Stress is a natural reaction our bodies produce when we feel threatened. In today’s world, there are numerous factors that can trigger this response.
Work, health, family life and many other aspects can contribute to mental pressure, leaving us feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Stress can also manifest physically, affecting things like sleep quality and digestion.
However, managing stress doesn’t have to be complex. According to one doctor who previously appeared on the ZOE Health podcast, stress can be tackled using a straightforward technique that takes just one minute.
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Dr Rangan Chatterjee, professor of health communication and education at the University of Chester, joined podcast host Jonathan Wolf, founder and CEO of ZOE, to discuss stress and how to alleviate it.
The professor, who also hosts the popular Feel Better, Live More podcast, stated that stress can directly negatively impact our health. He also confessed that he has seen an increase in people experiencing stress compared to 10 years ago, reports the Daily Record.
He addressed a prevalent misconception about stress, noting: “I think the most common misconception about stress is that it’s purely external. It’s only to do with things in our environment, like our workload or our email inbox or our to do list. And I think that stress needs to be looked at in a much broader way. So I think of it in terms of external, biological, and internal.”
Throughout the day, we reportedly encounter numerous ‘micro stress doses’, which might start as early as when your morning alarm goes off. These small stressors can accumulate swiftly, potentially causing us to hit our stress limit sooner.
Dr Rangan elaborated: “We need to understand where stress lives in our life so that we can try and reduce it where possible, and even if we can’t reduce it, we can bring into our lives some stress reduction strategies that are going to make a really big difference.
“First of all, can we reduce how many of these micro stress doses we’re exposed to each morning, perhaps by not looking at our emails or our phone first thing.”
Dr Rangan also suggests that mastering breathing techniques could be the ‘most powerful thing’ for managing our stress levels.
He explained: “If you slow your breath down intentionally and consciously, you can start sending calm signals up to your brain rather than stress signals. And there’s a lot of scientific evidence showing us that intentional breathing practices can lower our stress levels.
“My favourite one is what I call the 3-4-5 breath, and this is based upon the scientific principle that anytime your out-breath is longer than your in-breath, you have to switch off the stress part of your nervous system and activate the relaxation part.”
You simply need to inhale for a count of three, hold the breath for four seconds, and exhale for five seconds. This sequence takes 12 seconds, so you can complete five cycles in just one minute.
This method not only aids in regulating your breathing and reducing stress, but it can also enhance digestion.
Dr Rangan noted: “One thing I’ve also found with my patients is that sometimes people aren’t actually reacting to [the] foods, they’re reacting to the fact that they’re in a stressed state when eating foods.
“If you do the 3-4-5 breath for one minute before lunch, or before dinner, or before breakfast, you will find that you’re much more calm. Your rest and digestive system is going to be working better and you may just find that you’re digesting food better.”