Episode 188

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Published on:

16th Sep 2024

188. Essential Guide to Stress Management and Wellness

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In this week's episode of the Elemental Evan Podcast, host Evan provides a comprehensive breakdown of stress, its effects on our health, and practical ways to manage it. You'll walk away from today's episode with an understanding of the definition and types of stress, differentiating between beneficial stress (eustress) and harmful stress (distress).

Evan highlights the profound impact stress can have on the immune system, cardiovascular health, and even digestive health. The episode isn't just theoretical; it offers actionable advice on stress management techniques such as breath work, meditation, and adopting daily practices that promote relaxation. That's the goal with these episodes, provide practical and holistic solutions for your everyday health. Additionally, Evan introduces some effective supplements like ashwagandha and reishi mushroom to further support stress relief. Tune in to understand stress better and discover practical steps to reclaim your peace and health.



01:19 Introductions

02:44 Understanding Stress: Definitions and Types

10:02 The Impact of Stress on Health

14:40 Practical Tips for Managing Stress

16:07 Breath Work Techniques

19:32 Daily Practices for Stress Relief

28:03 Supplement Recommendations for Stress Relief

32:27 Conclusion and Final Thoughts


DISCLAIMER:

This podcast is for educational purposes only, it is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. Evan Roberts is not a medical professional and this podcast is provided on the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services. Statements and views expressed on this show are not medical advice, this podcast, including Evan Roberts and any guests on the show, disclaims responsibility for any possible adverse effects from the use of information contained in this episode. If you think you have a medical problem please consult a medical professional.

Transcript
Speaker:

Hey, what's going on everyone.

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Welcome back.

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And thank you for tuning in.

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You are listening to the elemental

Evan podcast designed to provide

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you with a simplified and holistic

breakdown of health and wellness topics.

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So you can walk away from these episodes

ready to apply this knowledge to your

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life and take control of your health.

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Today's episode, we're diving all

in on stress, stress regulation,

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the implications of stress, stress

on our health, as well as methods

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that we can use to regulate our

stress, lower our stress and find

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a more balanced place with stress.

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Uh, the goal of today's episode

is really going to be, to kind of

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reiterate the importance of managing our

stress because of the serious health.

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Uh, impact that or the impact

that it can have on our health.

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I think that it's very well

known in the medical world.

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That stress is a legit.

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Uh, Issue, um, for health and, you

know, it's something that needs

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to be really taken seriously.

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And I know that the general population

has an idea and, you know, we know

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that stress is bad, but I don't think

we actually know how bad it truly is.

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So I just really want to

highlight that and then leave

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you with some of my favorite.

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Practices for managing stress to hopefully

help you manage your stress as well.

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Before we jump right into all of the

good stuff that's going to be in today's

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episode, I wanted to give a quick shout

out to some of the sponsors of the show.

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Just use that clay mask last night,

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we also have Organifi.

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With some really awesome products

that are just super clean.

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We've got things like their green juice,

their red juice, their gold juice.

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Uh, they also have a new product called

happy drops and, uh, I haven't tried

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those ones out yet, but apparently the

reviews on them are really, really good.

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Uh, they contain saffron, which

is currently one of the things

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that I'm enjoying greatly in

terms of mood improvement.

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And I'll talk a little bit more

about that in today's episode.

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With actually a different product.

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And, uh, yeah.

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So go ahead and check those bad boys out.

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They're going to be in the show notes

or the description of today's episode.

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You're also going to get

a discount code with each.

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Uh, each one of those.

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That's just for being a

listener to this show.

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And, uh, of course, just kind of my

way of saying thank you to all of you.

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So please feel free to check them out

and let's go ahead and dive in on stress.

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So.

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First off.

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I like to typically take.

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Just a really kind of like ballpark

outside view of what stress is and

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kind of put a definition on it.

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Of course, I'm sure everyone has

an idea of what stress is, you

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know, and for the most part, we

understand what the definition is.

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Uh, in terms of, you know, just layman

terms, but if we look at it from like the,

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I guess, medical terminology here, or just

a higher level terminology, Um, stress

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is, is any physical or psychological

stimuli that disrupts homeostasis, which

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if you're unfamiliar with homeostasis,

it's just kind of like your natural

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state of being like you're neutral.

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Um, and so it's anything that

takes you outside of that?

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AKA, like getting too

hot, getting too cold.

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Um, getting frightened by something

as well, can do this, uh, which

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results in a stress response.

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So the stimuli which are called stressors,

that's the thing that's acting upon.

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You that's causing the stress either

externally or internally, and

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physiological and behavioral changes

in response to exposure to stressors

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constitute the stress response.

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So, sorry if I made that even more

confusing, but essentially you have

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the stressors, it's the stimuli, right?

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So it's the outside forces or internal

forces that are causing you stress.

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And then you're going to have a

physiological or behavioral response.

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Uh, change in response to those

stressors, uh, acting upon you.

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So like simple way to think of this is

you're driving in a car on a freeway.

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Um, a car accident happens

right in front of you.

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And you have to swerve out

of the way to Dodge it.

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Well in that moment where you are

driving in your car and you know,

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you're at rest, like you're just

kind of cruising through traffic.

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Uh, like hopefully no traffic

just cruising on the freeway.

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And, uh, once that car accident happens,

you're going to have some, you know,

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different things happening within

your body because now you have this

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external stressor occurring, right?

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You have to react to, uh, this

car crash to make sure that you're

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not going to become a part of it.

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So then, you know, your heart

rate is going to increase

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your breathing is going to.

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Uh, increase as well.

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Probably your eyes will dilate

and you're just going to become

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basically better at reacting.

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Uh, so that would be a pretty extreme

case of a stressor and then a stress

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response, which the stress responses,

the way your body changes in order

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to respond to that outside stressor.

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Sorry, getting into the weeds

of this one, but just wanted

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to kind of lay that foundation.

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So that is essentially stress.

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Now I want to make it very well-known

that there are multiple types of stress.

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So there are, I don't know, I saw

a list of maybe it was like seven

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or eight different types of stress.

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Um, you know, you can think of

ones like acute stress, chronic

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stress, environmental stress.

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Those are just a few of them,

but honestly, I just want to keep

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it very digestible for today.

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I want to, um, kind of.

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Dumb this down a little bit and just

kind of put two categories here and we're

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going to call, uh, well, not call it.

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This is the name for it.

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Good stress is you stress

that's EDU and then stress.

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And then we have bad

stress, which is distress.

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So these are the two types of stress that

we can kind of categorize things into.

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And yes, for those of you who didn't

know, there is a good type of stress.

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Actually stress can be a very

beneficial thing for our bodies.

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Um, it can be a very beneficial

thing for our minds as well.

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It can help us to get things done, um, and

as well, it can help us to adapt to our

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surroundings and become more resilient.

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So there is a good type of

stress called you stress.

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Now.

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The caveat here is that not everyone

perceives stress equally, right?

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As with pretty much everything.

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When it comes to the body, we are

all very unique individuals and

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therefore some event that might.

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Completely stress.

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Someone out, maybe hardly stresses

another person out at all.

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Maybe it doesn't stress them out at all.

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Uh, you know, so it's very dependent

on the person and therefore, I

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just want to make it known that

when it comes to stress, you

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really do have to know yourself.

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You have to know, uh, you know, how

your body works, what stresses you

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out, what doesn't stress you out.

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And, uh, you know, it's kind of hard for

me to give a kind of black and white.

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This is good stress.

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This is bad stress

version, but you know, an.

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Uh, type of good stress

that we tend to think of.

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Would be something like going

into a sauna or a cold plunge

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or going and doing an exercise.

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These are all different types

of stressors on the body.

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And to a large degree, they're very

beneficial for our health, right.

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They cause us to get away

from homeostasis, right?

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With it's, you know, hopping into

a sauna, it's heating up our body,

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um, which has many beneficial.

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You know, properties to a, uh, by

heating our body up, it increases

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the heart rate a little bit.

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It's good for cardiovascular health.

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Uh, but what's happening is,

is our body's heating up.

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And then when we come out of

there, we have to cool down.

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We have to come back to our homeostasis,

to our normal normal kind of setting.

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Um, and then same thing with an ice bath,

you know, we're dropping that temperature.

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Our body's kind of.

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Freaking out for a bit.

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Uh, but it is going to

release things like, uh,

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adrenaline , and, uh, what is it?

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Uh, Dopamine and all

these good things, right.

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Uh, so there are benefits to these, but

I think it's also really good to point

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out that for someone who is living a very

stressed life, like someone who hates

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their job gets chewed out by their boss.

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Every single day has a million

decisions to make, and it's

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all writing on them at work.

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And then they come home and they

have kids that are just crazy

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and out of control and, you know,

disobedient and blah, blah, blah.

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And maybe their partnership

is just not good.

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And, you know, there could be

a million different things.

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That person that lives a

very extremely stressed life.

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Maybe jumping into an ice

bath and hitting a CrossFit, a

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marathon, you know, competition

workout is not the best option.

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Now.

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I don't want this to be in like

an excuse for us to miss out on

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some really beneficial stressors,

such as exercise and sauna.

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Right?

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These are incredible things for

our health, but I think it's

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important for us to know that.

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We have to know our bodies.

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Right?

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We have to know that if I'm

super stressed out, maybe I don't

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go do the CrossFit tournament.

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Right.

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Maybe I go do a yoga class with some,

you know, light weight lifting, maybe

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a little jog, something that's much

easier on the body, but still is

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a form of movement because we know

that's very beneficial for the body.

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Um, you know, as opposed to going in there

and just going super hard and causing

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even more of a stressor on our body.

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So just kind of wanting it to, uh,

highlight that and make it known.

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Uh, that we do, we have to know ourselves.

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We have to know what's good for

us and also tap in and tune in

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with ourselves and understand.

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I am I stressed out right now?

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Do I feel good right now?

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Um, does working out make me more

stressed or does it make me less stressed?

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And for a lot of people doing some

working out can actually help, uh,

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to kind of alleviate some stress in

terms of, uh, you know, kind of like

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just getting things off of their mind.

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I would say, uh, It can be

very therapeutic for sure.

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So.

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I want to jump into really why stress

is bad for us, because once again,

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I know people know that too much

stress is bad, but I don't think

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we actually know the very specific.

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Uh, implications it

can have on our health.

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So first off stress can

weaken your immune system.

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That's one of the first things that

kind of comes to my mind when I

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think of being super stressed is,

uh, people who are very stressed.

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They tend to have a

weakened immune system.

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They tend to get sick more often.

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Uh, that or a lot of headaches, right.

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Which is another thing it can lead

to MUSC, uh, musculoskeletal tension.

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Which can lead to tension,

headaches and lower back pain.

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Those are kind of like the two things I

always think of when it comes to stress.

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But there's a bunch more other things.

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It can also lead to high blood pressure

and an increased risk of heart disease.

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Uh, prolonged exposure of elevated

levels of cortisol can lead

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to a decreased bone density.

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Uh, which by the way,

Cortisol is kind of like the.

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The hormone that we primarily

think of when it comes to stress.

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Uh, it's released by the adrenal glands.

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And, uh, yeah, if you have cortisol

levels elevated too long, because

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you're stressed out for, you

know, A large portion of the day.

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This can lead to decreased bone density.

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Uh, it can also affect the brain bowel

axis and lead to irritable bowel syndrome.

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Intestinal inflammation and peptic ulcers.

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This one obviously hits home for me.

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If this is your first time listening

to the show, that's kind of like

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my whole background is I've dealt

with a lot of gastrointestinal

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issues and that's what led me onto

my path of health and wellness.

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Uh, so this speaks largely to me

because as a kid, I can remember

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being super nervous about something

or scared about something and

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it would actually affect my gut.

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I would literally feel like my stomach

churning and maybe even having to go

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to the restroom, whatever it might be.

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Uh, that was a very

common experience for me.

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Um, and so hearing it now, as

I like go and do the research.

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It's just crazy to kind of

put those two pieces together,

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but it makes a lot of sense.

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And you know, that's for a person who

had a lot of gastrointestinal issues.

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So for a person who gets stressed, they

might not have it show up in that way.

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It might be a prolonged.

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Level of stress that then leads

to inflammation in the bowels

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or, you know, the gut somewhere.

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And, uh, then eventually leading to, you

know, um, More frequent, like loose stools

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or maybe even the opposite constipation.

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Right.

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It can be very dependent on the person.

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Uh, it can also, stress can also cause the

liver to release extra glucose, AKA sugar

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into the bloodstream, which can increase

the risk of type two diabetes, which if

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you haven't heard last week's episode,

I highly recommend you go check it out.

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I talk all about the ways in which

sugar sneaks its way into your foods.

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It's very surprising how

much sugar is in our foods.

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And, uh, it's very also surprising that

there's a lot of foods out there that you

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wouldn't expect to have sugar in them.

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You get, they absolutely do have sugar in

them and in pretty significant amounts.

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Um, and so in that episode, I really

break down, you know, what are the

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foods that have some of the highest

levels of sugar, as well as what are

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those sneaky foods that have sugar

in them, but you wouldn't think they

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do so definitely check that one out.

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It was just last week's episode.

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Uh, and then stress can also lead to

anxiety, poor sleep and lowered sex drive,

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which all three of those make sense.

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Um, you know, especially with poor sleep,

for example, if you're stressed out,

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it can be typically hard to go to bed.

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Your mind can be racing, and then if

you're getting poor sleep, I guess what

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you're going to wake up even more stressed

because your body wasn't able to kind

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of do the repair and all that, that it

needed to, and then you're more stressed

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out because you didn't sleep well.

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And then it's just kind of a

really negative feedback loop,

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a feedback loop cycle there.

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Uh, and then of course with lowered

sex drive, if you're just, you know,

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if you're not feeling yourself and

you're not feeling in an intimate mood,

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it's hard to be in that mood as well.

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Uh, so stress can affect

a ton of different things.

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And that's just really, what I

wanted to highlight here is that,

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um, you know, it's not just a.

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Oh, I'm stressed.

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Like it's okay.

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Things will get better.

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And like, I don't really need to

worry too much about my stress.

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It can absolutely cause

some very serious health.

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Uh, problems down the road.

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Um, I think it's maybe not something

that shows up immediately all the time,

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but a prolonged high levels of stress

can really wreak havoc on the body.

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So I'm not just going to leave you on this

cliffhanger of like, okay, stress is bad.

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What the heck do I do now?

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Of course, you know, I'm going to come

in here and give you all my favorite tips

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and tricks on relieving or controlling

or regulating your stress levels.

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Um, and.

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You know, as, uh, as, as someone who,

uh, you know, has felt the effects of

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stress in my gut, and then in other

ways as well, um, it's been really kind

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of a neat journey for me to try out

some of these different modalities,

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um, that can help regulate stress.

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And, you know, one of the big

things that I tell people if they

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are super stressed is simply.

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To just stop.

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It's literally just that simple.

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Like take a break.

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Um, of course I recognize that in

not every situation, are you going

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to be able to just drop everything

and stop what you're doing?

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Uh, when it comes to, you know, things

at work, or I don't know things with

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your family, whatever it might be.

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But truly if you're able to, like, let's

say you're on a project at work and

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it's just completely stressing you out.

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You're, you know, squinting at your,

your computer screen for hours and

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hours and trying to figure this out.

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And it's just really getting to you and

you can feel your shoulders tightening.

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And you're just like a little ball.

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Ball of stress.

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Take a beat, take five minutes.

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I promise you for just five minutes

is going to make a huge difference.

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If you could do 10 minutes even

better, but what I would love for

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you to do, and this is the number

one practice that I use when it

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comes to stress and managing stress.

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And that is breath work.

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Now, if you are new to breath work,

and you're like, Did this dude

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literally just tell me to breathe.

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Yes, I really did.

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Breath work is incredible.

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It is proven that if you do a specific

type of breathing, you can activate

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your parasympathetic nervous system

and your parasympathetic nervous system

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can be thought of as the brake pedal.

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So it's your rest, your relax, your

digest state, as opposed to your

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sympathetic state, which is like the

gas pedal, the get up and the go state.

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So what kind of breathing will activate

this parasympathetic nervous system?

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Well, it's very simple.

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It's deep, slow breathing and you know,

there's many different types of breath

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work you can use for relaxation, but I

like to just keep it simple and what it is

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is a deep, slow inhale through your nose.

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And then an even slower exhale through

your mouth, but you're going to blow out

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through pursed lips almost like you're

breathing out through a small straw.

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And when you do that, it's going

to really prolong your exhale.

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And by prolonging that exhale,

that's going to really tap into

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that parasympathetic nervous system.

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So.

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What I'll typically do.

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I'll take five minutes.

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I'll go sit on the couch or a chair,

or, you know, outside on some grass.

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W like wherever I'm at, just kind of

get some space from everybody else.

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And I will literally just take five to

10 deep breaths as deep as I possibly can

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do it as slow as I can possibly do it.

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And then I'll typically finish it

off with a short meditation, like

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two or three minutes where all I

do is I just focus on the body.

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I like do a body scan, head to toe

and just really tap into how my body's

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feeling, especially after the breath work.

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And when kind of leave your body maybe a

little bit tingly or feeling very relaxed,

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maybe you noticed, uh, some tension.

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In your shoulders and your

cheeks and your forehead.

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Right.

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And then maybe that's a time where you

can just relax and let that all go.

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And I'm promise you five to 10 deep

breaths with like two, three minutes

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of meditation, right after it is

going to make a huge, huge difference.

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I do this very, very frequently.

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So that's going to be the

first thing I would recommend.

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Now there is another type of breath

work that I'm going to mention

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on here, just cause it is also

very, um, It's very powerful.

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And I've heard it from

Andrew Huberman first.

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I don't know if someone

else came up with it.

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I wouldn't be surprised if

they did, but basically it is

351

:

a deep inhale through the nose.

352

:

Once again.

353

:

But at the top of your inhale, you

kind of hold it for a second and then

354

:

you suck in just a little bit more air

in, through, in, through your nose.

355

:

And then you blow that out

through the mouth pursed lips.

356

:

Like you're blowing through

a tiny straw once again.

357

:

So the only difference here is on

that inhale, you do a pretty much

358

:

a full inhale pause for a second.

359

:

Then inhale a little bit more

through the nose and then do the XL.

360

:

Just like I said, with the

purse lips, like you're blowing

361

:

through a tiny little straw.

362

:

Those breaths are incredible.

363

:

They're super powerful and they

can make a huge difference.

364

:

Now that is kind of a, in the moment

thing, and it can have lasting effects

365

:

throughout the rest of your day.

366

:

Typically I'll do a breath work

session at least once a day.

367

:

Uh, just because the effects are so

powerful and really, really beneficial.

368

:

But I think it's also important for us

to kind of carve out time in our day to

369

:

make sure that we're including activities

that also help to relieve stress.

370

:

Now this can typically show up

in the form as anything that.

371

:

Is away from work and whatever the thing

is that is typically stressing you out.

372

:

So if it's a person, if it's work, if

it's, you know, whatever it might be, you

373

:

want to do it a way from whatever that is.

374

:

Just take some time for yourself.

375

:

And it can be literally as simple as maybe

in the morning, you take a moment to.

376

:

I go out for a morning, walk with

some coffee or go sit on a bench

377

:

and just look out at nature.

378

:

Whatever that might be for you.

379

:

Uh, I would highly just encourage you

to find what works best for you and

380

:

what works best for your schedule.

381

:

If you're a person that has a really

hard time with just kind of going

382

:

for a walk or, um, you know, like

just kind of zoning out, I guess.

383

:

Right.

384

:

Like.

385

:

Or reading a book or whatever it

might be, then go ahead and schedule

386

:

something into your daily or weekly.

387

:

Uh, schedule.

388

:

That is really just revolving

around a stress relief practice.

389

:

It could be something like yin yoga.

390

:

For example, yin yoga is a very

deep, slow stretching type of yoga.

391

:

And.

392

:

You know, a lot of the times

they have it in the evening time.

393

:

So it's really close to when you're

going to go to bed, it's a great

394

:

way to start kind of just getting

ready for the evening and getting

395

:

the body prepared to go to bed.

396

:

It's super relaxing and it's a

really great practice as well

397

:

for people who have a hard time.

398

:

Um, Once again, just doing nothing

like going out and trying to do

399

:

some meditation or something.

400

:

Uh, this is a great way to feel like

you're still achieving something.

401

:

But it's very distressed.

402

:

Defying.

403

:

I don't know if that's a word,

but we're going to roll with it.

404

:

So.

405

:

That's definitely a great one.

406

:

Um, float tanks are

also another great one.

407

:

However, float tanks for kind of, a lot

of people are a little bit of a challenge

408

:

because if you've never been in one of

them before, it's essentially a tank

409

:

filled with water and a ton of Epsom salt

so that you can essentially float on the

410

:

water and then they close you in this pod.

411

:

And usually you turn off the light.

412

:

So it's pitch black and a, yeah,

you just kind of like hang out in

413

:

there for 30 minutes to an hour.

414

:

Um, I love it.

415

:

And it's incredible.

416

:

It helps you relax and as well, you get

some really deep sleeps after doing those.

417

:

But if you're not a person who's

really good at kind of just sitting

418

:

alone with their thoughts, um, which

many people are not, um, then maybe

419

:

that's not the best idea for you.

420

:

Um, maybe you start with some meditation

to start getting to a place where

421

:

you are more comfortable, which is

sitting alone with your thoughts.

422

:

But whatever your.

423

:

Ideal de-stressing type of

practice is it doesn't matter.

424

:

Just whatever helps you let go of

whatever is stressing you out and can

425

:

kind of bring you more into the present.

426

:

It could be also just kind of

hanging out with some friends, right?

427

:

Like.

428

:

Spending some quality time with

people not being on your phone.

429

:

Right.

430

:

Because being on our phone can as

well cause some stress or, uh, just

431

:

give us some really poor dopamine

hits that we really just don't need.

432

:

Right.

433

:

And it's also kind of a

bit of a waste of time.

434

:

Uh, to just like doom scroll when you

could be doing something productive, such

435

:

as, you know, a yoga class or hanging out

with friends and spending quality time.

436

:

So.

437

:

There's many different practices here.

438

:

Um, but whatever works for

you, highly recommend you start

439

:

including that into your day.

440

:

So that.

441

:

Into your weekly schedule so

that you can have scheduled time

442

:

specifically just for de-stressing,

because I think a lot of people also.

443

:

You know, we don't happen with

our body and we can be super

444

:

stressed and not even recognize it.

445

:

We don't even take a moment to just check

in with ourselves and see how we're doing.

446

:

So, um, another practice that I'll

typically do is like mid day when I

447

:

start to get a little bit tired and

I noticed myself a little, getting

448

:

a little bit more irritable with,

uh, whatever work is coming up.

449

:

I'll go ahead and I'll either do

some breath work or I'll even do

450

:

yoga nidra or the, what is it?

451

:

Non sleep.

452

:

Deep rest, I think is what

the other term is for it.

453

:

Uh, but they have like 10 minute

videos and they just help to rejuvenate

454

:

you, um, make you feel a little

bit more rested and as well, they

455

:

can be pretty distressing as well.

456

:

So that's a great practice.

457

:

Um, once again, if you go on to

like YouTube, you can find some yoga

458

:

nidra videos, very simply or very

quickly and free of cost, uh, as well.

459

:

I want to give a huge shout

out to my friend, Sandy.

460

:

Um, he has a YouTube page

called breathe with Sandy.

461

:

NDI I've had him on this podcast.

462

:

And actually, I think his

episode has the most downloads

463

:

of any episode I've ever done.

464

:

So shout out to Sandy, um, he has a

free YouTube page that has all kinds of

465

:

breathwork videos, everything from morning

breath, work to nighttime breath, work

466

:

to de-stressing to psychedelic breathing.

467

:

Like there's all kinds of breath

works and I highly, highly recommend.

468

:

Checking out one of his

videos, if you don't know where

469

:

to start with breath work.

470

:

Um, even though I gave you a pretty simple

one, but if you want to go a little bit

471

:

deeper, he has some great guided videos.

472

:

Um, and yeah, I can't say enough.

473

:

Good things like

definitely check out those.

474

:

I'll try to link him into the show

notes or the description as well.

475

:

So you can have some easy access to that.

476

:

Um, aside from that, I would say, you

know, I think we are a heavily caffeinated

477

:

society and you know, don't get me wrong.

478

:

I absolutely love my coffee.

479

:

Um, I'm currently drinking a decaf

coffee, which has, uh, actually been.

480

:

Very nice.

481

:

The decaf coffees tastes really

good, but I have kind of no noticed

482

:

a little bit of a lower energy levels

in the morning, which I think is

483

:

good for us to recognize that and

take some time away from caffeine.

484

:

Right.

485

:

So our body can.

486

:

Kind of get back into its natural cycle

of not relying on caffeine, but most

487

:

people drink way too much caffeine.

488

:

And I'm super guilty of that.

489

:

Uh, you know, I try to limit myself

to just two cups of coffee a day.

490

:

But there are many days that it has

gone to three or four cups of coffee.

491

:

So, um, it is important for us to

really watch our coffee intake.

492

:

Um, especially within that first, like

what, like hour to 90 minutes of the

493

:

day, we want to allow our bodies to just.

494

:

Wake up on its own.

495

:

Get outside, get some sunlight

on your skin and in your eyes.

496

:

Uh, this will help you to

wake up naturally as well.

497

:

And, uh, coffee as well can just

really do some damage on, on like

498

:

cortisol levels and just keeping us

wired when we really don't need it.

499

:

So, um, be a little bit

more mindful with that.

500

:

And then.

501

:

I would also recommend.

502

:

Uh, prioritizing your sleep.

503

:

Sleep is a great thing for

lowering stress levels.

504

:

And honestly just.

505

:

Benefiting your entire body

and all of your health sleep

506

:

is so key to all of that.

507

:

Uh, and then I would also recommend

maybe doing a little bit of

508

:

journaling or a, a practice of.

509

:

Uh, being in the present moment.

510

:

So that can literally be once again,

like just sitting down and observing

511

:

the things that you're seeing, uh,

you can do the practice of like,

512

:

what is it like five thing, notice

five things that you can see.

513

:

Uh, for things that you can touch, I

think three things that you can smell.

514

:

One thing you can taste.

515

:

I it's.

516

:

Yeah, basically you use all of your senses

to bring you into the present moment.

517

:

Um, that can be a really good practice.

518

:

The breath work as well as a form

of presence, because once you

519

:

do a meditation with it, you're

kind of scanning your body.

520

:

That's also a practice of being present.

521

:

Um, and then journaling is also

a good way to just kind of get

522

:

your thoughts out of your head.

523

:

Um, I think it's Anne Frank,

who said that the paid.

524

:

Uh, paper is more forgiving than people.

525

:

I love that quote, if it's not Anne

Frank, I'm not sure who said it, but

526

:

anyways, great co quote, nonetheless.

527

:

And, um, it's very true.

528

:

If you're struggling with something, if

something is, you know, really eating

529

:

at your core, um, you know, and just.

530

:

Stressing you out.

531

:

Essentially right.

532

:

Then go ahead and try some,

uh, journaling, right?

533

:

Like write that stuff down and keep it in

a place where no one's going to see it.

534

:

Right.

535

:

Like it can just be your personal journal.

536

:

And once again, the pages are

going to be so much more forgiving

537

:

than people, uh, as well.

538

:

Typically when we lash out, um,

we don't say the best things.

539

:

So lash out onto the paper.

540

:

Now last but not least.

541

:

I'm also going to leave you with a

couple of recommendations in terms

542

:

of supplements that I would recommend

for stress and stress relief.

543

:

Of course, I always want to give you the.

544

:

Easy practices that really make

the biggest change in our lives,

545

:

which typically are things like

diet, um, you know, breath, work,

546

:

meditation, sleep, all those things

that I've already mentioned, but.

547

:

As well, there can be benefit with

supplements and there are a couple

548

:

that I personally really enjoy.

549

:

So I'm going to go ahead

and share those right now.

550

:

First off, I already have

told you many times on this

551

:

podcast, but I work for ritual.

552

:

So, you know, there is

a tie here with ritual.

553

:

I don't receive any

money off of this, but.

554

:

Rituals stress-relief capsule

supplement is hands down, probably

555

:

my favorite for stress relief.

556

:

It's an all day stress relief

capsule that has ashwagandha Safran.

557

:

And L-theanine.

558

:

So once again, coming back to that

saffron, which is really great for mood

559

:

improvement and as well, we have the

ashwagandha, which is a nice adaptogen.

560

:

It's good for the adrenals and it's good

at really helping to regulate stress.

561

:

And then L-theanine, which

is also great for stress.

562

:

Yes, because I used to take L-theanine

with my coffee in the morning, because it

563

:

would keep me from getting too jittery.

564

:

It would keep me at like

a steady kind of focused.

565

:

Um, energy level.

566

:

So I really, really, really can't say

enough good things about this one.

567

:

I take it pretty frequently and

it's a time to release capsule.

568

:

So you feel it all day long.

569

:

It's not just like you feel it at the

time of which you take the capsule.

570

:

No, it's literally the entire day.

571

:

So really love that one.

572

:

Can't recommend it enough.

573

:

Um, it's, you know, if you are

going to try a supplement, that'd

574

:

probably be my first place to start.

575

:

And then my other one is something that

I typically do more, uh, more towards.

576

:

The evening, and this is

just kind of like to help me.

577

:

Unwind and relax and, you know,

get into kind of a sleepy state.

578

:

And that is a reishi mushroom

and reishi mushroom can be taken

579

:

at any time of the day, but it's

also, I believe in adaptogens,

580

:

it's the mushroom of longevity.

581

:

There's like a ton of great properties

to it, but it can be really great

582

:

for, uh, kind of winding down and

typically the way I consume Rishi,

583

:

Uh, in the evening is in the form of a

powdered drink, which is from Organify.

584

:

They do the, uh, the gold serum,

which I believe has the Rishi in it.

585

:

Um, as well as like tumeric.

586

:

And then I do the it's the gold, the gold

juice, but it's the chocolate version.

587

:

That's personally my favorite one.

588

:

It just tastes like hot chocolate.

589

:

Um, and so I'll usually whip that up at

night and it's just kind of like my it's

590

:

like my nightcap kind of helps ease me

into the night, something warm and nice

591

:

to drink and just kind of ease me into

getting ready for a nice peaceful rest.

592

:

Hopefully.

593

:

Uh, of course it has been pretty

freaking hot out here lately.

594

:

Uh, in California.

595

:

Um, so having hot chocolate

hasn't really been my go-to.

596

:

Um, so I have taken Rishi

and just capsule form.

597

:

Um, but if you are going to take

reishi in capsule form, I'd recommend

598

:

finding a brand that does it properly.

599

:

Um, you know, if it is just fruiting body,

then that's probably a pretty good way

600

:

to go unless they're doing mycelium in a

correct manner in which they extract it.

601

:

Um, and then.

602

:

As well, the dual extraction

is pretty important.

603

:

We want to make sure that we're

getting both the alcohol extraction

604

:

as well as the hot water extraction.

605

:

Um, so, you know, just kind of keep

that in mind, uh, with Organify you're

606

:

getting a super high quality product.

607

:

Like everything they're putting in

there is really high quality as well.

608

:

It's like third-party tested

for things like glyphosate.

609

:

So.

610

:

It's just, you know, it's a

really easy one to trust and

611

:

to go for and tastes good.

612

:

But those would be my recommendations

for stress supplements.

613

:

I think, um, those two are my favorites.

614

:

Um, I can't really speak on any other

ones cause I haven't really tried them.

615

:

But these two.

616

:

Uh, they, you know, the

kind of stay in my rotation.

617

:

Uh, and honestly, The chocolate

gold serum that I take at night is.

618

:

It's just something I enjoy.

619

:

I mean, like, I know I feel the

benefits of the Rishi, but it's also

620

:

just something that's almost become

like a little bit of a practice to

621

:

unwind and get ready for the evening.

622

:

So.

623

:

Anyways, that's going to do it.

624

:

I want to just reiterate, we want to

start with the high level stuff first.

625

:

So things like breath, work,

things like meditation.

626

:

A yin yoga journaling, taking a time to

just be in the present moment, right?

627

:

Like these are the big

needle movers or as well.

628

:

If you're super stressed about

something and you just can't do

629

:

anything to change it, you might

need to reevaluate your life.

630

:

Like if it's really worth

being so stressed about.

631

:

Right.

632

:

So those are the big needle movers.

633

:

And then beyond that we

have supplements, right?

634

:

I always like to keep

supplements as a supplement.

635

:

It is to supplement everything else.

636

:

Um, and if I am going to take one,

it's typically going to be rituals,

637

:

stress relief, or the organic,

uh, gold juice mix that they have.

638

:

So anyways, that's going to do it

for today, by the way, if you do

639

:

want to try out the organic Uh, any

of their products, please check out

640

:

the description and you will get a

discount code for being a listener as

641

:

my little, thank you to all of you.

642

:

So, thank you all so much for

sticking with me through this episode.

643

:

I really appreciate you being

here and just tuning in.

644

:

Hopefully you found a lot of

value in today's episode and you

645

:

have a lot to take away with you.

646

:

I just want to really, once again

mentioned that stress can have some

647

:

serious implications on our health,

so please don't take it lightly.

648

:

And if you are finding yourself to be very

stressed, Take proactive measures now.

649

:

And it can be as simple as even just five

minutes doing a little bit of breath work.

650

:

So that's maybe.

651

:

Answer everything for a super stress

person, but it's a great place to start.

652

:

And it's made a really big

impact in my life personally.

653

:

So anyways, thank you all once again.

654

:

I can't.

655

:

Thank you.

656

:

Enough.

657

:

But truly from the bottom of my

heart, appreciate you all being here.

658

:

Um, if you haven't already subscribed

to this podcast, please do.

659

:

So it helps out so much with

this, uh, with this podcast.

660

:

And if you would like to refer this

podcast to a friend, family member

661

:

loved one, anyone that can benefit

from this episode or this show,

662

:

then please feel free to share it.

663

:

That also does so much

in spreading the word.

664

:

And then please leave a rating

or review if you haven't already.

665

:

And of course I read all of those.

666

:

I love to see them.

667

:

And once again, it just helps

people to find this show and.

668

:

A really easy, no cost way of helping, uh,

this show if you found some value in it.

669

:

So I appreciate you all so much.

670

:

And, um, you know, thank you for allowing

me to be here and sharing this information

671

:

with all you, it means the world to me.

672

:

I love you guys very much.

673

:

Have a beautiful rest of your day.

674

:

I'll see you all next week.

675

:

And until then, You know, the motto of

the show, it's do everything with good

676

:

intentions and connect to your elements.

677

:

Y'all I'm sending much love and I hope

you have a beautiful rest of your day.

678

:

Peace.

Show artwork for Elemental Evan

About the Podcast

Elemental Evan
Health and Wellness
The Elemental Evan Show, takes an easy and fun approach to health and wellness, making in-depth health topics easy to digest. Focusing on health from an integrative perspective, this show incorporates all areas of health from diets, to relationships, to healthy mentalities. Certified Universal Yoga practitioner and IIN Health Coach, Evan combines holistic health practices with scientific data to bring you fun and interesting episodes. You'll finish each episode feeling empowered to make changes in your life that can both add years to your life and life to your years. Follow along as we cover every health topic you can think of as Evan shows just how connected everything is, both inside your body and in your external environment.

About your host

Profile picture for Evan Roberts

Evan Roberts

Welcome to the Elemental Evan show. My name is Evan Roberts and I'm a certified IIN Health Coach and Yoga Teacher. I love taking a whole approach to health as everything is connected. When you treat one issue in the body, you'll inevitably treat other issues in the body which is why I try to look at things from a big picture perspective. Through this show I'll be bringing you information packed episodes on tangible ways to improve your overall health and wellness. I hope you walk away from each episode feeling empowered and renewed to take on the day and take control of your health!

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen and grow with me.

With Gratitude
-Evan Roberts