Stress is an integral part of our times and almost all of us experience stressful moments in our day to day life . During stress our nervous system prepares us for the “Fight-Flight-Freeze” response to help us manage the situation. Our nervous system has two parts Sympathetic ( SNS) and Parasympathetic nervous system ( PNS) . While SNS is used to switch ON the stress mode, PNS switches it off . These two part of nervous system work closely to regulate the stress by turning it ON/OFF .
However what we see is most of us go in to stress mode but take a long time to come out of it & that is harmful for the body because when stress mode is on a lot of stress hormones are produced to help body fight the stress but if those hormones stay there for long it can be counterproductive .
The question is, what is the quickest way to switch off the stress mode ?
One of the best and easiest way to switch on PNS ( and switch off stress ) is to raise your legs , here is what you can do :-
1. Go to a well-ventilated room ( we need fresh air , full of oxygen )
2 Lie down with your back on ground ( you should be looking at the ceiling of room ). Use a small pillow if required to make yourself comfortable .
3. Put your arms along the sides with palms facing upwards ( towards ceiling of the room)
4. Slowly push your bottom closer to the wall and lift your legs so they are flat against the wall ( your legs make a 90degree angle with rest of your body )
5. Now place a soft cushion ( or soft toy or book ) on your belly
6. Close your eyes and start breathing ,observe every time your breath in the soft toy on belly goes up and as you breath out it goes down .
7.Focus on this belly breathing and observe the air in stomach pushing the toy up and down ( try to be fully with this activity )
8. Do this for 7 to 10 minutes .
9. To finish , bring your knees to your chest & roll to one side and be there for few seconds , then go to sitting position and be there for a minute before you stand up .
This is a very powerful & simple activity to switch off stress mode and bring immediate relaxation .
The science behind it is, when stress mode is switched on by SNS most of the blood supply goes to our limbs and arms to give us extra energy to fight or flight & for this heart rate also goes high . Now when we lie down , the heart rate ( & BP) normalizes . Additionally as you are raising legs the blood goes back to other organs of body & on top of it as you are doing deep belly breathing it sends more oxygen to all organs and cells . This calms, energizes & detoxify them & so you feel full of energy and relaxed .
You can also do it everyday before going to bed to de-stress yourself & it will also improve the sleep quality.
Try this and give me your feedback
Stay Calm , stay healthy
Awesome 👌👌 Sometimes later becomes never so its good to start🙌🙌