This document discusses how the body can help reduce stress. It explains that proper posture, massage, exercise and listening to your body can influence physiology and help lower stress levels. Regular breaks, stretching, and calming activities like yoga are recommended to align body and mind.
This document discusses how the body can help reduce stress. It explains that proper posture, massage, exercise and listening to your body can influence physiology and help lower stress levels. Regular breaks, stretching, and calming activities like yoga are recommended to align body and mind.
This document discusses how the body can help reduce stress. It explains that proper posture, massage, exercise and listening to your body can influence physiology and help lower stress levels. Regular breaks, stretching, and calming activities like yoga are recommended to align body and mind.
This document discusses how the body can help reduce stress. It explains that proper posture, massage, exercise and listening to your body can influence physiology and help lower stress levels. Regular breaks, stretching, and calming activities like yoga are recommended to align body and mind.
Your body is one of your best allies when it comes to banishing stress. This is why you should learn to listen to what it is telling you and treat it like your best friend.
YOUR NO.1 ALLY
Are you someone who only thinks about your body when something is wrong with it? If this is you, remember that your body is your most valuable tool. Your health depends on how good it is at repairing itself, so make sure you let it rest and stay in control of your lifestyle.
YOUR POSTURE IS YOUR BEST PROTECTION
Picture a ladder. It is heavy and tricky to get upright, but once you have, you can keep it that way with the lightest touch of your fingertips. When your body is upright, it is in a resting position, and this posture has an influence on your physiology.
Your diaphragm can massage your inner organs more efficiently and your lungs can fill up with more air when you are standing up. The solar plexus, located under your sternum, also relaxes. Sitting down isn’t a natural position. This is why you should adjust your seat so that your knees are lower than your pelvis, keep your back straight so that your diaphragm can move, and take regular breaks to walk around and stretch.
ACTIVATE YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM
Your skin is closely linked up to your brain, so massaging it helps to activate your parasympathetic nervous system. Massaging even a part of your body reduces your stress levels. Calming, soothing massages lower the amount of the stress hormone cortisol in your system.
Luckily, it is very easy to massage your own body! For example, try putting your elbows on your desk and massaging your forehead from the middle out towards your temples, then your brow, your cheekbones and, finally, your cheeks. After that, make smoothing motions towards your ears, nose and the groove above your top lip, followed by the area around your mouth. You can then start to massage your lower jaw, the back of your neck and your shoulder blades. Finish off by stretching your body like a cat! Animals and children both do this instinctively. USE YOUR BODY TO COUNTER STRESS
Lots of physical exercises are good for our body and help us combat stress. Yoga, tai chi, the Feldenkrais Method, sophrology and qigong all work to align body and mind through poses, breathing techniques and meditation. You can practise yoga at your desk, for instance, by rotating your head and doing other stretches, but you should also consider doing sport at least once a week.
