5 Reasons You Need to Stop Stressing Now
Stress is real and it’s wreaking havoc, so stop hiding your head in the sand.
If you’re currently feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and burned out, then you are certainly not alone. This is pretty much the status quo for countless millions of people around the globe.
There are days when I wake up at 5 am with a screaming child that pulls me out the sweetest dream; my cortisol level skyrockets in a matter of second, and it sets the tone for the rest of the day; there is breakfast to prepare, the house to tidy, a child to change (that, of course, doesn’t want to be changed), and all of this before 7 am, when I need to leave the house in a hurry to go to work.
Some days it goes smoothly, some other times everything is a challenge and I can feel the heart pounding in my chest, and I deep desire to run, just to get off some steam.
The fact that we are women, and especially mothers, are busier than before, it still doesn’t make it ok to live a life ridden with anxiety! In fact, it makes it even more important that we explore the reasons for this stress and work out ways to stop it.
Here are five reasons why you shouldn’t just accept stress as an unchangeable part of your life:
It Damages Your Immune System
Stress forces the body to redirect blood and oxygen away from the organs and toward the muscles. Your body assumes that if you’re very stressed, you must be in danger. Hence you are more likely to need your biceps than your spleen!
The problem is, that this then means that your immune system stops working as well as it should — leaving you open to attacks from harmful bacteria and germs. The result is that you’ll get sick more often, the longer you are highly stressed.
Stress can also shut down your reproductive system, decrease milk production, and it can ultimately lead to hypertension and weight gain.
It Prevents Nutrient Absorption
As a postpartum mama, you need your body to work efficiently, in order to be able to assimilate all the important nutrients that can support your energy level and the healing of your body.
Stress causes blood to be directed away from your digestive system. That then means you absorb nutrients less effectively. You can have the best diet, and still, feel miserable and have all sorts of digestive issues, from indigestion to burping and reflux.
Over time, this can result in serious malnutrition and nutrient deficiencies, resulting in a host of other issues.
It Makes You Unhappy
Not only does stress make you extremely unhappy in the moment — kind of by definition — but it can also lead to longer-term issues with your mental health such as depression, anxiety, and mental fatigue.
When you feel low, anxious, and depressed, the world will feel as though it has no color. In order to really enjoy the things you’re doing — you need to allow yourself to feel the feelings, accept the situation for how it is, and take a step for a calmer life.
If you are a parent, look at how your child behaves; he doesn’t know what anxiety means, and he manages to find happiness in every moment of his life.
It Causes You to Make Mistakes
When you are stressed, you will struggle to focus on the task in hand. Simply, whatever it is you’re worried about is going to seem more important.
Have you ever noticed that when you are stressed you tend to do million of things at the same time, and in a very unproductive way? Like packing the nappy bag, while preparing a lunch box and brushing your teeth, to the realise you placed the bag in the fridge, you have mistaken the body lotion with the toothpaste and you leave the house without nappies in the nappy bag?
When our brain is excited due to a high level of cortisol, acetylcholine, and adrenaline, it leads to the front part of our brain to get shut down. The more you stress, the more mistakes you’re likely to make and this can lead to all kinds of complications and issues.
It Damages Relationships
Stress can make you short-tempered, it can rob you of the energy you need for socializing, and it can result in you being less pleasant to be around. This has knock on effects and can place strain on your relationships.
When you are highly stressed you will feel short-tempered, you won’t find pleasure in spending time with your children, and you will walk around unable to breathe from your belly, with a mind cluttered with negative thoughts.
If you don’t fix your stress for yourself, think about the impact it’s having on your children or other loved ones.
There are so many wonderful ways that you can include in your daily routine to tackle the stress, without changing too much what you are doing.
• Go for a walk in nature
• Breathe in and out for 2 minutes, whenever you feel edgy or nervous
• Cuddle your baby
• Hydrate your brain cells
• Limit the daily intake of alcohol, sugar, and caffeine (or get rid of it altogether until you feel better)
• Eat for calmness, and chose anti-inflammatory foods rich in tryptophan and magnesium
• Take a magnesium supplement, every night
• Introduce mindfulness and gratitude into your life
- Keep a journal, and get to the root causes of where the anxiety is coming from
