What is stress and how Ashwagandha helps to relieve stress?
Do you lose your cool often? How many times it has happened that little challenges in your life have made you vent your frustration in the form of outburst. If it happens too often, time has come to take a pause and start pondering whether you are stressed or, to put in other words, stress is behind all these or not. Yes, stress which can actually be behind your sufferings and if unchecked it can give rise to some other ailments too. Read on to know what is stress and how stress affects you?
What is stress?
Stress is your body’s reaction to any harmful situation whether real or perceived. As you are threatened by any unforeseen challenges, certain chemical reactions occur in your body so that you are prepared to act in such a way that you are able to prevent injury. This reaction, known as ‘fight or flight’ or stress response, increases your heart rate, you breathe faster, your muscles get tight and blood pressure rises. (The ‘fight or flight’ response is our body’s automatic reaction to a certain incident which is perceived as stressful or frightening. Depending on this perception our body gets ready to either fight or flee.)
When do you experience stress?
Stress is your natural physical and mental reaction to the experiences of life. There is no one who does not experience stress from time to time. Almost everything from your daily responsibilities can cause stress. It might be any serious life events like death of a loved one or almost anything unpleasant which can stress you.
How important is stress?
As immediate response and in short term, stress is important for your health. Stress helps you face unforeseen situations in a better way. As you are stressed, your body releases hormones which in turn increases your heart rate and rate of breathing and thus your muscles get ready to respond. So, stress actually helps our body to adjust to unforeseen situations. Stress can be positive as our body’s response during stress helps us to work harder and stay active for long.
When stress is a problem?
Stress becomes challenging and a problem when you continue without being relieved from stress or you fail to relax during intervals.
When are you stressed?
Being able to recognize stress sometimes might be difficult for you. As many of us are so used to be stressed, we may not realize that we are stressed until we are at the breaking point. Yes, stress can affect you in your ignorance. You might ascribe your suffering like headache, your frequent sleeplessness or decreased productivity at work to illness. And, you may actually remain ignorant for long but stress can be behind all these.
What happens during stress?
If you have long term stress then your body continuously activates the stress response which is the ‘fight or flight’ response. This continuous activation of stress response causes wear and tear of your body. Because of this, your body experiences certain undesirable changes which can be physical, emotional and behavioural.
Physical symptoms of stress:
The physical changes in your body due to stress might be in the form of headache or other types of aches. Also you might experience sleeplessness, muscle tension, digestive problems, high blood pressure, problems in having sex, or even your immune system may weaken.
Emotional symptoms of stress:
Emotional symptoms of stress might be anxiety, depression, sadness or you might even have panic attacks.
Behavioural symptoms:
Continuously being stressed might prompt you to certain unhealthy behaviours like too much drinking, or using drugs. Apart From these, your undesirable behaviour might manifest in some other ways also.
How to prevent stress?
As stress can severely affect you in your ignorance, so it is very important to de-stress yourself. Incorporate certain healthy practices in your life which can help you relieve your stress. Here is what you can do.
- Don’t be frustrated
Know that you cannot control everything. It’s very important to be able to acknowledge your limitations, which will eventually help you avoid frustration.
- Learn to say ‘no’
Being able to say ‘no’ to certain additional responsibilities, when already you are busy or stressed, will save you from getting more stress.
- Lead a healthy lifestyle
For a healthy lifestyle, eat well, exercise well and take enough sleep.
- Be a good mixer
Stay connected, talk to people who can make you happy and give emotional support.
- Practice relaxation techniques
Yoga helps you a lot. Certain breathing exercises can work wonders to de-stress you. Practice meditation too.
Ayurveda and Stress:
According to Ayurveda, stress is caused by imbalances in the body’s doshas, which are the three primary life forces that govern physical and mental processes. When one or more of the doshas is out of balance, it can lead to stress and other health problems.
Ayurveda offers several natural remedies and it prescribes a variety of herbs and supplements such as ashwagandha, brahmi, and shatavari, to help reduce stress and promote relaxation.
How Ashwagandha helps in relieving stress?
Pure organic Ashwagandha has been traditionally used in Ayurvedic medicine for various health benefits, including stress relief. Several studies have suggested that pure organic ashwagandha and root extract may be effective in reducing stress and anxiety levels.
Now a days, there are many organic Ashwagandha vegan capsules which contain pure organic Ashwagandha powder and root extract are available in the market. You can get it online too and gets its benifit.
Many studies have found that ashwagandha supplementation is effective in reducing stress and improving overall well-being.
Get Ashwagandha vegan capsules with pure organic Ashwagandha powder online
A word of caution:
If you are considering taking ashwagandha or Ashwagandha vegan capsules which contain pure organic Ashwagandha powder and root extract, it’s important to speak with your healthcare provider first to ensure it is safe and appropriate for your individual needs.
A 360-degree overview:
To prevent stress it is very important to work on certain strategies so that stress cannot overpower you. At the end of the day, introspect to ascertain how far you have been able to accomplish your goal. This will help you to strike a balance in your life. Also, if ever, you feel stressed exercise. Even taking a brisk walk might help you to relieve your stress.
(The content of this article is for informational purpose only. It cannot be a substitute for advice from a medical practitioner. Read DISCLAIMER for more…)
Read also: What is Oxidative stress
