TAPPING TO RELEASE YOUR STRESS

WHAT IS STRESS?

"A state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation" World Health Organisation

Stress is a normal part of being a human being, it's a natural response that prompts us to address challenges and threats in our lives. The problem is we live in such a fast paced digital world where people feel like they need to be switched on 24/7 so there are many things that can stress us out.

Endless access to world news, social media, busy jobs, the cost of living, parenting juggles, mobile phones, and the general day to day stress of life...it's easy to see how a normal amount of stress can quickly lead into chronic stress.

Stress can be brief, situational, and a positive force motivating performance, but if experienced over an extended period of time it can become chronic stress, which negatively impacts health and well-being.

WHAT IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING WHEN WE'RE STRESSED?

Anytime you feel stressed your amygdala (brains fear response that contributes to emotional processing) sends out a distress signal to your hypothalamus, which is like a mini control centre in your brain. Your hypothalamus then starts to send out stress hormones (adrenaline, cortisol, and norepinephrine) which then trigger the ancient fight or flight response. Your nervous system then gets your body gets ready for the perceived threat - muscles tense, heart rate quickens, breathing speeds up, digestive system slows down.

This response was designed to protect your body in an emergency by preparing you to react quickly. But when the stress response keeps firing, day after day, it could put your health at serious risk.

WHAT DAMAGE CAN STRESS DO TO YOUR BODY AND MIND?

Short doses of the stress response are ok as your nervous system has the time to go back to a place of rest and relaxation but when you're body is in a constant state of high alert the long term exposure to cortisol and other stress hormones can negatively impact nearly all of your body's process's.

This puts you at higher risk of many health problems, including:

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Digestive problems

• Headaches

• Muscle tension and pain

• Heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure and stroke.

• Sleep problems

• Weight gain

• Problems with memory and focus

HOW DO WE MANAGE STRESS?

Managing your stress levels is an essential way to look after both your mental and physical health but it's important to remember that life doesn't have to be completely free of stress for you to be able to effectively regulate your nervous system. We can't control what life throws at us, but you can control how you react.

Tapping

Tapping is a wonderful way to bring your nervous system back into balance anytime you feel stressed, try this 10 Min tapping sequence above and notice how it makes you feel with no judgement.

Pepare your Nervous System

The start of the day is really important to get your nervous system ready for the day. Set an alarm (something calming like a bird sound) to wake you up 10 mins earlier and do something that calms your mind. That could be a listening to a meditation, doing some tapping, some breathwork or moving your body like a short yoga sequence. If you’re a mum like me then THIS is how you can meditate in the morning.

Regulate your breathing

Take time throughout the day to bring your breath down into your belly. This is the best way to engage your parasympathetic nervous system (rest and relaxation) and THIS is how you do it:

Be mindful of how you use your phone

Mobile phones can be a big cause of stress and anxiety so be really mindful about how you use your phone throughout the day. Reduce the amount of time you spend on social media, stop reading the news, silence your notifications, don't feel like you need to reply to endless Whatsapp messages, never look at your phone first thing in the morning and last thing at night and physically put your phone away when you are doing another task or sat at the dinner table.

Create a sleep ritual

The end of the day is an important time to signal to your brain - it's time to switch off. Get off any screens at least 1 hour before bed and do something that calms your mind like tapping, meditation, hot bath, journalling, calming smells… When you improve your sleep, it's much easier to regulate your emotions (and stress response) the next day.

Regularly do these three things:
Release jaw, soften hands, relax shoulders.

Listen to this meditation to deeply anchor your mind in the present momet, reduce your stress levels and create a bubble of protection around yourself.

RELEASING STRESS

THE POWER OF YOUR BODY

"You need to listen to your body because your body is listening to you" 
Phil McGraw

Your body is an incredible source of wisdom and can tell you a lot but you need to listen to it. It’s often your body that will know before you do if you’re stressed and burning out. It could be an achey back, twitching eyes, bad skin, irritable gut, bloating, chest pains - these are all physical symptoms of stress.

You have a nerve called the vagus nerve that connects directly from your brain stem through your chest, down to your abdomen and carries sensory information from the internal organs back to the brain - your body and mind are completely interconnected.

Anytime you feel stressed your amygdala has been triggered and your body begins to go into the fight and flight response. In short periods this is ok but if you're constantly stressed this can cause havoc on your nervous system and body.

We often go straight to the physical problem to fix stress but it begins in the mind - calm your mind and your physical wellbeing will improve.

*if you're worried that something isn't stress related always check with your doctor.

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

When you feel stressed or anxious your body is quick to respond so it’s important to know what physical sensations you experience and how stress manifests for you. When you start to listen carefully to your body you understand that it's telling you (often before you realise) that you're stressed and need slow down. Here are a few ways in which stress can physically manifest:

• Sweating - palms, face, back (any area of the body)

• Nausea - feeling sick or actually being sick

• Headaches - varying areas and pain intensity, migraines

• Breathing & Chest - breath begins to shorten, which raises your heart beat, tension or tightness in chest

• Gut - tense feeling in stomach or just above, going to the loo more or less than usual, IBS, bloating, butterflies, digestive problems

• Numbness - in areas of the body that usually have more sensation 

• Appetite - hunger or loss of appetite

• Twitchy eye - excessive blinking or sporadic twitch

• Muscle aches - achy limbs, tension in back & shoulders, tight throat

• Skin - bad skin (spots), breakout, irritation or blushing

• Monthly Cycle - for women your periods can stop

HAPPY HEADS EXERCISE

Take a minute now to tune into your body and list out what reactions you have when you feel stressed or anxious...

MEDITATION - BODY SCAN

Below a guided body scan meditation. This is a really effective way to check-in daily with how your body is feeling and process any stress that you might be experiencing. Try not to judge or change whatever comes up, simply notice with a gentle curiosity.

TAPPING TO SUPPORT YOUR FERTILITY JOURNEY

Trying to get pregnant can be really stressful and it's hard to not let it consume your thoughts because you know when your cycle is and you know when it hasn't worked that month. Social media can also make it tens times harder, when you feel like everyone else around you is pregnant or has a baby already. Miscarriage is also hugely challenging both mentally and physically and sadly so common for a lot of women. Unless you've been through it, it's hard to describe just how tough it is.

Every woman's fertility journey will be different and there may be many challenges that come your way. While you can't control everything you may face, you can control your thoughts and your mindset to ensure it doesn't become overwhelming.

Tapping is a powerful tool to help you overcome your negative thoughts and reframe the way you think. The physical tapping also helps to bring your nervous system back into balance which is exactly what you need when your body and mind are going through so much.

Watch this video to see how tapping can support your fertility journey. Please share it with anyone you feel might need it and get in touch for some one to one support kim@happyheads.me I would love to hear from you xx

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TAPPING ON BURNOUT

I’ve faced many difficult things in my life but burnout was one of the most traumatic. Completely losing your mental health is terrifying and it takes time for your nervous system to recover. Overcoming burnout and learning how to nurture my mental health and wellbeing was profound and one of the reasons I'm so passionate about helping people do the same.

Watch this video to see how you can use tapping to process burnout and bring your nervous system back into some much needed balance.

“Thanks so much for all your wonderful support, this programme has been transformative”

— Jasmine

If you would like some more support please check out the Happy Heads Burnout Programme. It's been designed specifically to help you:

• Overcome burnout, bringing calm and peace to your mind

• Improve your mental and physical wellbeing

• Release negative energy from your nervous system that built up in the workplace

• Rebuild your confidence and self belief

• Bring your nervous system back into balance (after being under constant stress)

• Reduce anxiety and stress in both body and mind

• Bring you back to yourself once again!

• Improve your sleep & Focus

If this is something that interests you please get in touch kim@happyheads.me for more details, I would love to hear from you xx

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