“Your body’s natural self-repair mechanisms only activate when your body is in a relaxation response.”
– Lissa Rankin, MD & Author, Mind Over Medicine
We live in an always-on society with no shortage of things to stress us out. Our habitual state of too little sleep, too much caffeine, and too many pressures can exhaust our adrenal glands, harm our guts, disrupt our immune system, lower our thyroid function, and inflame our whole bodies. This is the sympathetic nervous system “fight or flight,” pro-disease state.
To heal or prevent disease, we must proactively engage the parasympathetic nervous system’s “tend and mend” (or “rest and digest”) state. Herbert Benson, MD and founder of the Mind/Body Medicine Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital, coined the term “relaxation response” – as a proactive means to counter the habitual stress response.
So what can you do to get into this calming state without taking a vacation, quitting your job, or going to a spa? There are many things you can do to actively engage the relaxation response – without much time or money. The key is to find ones that you enjoy and will actually do. Here are several backed by science and personal experience for your consideration:
Take stock of your life and write down everything that causes you stress. What can you eliminate, minimize or outsource? If it’s all on you, then you need to learn and practice stress reduction techniques. For the things you can’t control, surrender them to a higher power or the universe.
Make a list of things that nurture you. These can be easy to do and free, like calling a good friend, taking a bath, doing some gentle yoga poses, or going for a walk — or just being — in nature.
Often the biggest source of our stress is our own mind. Research shows that we have about 60,000 thoughts each day and most are negative. Worrying, catastrophizing, mind reading and all-or-nothing thinking are examples of distorted, negative thinking. The antidote is to become aware of your thoughts and challenge the unproductive, distorted ones. Just because you had the thought, is it true? Can you be sure it’s true? Consider getting and practicing Byron Katie’s wonderful book, Loving What Is, Four Questions That Can Change Your Life.
Deep breathing, yin (restorative) yoga, hypnosis, progressive relaxation, and meditation are all calming practices that activate the relaxation response1. Do one or more of these daily – even for 5 minutes. Don’t have 5? Start with 1.
Self-compassion is nurturing and healing.2 Be aware of how you talk to yourself. Use positive language and treat yourself as you would your best friend or a child. Remember that negative self-talk is harmful self-abuse. How can you be kinder to yourself today?
Studies shows that when we spend time helping others, we receive health and longevity benefits.3 Volunteering is a great way to help others and help yourself, whether it’s making a meal for a friend in need, taking an elderly neighbor to the grocery store, or helping a child learn how to read.
Ample studies show that being on the receiving end of generosity and compassion has a positive effect on your health and well-being.4 Who can you reach out to today? Remember that help can come in many forms, for example, having someone do errands, having a friend to just listen, or receiving healing energy and prayers.
Which relaxation practice will you do for yourself today? Take heart in knowing that when you proactively engage the relaxation response, you will be improving your immunity, repairing damaged tissue, increasing the bonding hormone, oxytocin, and becoming more resilient to life’s inevitable stressors.
Take good care!
Image Credit: Nathalie Désirée Mottet
This comprehensive book is the first to explore all six of the critical lifestyle factors that are the root causes of autoimmune conditions – and the sources of regaining health. Foreword by Mark Hyman, MD
Palmer is a certified Functional Medicine Health Coach who has helped thousands of people reverse autoimmune conditions based on her own two-decade battle to successfully beat multiple sclerosis (MS). She’s the author of the Amazon #1 bestselling book, Beat Autoimmune, which has a powerful foreword by Functional Medicine pioneer, Mark Hyman, MD.
