What did we learn in part 1?

Let’s summarize briefly: Our body is able to cope well with short periods of stress as it is designed to do so. However, if the stress continues and becomes more intense, it can quickly lead to health problems. The body then sets an emergency program in motion in order to continue to provide sufficient energy. Stress hormones ensure that the body draws more fatty acids and glucose from its stores, which causes blood sugar levels to rise. At the same time, the liver produces more LDL cholesterol, while triglycerides remain in the blood for longer. The body becomes acidic due to the anaerobic burning of sugar and the blood vessels become narrower, which can lead to an increase in upper blood pressure.
The consequences can be far-reaching and can even lead to so-called adrenal insufficiency and born-out.

In our society, no one is really immune to stress – we can never completely prevent it, as it has become a normal part of today’s society. But what can we do if we don’t want to get ill?
There are a few factors and small hacks that we can incorporate into our everyday lives.
I would like to explain some of them to you.

Relaxation techniques

No matter who you are, how much money and time you have available, the practices I’m about to tell you about are for everyone. That doesn’t mean that I’m saying that everyone can just fit in a few hours of conscious relaxation. But the excuse “I don’t have time” doesn’t work here. 5 minutes a day for a conscious technique of your choice is already great. 3 times 5 minutes a day? Wow! If you do that, you’ll be well above average. We are often too lazy to consciously relax, as stupid as that sounds.
But the truth is that we prefer to reach for our cell phones, the TV or other distractions instead of really taking some time to take a deep breath and reflect. And that is exactly what is counterproductive, because what we really need is to slow down, slow down and take a deep breath.

And one key word is particularly important here: mental hygiene.

Thought hygiene

This point is the one that decides whether your other efforts will bear fruit or not, everything depends on it. If you don’t practise mental hygiene, you are constantly working against yourself and your own body. Incidentally, this is not a spiritual or esoteric approach, no, the whole thing has a biological basis:

One of the first effects of negative thoughts is the release of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. Remember from the last entry: these hormones prepare our bodies for a “fight-or-flight” response by speeding up the heartbeat, increasing blood pressure and accelerating breathing. The constant release of stress hormones can lead to high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and other health problems. In addition, negative thoughts can also affect our immune system. When our body is constantly reacting to stress, the production of white blood cells, which our body needs to fight infection and disease, is reduced. This can make us more susceptible to infections and slower to recover from injuries and illnesses.

When we feel down or stressed, we also tend to contract our bodies and tense our muscles. Over long periods of time, these poor posture habits can lead to back and neck pain as well as other physical ailments and chronic poor posture.

It is therefore extremely important to be aware of how our thoughts can influence our body.

Impulses from Stoicism

The Stoic Epictetus wrote: “It is not things that worry us, but our opinion of things.” This means that we must learn to control our thoughts and consciously decide how we want to react to a situation.

Another stoic thought is the idea of “Amor Fati”, the acceptance of what is. The philosopher Marcus Aurelius wrote: “If you are upset about something, ask yourself whether you can change it. If not, let it go and accept it.” By focusing on the things we can control and accepting the things that are out of our control, we can free ourselves from unnecessary stress. Take time to observe your thoughts – are there any persistent “power suckers”? Can you let them go or at least deal with them more consciously?

You can use these techniques to help you break free from your thought cycles:

1. Progressive muscle relaxation: This technique involves consciously tensing and relaxing your muscles to release physical tension. Start with a specific muscle group, for example the arms, and tense them for 5-10 seconds before slowly and consciously relaxing them. Then move on to the next muscle group, for example the legs. Repeat this process until you have relaxed all the important muscle groups.
   
2. Breathing exercises: Controlled breathing can calm the body and calm the mind. A simple breathing exercise is to inhale deeply and then exhale slowly while counting to five. Repeat this several times a day.
   Digression: Wim Hof, also known as The Iceman, is a Dutch extreme athlete who holds 26 international records for enduring extreme cold, including the record for the longest ice bath. He has developed special breathing techniques that can help us to achieve deep relaxation.
   
   There are many guided instructions: Wim Hof breathing exercises.
   
3. Meditation: This practice involves sitting in a quiet environment and focusing on the breath or a specific mantra. It is about observing thoughts without reacting to them. If you notice that you are getting distracted, simply return to your focus.
   
4. Yoga: This practice involves physical exercises that improve flexibility and balance while calming the mind. By combining breathing and movement, yoga can help to reduce stress and relax the body.
   
5. Autogenic training: This method involves repeating certain formulas or phrases to help relax the body and mind. A typical formula is: “My right arm is heavy” or “My heart beats calmly and evenly”. Repeat these phrases several times while concentrating on the feeling of relaxation.
   
6. Mindfulness: This practice involves consciously perceiving the present without judgment or evaluation. It is about being attentive and aware of what is happening in the moment without being distracted by thoughts or emotions. This technique allows you to distance yourself from stressful thoughts and feelings and anchor yourself more in the moment.
   

Physical activity

Physical activity releases endorphins in the body, which give us a pleasant, euphoric feeling. Endorphins are also often referred to as the “happiness hormones” because they make us feel relaxed and happy – they are endogenous substances that can relieve pain and create a feeling of relaxation and well-being.

In addition, the levels of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline fall when we exercise. Remember: cortisol is the hormone that is increasingly released when we are stressed and that makes us nervous and restless. We have a major problem with this hormone when we are under constant stress, and it also causes our adrenal glands to become overloaded. We therefore conclude that lowering cortisol levels makes us feel more relaxed overall and reduces the negative effects of stress. We can also concentrate better and are more creative. This is because exercise improves blood flow to the brain, which means that our brain can work better. Exercise can also create new neuronal connections in the brain, which explains the creativity thing.

One comes into the other: Regular exercise can improve the quality of our sleep: we fall asleep faster and stay asleep better.

An excursion into the world of dreams

According to a survey conducted by the Robert Koch Institute in 2013, 27% of people surveyed said they suffered from sleep problems. Another study from 2017 by the DAK Health Report found that almost one in four employees in Germany suffers from sleep problems.

A more recent study from 2020 by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of Techniker Krankenkasse found that 57% of those surveyed stated that they sleep badly at least once a week.

Sleep problems are a common problem in Germany – a large number of people are affected.

During sleep, our brain goes through different phases, known as NREM (non-rapid eye movement) and REM (rapid eye movement). Physical regeneration takes place during the NREM phase.
Body temperature, blood pressure and heart rate drop, while muscle activity and breathing slow down.
This gives the body the opportunity to relax and regenerate. During this phase, growth hormone is also released, which is responsible for tissue and bone repair and for maintaining muscle and bone metabolism.

During the REM phase, which accounts for around 20-25% of sleep, the brain is very active and intensive mental regeneration takes place. The most intense dreams occur during REM phases, most of them before midnight.

Emotions and memories are processed and consolidated so that we can remember events better the next day. Dreams are extremely important for the psyche. They are suppressed by alcohol and drug use, but the potential to have REM phases builds up and at some point the REM phase breaks over the person concerned with violent dreams or later with hallucinations.

During the REM phase, the synthesis of neurotransmitters also takes place, which are of crucial importance for neuronal communication in the brain.

That’s how important healthy sleep is!

Waste products are formed in the brain during the course of the day, which are excreted by cells as metabolic products. During sleep, these waste products are removed from the brain by the so-called glymphatic system. The glymphatic system functions like a lymphatic system, pumping fluid through the brain and removing waste products in the process.

Sleep allows the body to regulate hormones related to stress, such as cortisol and adrenaline. If we don’t get enough sleep, these hormones can get out of balance, leading to increased stress levels.

This is of course very interesting for us at this point! Because it means that sleep is crucial for stress management, as excessive levels of stress hormones are our main problem when it comes to the development of stress-related illnesses. Of course, all the other points listed so far are also linked to this; sleep is simply crucial for our mental health. A lack of sleep can not only pave the way for a born-out, but can also lead to depression and anxiety. Not falling asleep for a long time, not sleeping through the night or waking up too early is grueling for the psyche and puts a strain on the body. It makes us more susceptible to illness and increases the risk of accidents. Poor quality sleep increases stress levels instead of reducing them.

It’s logical that you can’t stand this state for long – every second person affected therefore resorts to sleeping pills. Compared to 2010, almost twice as many 35 to 65-year-old employees now take sleeping pills, usually without medical supervision. Unfortunately, there’s just one catch: taking sleeping pills doesn’t solve the problem – we end up in a vicious circle.

The popular benzodiazepines, for example, lead to a lack of concentration and emotional dullness, and long-term use makes people completely disinterested in everything. The original intention to use the drug only temporarily usually comes to nothing. Almost one in four people take them for longer than three years! Even more precise figures are known for Germany: More than one million German citizens are dependent on sleeping pills containing the active ingredient benzodiazepine. Every year, 230 million daily doses of these anxiety-relieving sedatives and sleeping pills are prescribed.

The situation is no better with over-the-counter sleeping pills. Most of these drugs are based on two antihistamines – allergy medications – such as diphenhydramine and doxylamine, which cause drowsiness and dizziness as a side effect and were not intended for long-term use.

A tip for falling asleep better:

There is no substitute for healthy sleep; it is fundamentally important for all bodily functions, regeneration and well-being. This is precisely why it is alarming how high the number of people with sleep problems is. Working life is increasingly pushing us to the limits of our capacity, and constant availability robs us of rest.

One obstacle that stands between us and a good night’s sleep are blue light emitting devices such as televisions, cell phones, laptops and LED lighting in general. We usually use these nice devices before going to bed. A serious mistake from a chronobiological point of view! The blue light wakes us up, this composition of light gives our body the signal that it is early morning, time to get up! It inhibits the production of the sleep hormone melatonin, which is only produced in the dark and ensures that we fall asleep and stay asleep. A sufficient level of melatonin also ensures good regeneration and deeper sleep phases.

So give your blue-glowing friends a rest for at least an hour before you go to sleep and pick up a book instead – the old-fashioned way.

Do not rate

This needs to be mentioned at this point, because it is a common pitfall, a phenomenon that is often observed in the health scene. The nocebo effect. Nocebo comes from the Greek and means ‘I will harm’. It is the evil brother, the exact opposite of the placebo effect. We are quite sure that something is harmful and then it is, more than it should be: that is the nocebo effect.

Scientists led by Berlin psychologist Johannes Laferton, Susanne Fischer from the University of Zurich and Urs Nater from Marburg have investigated the connection between stress and a negative expectation. They asked 216 students in the middle of the semester whether they believed that stress was harmful to their health. A few weeks later, during the exam phase, they interviewed them again. The result: those who thought stress was negative had more physical complaints.

“The negative evaluation of stress causes even more stress,” says Laferton. You have to look at it in a differentiated way. Stress is there to help us overcome challenges. It is important to find a balance, a relaxation system, mindfulness exercises or sport: “This is a constructive way of dealing with stress.”

What I am trying to tell you is obvious

The focus of your efforts should not be on avoiding stress and alleviating any symptoms, it should be about doing something good for yourself. Give yourself lots of love and turn your attention inwards – don’t judge yourself when you are stressed or when you don’t behave according to plan.

Also consume positive information:

Instead of constantly reading about demographic tsunamis, Methuselah conspiracies or Alzheimer’s epidemics and despairing about them, why not collect biographies of people who have grown old happily?

To be continued: A balanced diet, a balanced mind!

Stress is a great strain on the body, and the depots of some nutrients are almost completely “emptied” by a high stress level.
Have you ever heard of the gut-brain axis? Did you know that it works in both directions?

You can find out more in the next part…