In PART 1 we talked about how cortisol and stress levels are affecting our kids and teens. Today we are going to talk about some natural ways to possibly help to relieve some of the stress and lower their cortisol levels.
With the lack of mental health care available, what are our options for potentially helping out teenagers deal with these challenges and decreasing their cortisol levels?- Breathing exercise
Learning controlled breath. One of my favorites is the 4-4-4 method where your child inhales to a count of 4, holds the breath for 4, exhales to the count of 4. When this is performed with a bit of a visualization, it greatly increases the feeling of calmness. For me, when I first learned this, I invisioned almost like a circle. I would see the inhale of the circle and exhale of the circle during each breath.
- Guided meditation
This type of meditation is led by an instructor, whehther in person or via audio or video. During this guided method, the instructor will encourage you to release tension and stress from various part of the body, the face, the cheeks, the forehead, the shoulders, etc. Once the participant is a bit more comfortable and in a relaxed state, they will be guided through mental images, shapes, locations (a field of flowers, a winding stream). Deeper guided experience may focus on past traumas and watching as they disappear further and further away. These sessions maybe a few minutes long or may last for long periods of time. They may also involve soft recorded music or live ‘singing bowls’ to accommodate the experience. - Yoga
this part of yoga involves stillness and breathing. These poses calm the body and mind, helping stress to melt away while reconnecting your breath with your body. A recent study measured cortisol levels before and after a 50 minute yoga session and found that the levels were greatly reduced after. Some great poses for helping to lower stress and cortisol include: Easy pose, child’s pose, supported shoulder stand (lying on back with legs up the wall), Savasana (Corpse pose), tree pose and lotus. Just a few minutes of these poses can help to slow the mind and reset the body. - Sleep
Sleep is essential to helping the body to heal and a lack of sleep, overtime, is known to increase the cortisol levels in the body. Taking a nap in the afternoon, after a good night’s sleep, will also help to lower the cortisol levels in the body. One issue that happens is that cortisol uses the same receptors on the cells as melatonin, thus if you are going to bed with high cortisol levels, the melatonin has a difficult getting to the cell receptors and will make it tough to get to sleep or sleep deeply. We will talk tomorrow about ways to help reduce the cortisol so that the bodies natural melatonin can do it’s job. - Exercising
While exercise is important to the overall physical and mental health, it’s also one of those things that will be unique to the individual. High impact cardio has been actually shown to increase cortisol levels, at least temporarily, in many people as it’s the body’s way of coping with this added physical stressor. For some, walking or light job might be the best stress reliever and help with their cortisol while for others they may get the relief they are needing by increasing their endorphins while doing heavy weights and “pumping iron”. Regardless of what type of exercise your child’s body is needing, the one thing we know for sure is that it IS needing the exercise. - Balanced Diet
This always sounds like a broken record when reading through articles related to any sort of health issue. Increasing fruit and vegetable intake while cutting out processed foods and sugars will ALWAYS benefit the body, and that includes stress and hormone levels. Increasing VitaminB is a big factor in lowering cortisol levels and improving both anxiety and depression. Increasing protein as well as Omega 3 will also have a substantial effect on cortisol levels in most people. - Laughter
Laughter is the best medicine. We’ve all heard the quote but there is so much truth in it. It’s hard to feel stressed or overwhelmed when you are smiling and having a good time. While it can be difficult to put yourself out there and enjoy time with other people, having fun and laughing increases serotonin and lowers cortisol. It can help your improve your relationships and friendships, giving you more overall support. Find a hobby. Go to dinner with some friends. Watch a funny movie or TikTok videos. Laughter really IS good for the soul!
In Part 3 we are going to discuss supplements and natural remedies that can assist your child through this difficult time.
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