5 Ways To Recognise Your Body Is Under Stress
One of the biggest barriers in managing stress is to be able to clearly recognise what the stressor is. This can be hard if you are not even aware your body is under stress in the first place.
The first step is to be able to IDENTIFY when your body is under stress so you can start to IDENTIFY the triggers and patterns.
1. Track Your Hear Rate
Keeping an eye on your average heart rate over the week or months can help you identify when your body is in a period of stress - even if it doesn't mentally feel like it.
Tip: Ovulation / the luteal phase of your cycle can spike your average HR - it's a great way to also tap into your cycle.
2. Track Your Sleep Quality
Stress can affect how well we sleep, either by not allowing us to get to sleep, stay asleep or have as good quality of sleep. If your sleep starts to get affected it could be a sign your body is under stress.
Tip: Having a higher than average HR can affect quality of sleep. A number of reasons could cause this but some form of stress on the body is a likely culprit.
3. Pay Attention To Skin Flare Ups
When we are stressed our body becomes inflamed and immune system compromised. For those who suffer with skin conditions such as eczema this can cause flare ups.
Tip: Unfortunately skin flare-ups linked to stress stress can be an endless vicious cycle causing more stress and more flare ups. The key is to identify the trigger than try to manage the symptoms.
4. Pay Attention to Changes In Appetite
Not feeling hungry might not be a good thing even if you are trying to lose weight. Under stress our digestive system is compromised as blood is shunted to other areas in the body affected our appetite.
Tip: Even though we may not be physically hungry, for some we can turn to food to soothe us regardless. This means any change in appetite should be monitored and noted as a potential sign of significant stress.
5. Pay Attention to Aches & Pains
Constant head aches or body aches may be sign your muscles are tense ready for you to take action - a sign of fight of flight.
Tip: Monitor how often you get headaches and when. Is it always the day after a training session, at the end of the week or just before your period? That way you will be able to identify when your body needs a little more R&R.
Improving your stress requires knowing what is causing it and to do this you need to identify when the body is under stress using specific markers. Try and pick up patterns or connections between these markers and potential triggers and overtime you will have a good idea of not only when you are under stress BUT what caused it, meaning you can pre-empt and limit it in the future.