Managing Stress with Natural Boosters

Did you know that 83% of U.S. WORKERS ARE GENERALLY STRESSED? That’s a big number and there are numerous factors that lead into that like the 46% that feel overworked and underpaid, the 20% that have a poor work/life balance, 6% that lack job security or professional development opportunities, and the 28% that have people issues of not even being in their desired field.

It also does not stop there with those factors just touching the tip of the iceberg. These factors begin to alter how we are productive, how we interact with our coworkers and our overall health. There is a $300 billion lost in productivity as a result of stress and is continuing to grow as we speak. 87% of workers feel emotionally disconnected with their workplace and are less likely to be productive. To be specific those unhappy workers are 10% less productive. 1 million employees will miss work due to stress. 46% of stress employees spend more on healthcare. 14% of workers want to punch their colleagues, which I’m glad isn’t a super common issue but there are some cases that end that way. Over 50% feel as though their employer doesn’t care about their work/life balance leaving over 70% of employees to feel either physical stress or mental stress and so much more.

Stress on the Human Body

Stress is a silent killer with some traumatizing health effects. It can greatly affect the body by increasing anxiety, depression, irritability, anger, restlessness, lack of focus and motivation, overeating and social withdrawals. You can even experience some long term complications like heart disease, digestive issues or memory impairment. 

Stress Hormones

There are also some stress hormones that I’m pretty sure you have heard about at least a few times in your life that are being released during times of stress. These hormones are cortisol and adrenaline. Both are good to use in small doses but too much of them can be hazardous on the body. Adrenaline is our first line of defense. It is our fight or flight hormone that helps for immediate reactions. It is a great hormone for survival but not too handy in the workplace. It will increase your heart rate, produce heavy breathing, create muscle tension, sweating, and alter your focus and attention. Cortisol is another culprit and the main stress hormone. It actually works in multiple steps of recognizing the threat, signaling the hypothalamus and pituitary glands in the brain to release more cortical. Like previously said, a little is great to regulate blood pressure, immunity, digestion, and growth but too much can suppress the immune system, increase blood pressure and sugar, decrease libido, produce acne and be a contributing factor to obesity. All components I wouldn’t want any of you to experience, especially throughout your day to day work life. So having some ways to naturally boost the good hormones in the office is a perfect to managing stress.

Natural Boosters

Finding some natural stress preventions and energy boosters are more simple than you would think. To start you can always begin with small preventions like obtaining a stress ball.

• A stress ball is a great personal tool that can sit on your desk, in your bag or briefcase for instant on hand usage.

• You can also mentor a new employee around the office.

• You can go volunteer in the community. Not only because it’s for a great cause but because it also feels amazing to be purposeful.

• You can always go outside during breaks and absorbs some of the sun’s rays to improve your mood and focus which will actually boost your happiness hormone.

• You can simply eat away from your desk to get you out of being in work mode.

• Come in well rested followed with a good morning to your coworkers.

You would be surprised how such small tools will affect the rest of your work day.  Of course if you already practice those preventions or just want more tools on how to de-stress, you can always incorporate exercise and meditation which is our main source to obtain energy and naturally boost your body and mind. Your boosters can come from sources of cardiovascular activity, strength training and meditation. It is amazing to know the amount of good hormones like serotonin that is being released during these periods of activity.

You can learn more on how to start your workout regime or incorporate meditation to better your mental health, check out my latest health notes.

Exercise Hormones

Similar to absorbing the sun’s rays, you can abundantly release the happiness hormone, serotonin, during physical activity. It can not only improve your mood but give you restful sleep, improve your appetite, increase energy and provide you mindful thinking. There is also endorphins which I’m sure we have all came across in life but it works well with serotonin to create pleasurable activity. Alone it will reduce the perception of pain and trigger a runner’s high which is a positive euphoric feeling after working out. You can also come across an abundance of neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine, GABA, BDNF, and Antibodies. There are also other exercise hormones like DHEA that will increase life longevity, Melatonin to improve sleep and the Growth Hormone that keeps your body youthful by boosting your metabolism, bone density, and muscle mass.

Productivity and Cohesiveness

Once you have the awareness with no judgment to incorporate a few new habits that will benefit your health, you will start to experience more optimism especially if you are practicing this in the workplace. This will ultimately improve productivity and cohesiveness as well. With your added knowledge you all can keep each other Less stress and more productiveness.

Learn more about managing stress and obtaining some knowledge on various forms of fitness that will greatly benefit your body, productivity, cohesiveness and work/life balance. Managing your stress will ultimately improve your health on several platforms as well as build stronger bonds among your peers and provide you a new perspective on health.