Stress can have a huge impact on your health and wellbeing, and can impact nearly every system in your body including your immune system, nervous system, digestive system, reproductive system and can even negatively re-wire your brain and leave you vulnerable to depression, anxiety and other mental health problems.
If you are feeling stressed, you are not alone! It’s estimated 70% of people feel stress daily! Hum Healing Hive has suggested a 5 ways you can relieve stress and enjoy a happier life!
Stress has its pro’s and con’s. When working properly, stress can help you stay focussed and alert and can even save your life in an emergency situation!
On the down side, when we are stressed on a daily basis with the increasingly demanding lives we have, it can cause a lot of pain and suffering.
Your nervous system isn’t very good at telling the difference between emotional and physical threats. If you’re super stressed about a work deadline, managing the kids, keeping up with bills and a busy home life, your body can react just as strongly as if you’re facing a true life-or-death situation!
So what can we do to reduce stress
Well, we would love to state the obvious and say “Go for a massage at Hum Healing Hive!” ….but here are some other helpful hints on how to reduce stress in your daily life.
1. Aromatherapy
Using beautiful scents to treat your mood can be a great way to relieve stress and relax, and studies have shown that aromatherapy can reduce anxiety and improve sleep.
You could light a candle, use a diffuser or drop some oils into a warm bath. You could even put a few drops on your pillow. Some soothing scents we recommend would be Lavender, Sandalwood, Ylang Ylang, Orange blossom, Geranium and Frankincense. We have also created some beautiful blends of essential oils at Hum Healing Hive that you could choose for your next massage!
2. Avoid procrastination
Procrastination is the killer of creativity and growth! When we procrastinate too much, we tend to leave everything till the last minute – and we end up more stressed because we then have to run around and catch up on everything!
Get in the habit of writing ‘to-do-lists’ to keep you on track. You may be surprised on how much free time you have when you start ticking things off in order of priority. Make sure you keep your ‘list’ achievable, and if the responsibility is daunting at first, start with a small list of achievements that you are confident you can achieve.
It’s also OK to say no if the list grows too big for you – due to outside pressure from work and family life.
You do not have to be a superhero, think of ways you may be able to lighten the load, and allow other people at work or home to be responsible for some of the things too.
3. Do some yoga or stretching daily.
Yoga and stretching is a great way to relieve stress. It’s a great way to the breath and the body, and therefore can have a big impact on your nervous system and stress response.
it can also help you learn mindfulness and help you ‘tune in’ to what’s happening in your body and where you might be ‘holding stress’.
Some studies have shown that yoga can enhance your mood by lowering cortisol levels and heart rate, and increasing levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (a neurotransmitter that can be lowered in people suffering mood disorders)
Ask us how you can incorporate stretching into your next massage treatment, as the Polynesian bodywork is something we specialise in! Check out our services page for more information about our treatments and massage styles! We can also give you some tips on how to include some basic yoga and stretching into your daily life.
4. Listen to soothing music
Listening to slow paced, soothing music can induce the relaxation response by helping to lower blood pressure, heart rate and stress hormones.
Sound has been used as therapy in many different forms – and types of music with soothing tones can be very effective in reducing stress.
There is also research relating to certain frequencies that can ‘heal the body’ such as 432htz (related to our connection to the earth frequency) and 528htz (said to be the miracle DNA repairing frequency) At Hum Healing Hive, we carefully select a big range of different kinds of music for a total relaxation experience and have songs from many different cultures with sounds of nature and other soothing sounds such as singing bowls, drums, bells, and flutes.
We can also incorporate sound and frequency healing into a massage treatment using singing bowls, tuning forks and particular frequencies played along-side the music track during the treatment.
5. Find a space to breathe!
It’s so important to make a little time to nurture your soul and fill your cup! Finding time and space to breathe and reconnect with yourself daily is one of the most wonderful ways to relieve stress and nurture your soul. This can be done almost anywhere and you can literally spend 5 mins, 30mins or as long as you want to breathe! Perhaps you want to find a nice place to enjoy it more deeply…walk or sit in nature, find a place near the water, lay on your back and look at the sky, or simply breathe in bed!
Breathing exercises can help activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is in control of your relaxation response.
The goal is to focus on your breath, and bring your awareness back to the flow of your breath, noticing how your lungs fully expand, and the belly will rise and fall.
Breathing deeply will slow the heart rate and allow you to feel more relaxed…the opposite of stressed!
At Hum Healing Hive, we have noticed that muscle tension releases more easily when a person breathes deeply during a treatment!
Of course, we love to hold space for you to enjoy a massage at Hum Healing Hive…and we believe touch is the first language we speak…it comes before sight and before speech. It is the first language and the last, and it always tells the truth.
Let us nurture you….you deserve it!
