.

That one simple thing is POSTURE, but you’ve already guessed that, it’s in the title of this blog after all.

Here are 3 reasons posture is the most awesome thing you can do for your body and your mind.

3. Posture sends stress signals to the brain

Your brain records everything your body does and when you slouch that sends stress signals to your brain.

Your brain actually thinks you are stressed. The opposite is also true, a good posture tells the brain you are happy.

When you adopt a tall, relaxed posture the “feel good” hormones are free to move around your body. And Voila! Happy you.

2. Your mind and body and always connected

If you feel stressed, nervous and anxious relax your body instead of struggling to “empty your mind”. It’s easier to relax you body, then your mind will shortly follow.

1. Reduce aches and pains around your body

When you slouch and you compress your body you put a lot of stress on it so everything starts hurting. That’s neck, shoulders or lower back pain many times comes from repeated body misuse, and the most common body misue it’s the posture.

Pain leads to stress, frustration and grumpiness and then to less focus, productivity and creativity.

A good, relaxed, elongated posture takes the pressure of your body and, because your mind and body are always connected, relieves the pressure or stress at a mental level as well.

To elongate your spine you need to relax your shoulder and pull your body up from the crown of your head. But there are many ways to do that.

My clients learn a series of elongated posture techniques throughout our coaching, whether that is face to face or virtual.

I’d be happy to share one of my techniques with your completely for FREE. All you have to do is book a FREE call will me and I will show you how it’s done.

February 10, 2015May 23, 2015

3 Mistakes Women Make Which Increase Stress Levels

#3. Obsessed about weight gain and weight loss

Keeping a healthy weight is crucial for your health. However weighing yourself every day or every other day won’t get you anywhere and you will be continuously worried and stressed that you are getting nowhere.

Your weight will fluctuate from day to day, often throughout the day as you eat and drink. Better weigh yourself at the end of he week to see where you are on a weekly, not daily basis.

And if you really want to lose weight, doing it fast will get you nowhere. Sure, you will lose it – the weight, but you will put it right back up.

When you deal with weight loss have a plan, a healthy lifestyle plan, and stick to it. Have a schedule of exercising, create healthy habits for the entire family and just focus on the process only. This will also reduce the stress and frustration of slow progress.

#2. Worrying about every little detail

You like to do things well, to strive for perfection. I know, I do the same. However, many times, although we strive for perfection, we cannot reach it not matter how hard we try.

This tension of trying to get things 100% right leads to working long hours, frustration and stress. The result… unhealthy lifestyle.

Because no matter how well you nourish yourself, and how often you exercise, you also need to look at your emotional wellbeing. Then we can talk about real and not partial health.

#1. Not allowing for some space in their lives

You look after everyone else and there is not time and space left for yourself. As a result you are continuously under pressure and stressed.

And you also transmit that pressure, tension and stress to the people around you, particularly your family and children. Believe me when I say your family suffers a lot when you are unwell, I tell you this from a child’s perspective.

As a child and teenager I took all my mother’s stress, anxiety and depression, all my parents’ anger and violence into my early 20’s. Only when I left to live on my own in UK I managed to heal and become the opposite of them. Nowadays I manage stress in a totally different way, and no more anxiety, depression or anger.

The solution

But it’s so difficult to make the space in our minds and bodies to allow ourselves to heal and nurture ourselves.

No worries, this is why I am here doing what I do. I can show you how to make that little bit of space in your world to allow yourself to slow down, breathe, relax and then resume your hard work and make things happen faster and better than ever before.

You may think I am talking about a sort of meditation or some mindfulness techniques. No, no, none of this. I have a much, much simpler and easier to implement habit to help you relax and find a little bit of calmness in your life.

A habit which no one ever considers because it’s so obvious we overlook it all the time. I can show you what it is, FOR FREE. Book a free call with me and I will share it with you, my little secret weapon 😉

January 12, 2015January 15, 2015

How to stretch your fingers and toes and why

This is a question I received from a reader of my ebook “15 Healthy Habits For The Body”. One of the habits I mentioned in it is to stretch your fingers and toes.

There are many ways to stretch fingers and toes. By stretching your fingers, toes and consequently wrists and ankles you:

– improve the blood circulation to those areas

– you relax your tendons, ligaments, muscles which leads to relaxation further up the arm or leg and better connectivity to the hands/fingers, feet/toes

– reduce the risk of plantar fascia or carpal tunnel syndrome

– improve range of movement in your hands, wrists, feet, ankles and thus freedom of movement

Today I will talk about 3 ways to stretch your toes or fingers.

1. To stretch your fingers. Stretch your arm out in front of you, without bending it and with fingers facing down (as much as it goes alone without pressure).

Take each finger and slowly pull it down and towards you. When you reach the thumbs it gets a bit tangled. For a good thumb stretch follow these 3 steps:

Step 1: place the back of your hands together, so that one palm faces you, one palm faces away from you. The hand facing you will be the hand you will stretch. Both thumbs are now next to each other. Got that?

Step 2: now wrap the thumb and the index finger of the hand facing away from you around the thumb you will stretch (that is the hand facing you)

Step 3: slowly start pull the thumb down

Repeat on the other hand

2. To stretch your toes, one at a time, sit down with your knee close to your chest so you can reach your toes. Then simply take on toe at a time and slowly pull it towards you.

This is the stretch I use mostly because it is easier to control. There is no body weight on them and you stretch as far as you feel comfortable.

3. Another method to stretch your toes is to kneel, and sit on your heels with your toes tucked in. This is a great stretch for toes and sole of the foot. This can be a deep stretch and sometimes painful if the range of movement in the toes is limited.

4. For fingers, instead of stretching one at a time you can stretch them all in the same time by holding your palm facing up and slowly pulling your fingers down towards the floor. This one will stretch all fingers except the thumb. For thumbs use the technique at point 1.

However, because every finger has a different range of mobility some may stretch less or more than others.

Try these stretches, let me know how you get along and if you need any further guidance. Practice the finger stretches especially if you type a lot. Take 30 sec from time to time and stretch your fingers. It will make a big difference.

And remember Be Mindful

If you’d like to learn more please download my free eBook “15 Healthy Habits For The Body” or book a free consultation with me.

December 2, 2014March 13, 2015

How to let go of stress instantly

As women we wear multiple hats. We take upon us many responsibilities and a lot of stress. That builds up and before you know it, gets out of control. This in turn leads to anxiety, more stress and even depression.

It is important to learn simple and fast ways you can do instantly to relieve the stress, center yourself and regain focus. And here are 3 of them that I use most:

1. Focus on your Heart

Close your eyes, focus on your heart and breath 3 times (deeper than you normally would). Do this now…

Breathing straight into your heart helps you center, find quietness and inner peace. This is particularly important when you feel angry and you want to respond to the situation without regretting it later. This will help you respond rather than just react, throwing out whatever comes to you.

Photo Credit: martinak15 via Compfight cc

2. Relax your Muscles

Close your eyes and feel how your tensed muscles on your face, shoulders, back and arms just relax and drop. A deep breath or sigh can help with this.

Many times we hold our stress and frustration in our bodies. Actually most of the time and especially around the shoulders. When we close the outside world by closing our eyes, we allow ourselves to internalize the feeling, and just let go of the physical tension and with it goes the mental tension.

3. Fake the Smile

There has been scientific research done to prove that even a fake smile has the power to change your mood. Your brain does not make the difference between a fake and a real smile and it reacts the same, releasing hormones in the body which make you feel happier. Try this now…fake a smile.

All these elements are essential parts in my 6 step Outdoor Health and Wellness Program when I work with stressed out women to leave them feeling energized and transformed in as little as 12 weeks.

Please leave your feedback below, I would love to hear how all this has made a difference in how you feel while reading this.

If you’d like to know more please download my free eBook “15 Healthy Habits For The Body”