What do stress and adrenal fatigue have in common? When the mind perceives a stressful event, the body automatically begins the biological “fight or flight” stress response. The body releases adrenaline, tensing muscles, boosting heart rate, constricting blood vessels, slowing the digestive system, causing “tunnel vision” and so on. Without proper rest, the body continues producing the stress response until it is fatigued or exhausted. If stress continues or isn’t managed, it leads to pain, illness, injury, emotional problems, adrenal fatigue and so much more. Here are 3 simple secrets to “turn off” or reverse the stress response so you can balance hormones naturally and overcome adrenal fatigue.

Stress is something we encounter every day. We often think of stress as a bad thing, but stress is not necessarily toxic by itself. It has a purpose, to keep us safe and prepare our bodies to “get moving” in order to deal with danger.

Stress can be toxic when we don’t know how to react to it. The truth is we are all guilty of creating most of our own stress. This is great news because it means we can also learn to manage our stress.

It’s really about perspective.

What if we saw stress as opportunities and focused on the positive outcome? Just think what is possible rather than reacting out of fear and focusing on the negative?

What if we used the energy our bodies create in stressful situations to motivate us to take action in order to solve the problem?

It’s habit really. We are taught at a young age to react negatively to stress, so we continue dealing with stress the same way into adulthood. This is why we need to make a conscious effort to “turn-off” so we can function optimally and have all the energy we need.

We heal from stress by producing what are called “happy hormones”. The main hormone in charge of this is Oxytocin. Oxytocin is often called the stress ‘off-switch’ or the ‘love’ hormone. It lowers the stress hormone, cortisol.

In order to produce oxytocin, we need to make time for activities that trigger a relaxation response both in the brain and in the body. During the relaxation response, our mind clears, our muscles relax, and our heart rate and blood pressure lower.

Here are 3 simple secrets to balance hormones naturally and reduce stress by producing these “happy hormones”.

1. LAUGHTER

This can be genuine or fake laughter, the brain doesn’t know the difference, so you will have the same result.

Spend a few minutes laughing by listening to your favorite comedian during your commute to work or while exercising
Surround yourself with people who make you laugh
Or just start laughing, it may feel kinda silly at first, but you will feel a ton better afterward

2. HUG SOMEONE

Embrace someone. Give someone you love a hug.
Really enjoy the hug. Stay a little longer than normal and feel the effects
If you can't hug someone you love at that moment then imagine you are hugging someone you love.
Cuddling has the same effect

3. TAKE A WALK

Even if you don't have much time a walk will help, even if it's only 5-10 mins. You will feel the difference.
Walking, and walking outside is recommended and is statistically correlated with higher levels of oxytocin
If your day is full of meetings, perhaps you can suggest a walking meeting with a co-worker, you might be surprised that when walking and talking business you can experience more inspirations, creativity and ah-ha moments!

We've just given you 3 simple secrets to balance hormones naturally and heal your adrenal fatigue.

It can be challenging at first to find time to turn “off” and slow down. But I promise once you start practicing this, it won’t take long before you will notice its positive effects. You will not only feel happier but energized too! How does it get any better than that?

Now, I’d love to hear from you.

What things have you tried to relieve stress? Specifically, what worked and what didn’t?