Reducing Cortisol Levels:
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Pick your favorite stress management activity for reducing cortisol levels |
Reducing cortisol levels and your high levels of stress is not as easy as it seems, but perfectly doable when you use the practical ideas below.
But first, you must learn to recognize the symptoms of chronic high stress – beyond the obvious weight gain in the abdominal area. Why? Because most of the times, when you are stressed out for a long time, you won’t feel it; rather, you’ll notice disturbing effects of stress on your health.
For example, are you constantly experiencing ANY of these: food cravings, brain fog, irritability, being impatient, inability to make decisions, high anxiety, always feeling that something needs to be done, body tension, chest pains, shallow breathing, upset stomach, increased pulse or heart pounding? These are just a few on the long list of high cortisol symptoms.
This is when you know you must take specific actions to lower cortisol levels in your body. Here are two stress relaxation techniques that you can do anytime, anywhere for as little as 5-10 minutes.
1.
Reducing Cortisol Levels by Moving Your Body
Exercising, or any form of repetitive physical activity is the easiest way to neutralize the stress hormones and restore your calm - as long as you work up a good sweat.
No, you don’t need to go to the gym and work out for an hour to lower your cortisol levels!
Even a 5-10 min brisk walk around the block, jumping up and down or 30 sit-ups in your office will do. Or, you can climb a few flights of stairs at work, clean up a room in your house or mow your lawn.
The more vigorous the activity, the more effective it is at reducing cortisol levels in your body and increasing your natural endorphins, the “feel-good” hormones.
2.
Reducing Cortisol Levels through Deep Breathing
Deep breathing (diaphragmatic breathing) is the quickest, most effective anxiety and stress management technique you can use.
No, it’s not only for yoga practitioners; you can easily learn and practice this amazingly simple technique to quickly eliminate stress and lower cortisol levels in your body, whether you're at home, at work or even in your car in the middle of a traffic jam or at a stop light.
Here’s how to do it.
A. Sit straight and place one of your hands on your abdomen, then exhale completely to empty your lungs.
B. Inhale deeply and slowly through your nose, expanding your diaphragm (belly) to bring in the air into the lower parts of your lungs first, then gradually fill them from bottom to the top, expanding your chest and lifting your shoulders for extra volume.
C. Keep the air in for as long as it’s comfortable, then exhale slowly through your mouth while relaxing your shoulders and chest, until you’ve completely emptied your lungs.
Repeat this rhythmic, calming breathing 5 or 6 times and see your worries and stress simply dissolving in a matter of minutes, dramatically reducing cortisol levels in your body.
Six More Ideas for Reducing Cortisol Levels...
…release chronic stress and allow your body to switch back to its fat-burning mode:
- Use a desktop stress reducer game
- Eat a low-glycemic diet, i.e. the belly fat diet
- Get at least seven hours of interrupted sleep every night – to get a restful sleep, you might want to use Ashwagandha (a natural supplement found in any health food store)
- Exercise in fun, pleasurable ways – check our section on exercises to lose weight quickly
- Use laughter therapy – try our collection of weight loss jokes
- Use specific stress management activity like meditation, tai-chi, yoga, or guided visualization self hypnotherapy
The benefits of using these ideas and applying the tips for reducing cortisol levels are the ability to burn fat rather than store it and deflect constructively chronic stress rather than over-react, lose sleep, overeat and become totally unproductive and risk the grim health consequences of high cortisol symptoms.
