These days, people are more stressed out than ever before, and our bodies are keeping the score. Naturally mitigate the impact of daily stressors with practical shifts in behavior to help manage stress, plus self-care rituals that bookend your days to calm the mind, body, and spirit.
Not all stress is bad stress. In fact, stress can boost productivity and improve performance. In ancient times, stress helped us out-run predators or better focus on the task at hand so we could, well, survive. Today, the stress of an impending move can help motivate us to take clothes to a donation drop-off and pack up our belongings well before the move date. We may even feel stress from experiences we label “good”: the excitement of a job promotion, a cross-country trip, or a new relationship will likely put a bit of stress on us. Stress becomes a problem when we max out and switch from productive stress to distress. This tipping point is different for each of us.
The shift from positive stress to distress will express itself differently from person to person. If we’re paying attention, we’ll notice warning signs leading up to stress overload or overwhelm. The signs are often subtle: an increase in fatigue, chapped lips, racing heart, digestion troubles, irritability. Things we may not even notice as signs of stress. What may be stressful to you may not be to someone else, and vice versa. But what tends to be distressful to everyone, is the feeling of being out of control.
Establishing a routine that’s easy to follow at home, work, or on a vacation can help reduce this stress in two ways:
- It sets up a reliable framework from which we can detect the signs that stress is shifting from something good to something not so good.
- It gives us control over part of the day. So, when things start to feel hectic and out of your hands, we can be certain that come 5 o’clock we’ll be doing yoga, heading out for a walk, or sipping an adaptogenic tea - just like every other day.
What your schedule looks like can be unique to you, but we recommend incorporating these stress-reducing rituals into your daily practices as often as you can.
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Start the day intentionally
Ease into your morning by starting the day slowly. We like to start with natural, sustained energy from ALIVE Yerba Mate. Infused with 1800mg of adaptogenic mushrooms – reishi, chaga, and turkey tail – ALIVE helps start the day off strong and support the body’s natural ability to adapt to stressors. It’s nourishing, calming, and gives us something we can look forward to as a part of our morning wellness ritual to nourish the mind, body, spirit.
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Get Moving
At some point in the day, move your body in the most pleasurable way. Dance, take a class, go for a walk, run, or hike, climb a tree, stretch your arms, wiggle your toes, roll your head around to give your neck a good stretch. Movement doesn’t have to be big, but it should be consistent, easy, and enjoyable. Just a few minutes can have major impacts on your physical and mental wellbeing.
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Spend Time With People You Love
Even though it may not always feel this way, it is easier to accomplish difficult things together. Sharing the good times makes them more enjoyable, and sharing the bad times makes them more bearable. Being in community will make a difference to you and the people around you.
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Stand, Sit, or Lie in the Sun
There are two benefits to letting the sun shine down on you: first, it gets you outside where you can be with plants, people, animals, nature and fresh air. Second, you absorb Vitamin D, which has a significant impact on our health. And guess what? Nearly 40% of Americans are Vitamin D deficient. Lacking a crucial vitamin like D is stressful even if its effects aren’t immediately detectable. Vitamin D helps stabilize our moods, keeps our bones healthy, and staves off fatigue. So, get outside every day!
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Schedule Free Time
It’s hard to remember to do nothing, but it's so important. Let your free time be free! Pencil it in, but don’t attach any expectations to it.
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Sleep
Human adults need at least 7 hours of sleep a night, but herbalists recommend between 9 and 12 hours. It is also beneficial to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every single day. You can blame us for your boring bedtime, but believe us, the body has so much to do while it rests. It heals wounds, cleans the glymphatic system, purges information it doesn’t need, dreams, and much more. Establishing a sleep routine will make falling asleep a lot easier, though it might take a few months to fully adopt. Our routine is pretty simple: get off screens and climb into bed at the same time every night. Wake up feeling refreshed and rested.
For many of us, routines can feel stressful. Being too scheduled makes us want to rebel. If that’s you, make your schedule loose. Don’t commit to any timeframes and expect that you’ll switch up the type of movement you do, the people you spend time with, or the food you eat. And for the people who feel secure with a strict schedule, go ahead: meal plan and schedule your yoga classes for the rest of the year. Remember, the point of daily rituals is to help you feel in control, and that level of control is entirely up to you.
