The Stress Solution Page 16
BREATHING MENU
ONE MINUTE, SIX BREATHS. Because making new habits is hard, I want to start easy. For this practice, I’d like you to set aside just one minute to consciously take six breaths. This means that each breath should take about ten seconds to complete, in and out. Use a timer or the second hand of a clock to keep track. If you’re new to this kind of practice, you may find that eight breaths in one minute is a little easier to start with. Ideally, I’d like you to do this once in the morning after you’ve got up, once after lunch and once just before you go to bed. You’ll slow your heart rate down, help activate your thrive state and replace a lot of that bad information with good. If you do this for just sixty seconds in the morning, you’ll start to become more aware of your breath for the remainder of the day.
3–4–5 BREATH. I find that this exercise can be extremely effective for patients who are prone to anxiety or stress. It could hardly be simpler. Breathe in for three seconds, hold for four seconds and breathe out for five seconds. When your out-breath is longer than your in-breath, you reduce the activation of your stress state and encourage your body to move into a thrive state. You can do a few rounds of this breath or extend it to take five minutes. Listen to your body and see what works for you.
BOX BREATHING. This can be done at any time, but patients report to me that it’s especially useful just before bedtime. Breathe in for four seconds, hold for four seconds, breathe out for four seconds, then hold for another four. Box breathing helps lower stress levels, calm the nervous system and take your mind away from distracting thoughts. It’s reported that Navy Seals use this method to control their stress levels.
NADI SHODHAN. Alternate-nostril breathing can give a boost of energy as well as help you fall asleep (see here). Sit comfortably, with your shoulders relaxed. Place your right thumb on to your right nostril to block it and fully exhale through your left nostril. Breathe in through your left nostril for a count of four. Place the ring finger and little finger of your right hand on to your left nostril to block it. Release your right thumb and breathe out through your right nostril for a count of four. At the end of the breath, keep your fingers where they are and breathe in through the right nostril for four. Place the thumb back over the right nostril and breathe out through the left nostril. This is one cycle.
Start off by doing ten rounds. You can increase this as you become more familiar with the practice.
KAPALABHATI. Otherwise known as the ‘Skull Shining Breath’, this forced diaphragmatic breath is a pretty intense exercise but great for a quick pick-me-up. As you take a full deep breath in through your nose, your abdomen will expand. As you exhale, pull your belly button in forcefully and actively, as if it’s going in towards the spine. (It can be helpful to think about throwing your breath out.) After each exhale, as your abdomen expands again, you’ll automatically start to inhale. Do ten to twenty of these breaths. Afterwards, pay attention to how you feel.
It is always best to learn this one from a trained yoga instructor. Please avoid doing it on an empty stomach, if you’re pregnant, have a stent or pacemaker or a history of epilepsy or a hernia.fn1
BREATHING IS LIFE
Breathing is the first thing we do when we come into the world and the last thing we do before our hearts finally stop. Breathing is life. It’s the simplest human action there is and yet the most fundamental. It brings fuel to the body and mood to the brain. It allows our hearts to beat.
We can’t hope to bring our stress under control without first bringing our breath under control. Stress and breath are intimately linked. By spending just a few minutes each day consciously working with it, you’ll feed your brain and body the information that life is calm. When you’re strongly focusing on your breath you’re creating a zone of stillness, a forcefield against which those MSDs have no power.
I want you to stop reading and put this book down right now. For one minute, just breathe. Breathe in for four seconds, hold for another four, breathe out for four and hold for four more. Repeat four times.
CONCLUSION
My Cupboard of No Return has become a problem because I’ve left it so long it’s now overwhelming. The only way I’m ever going to deal with it is by not viewing it as one huge job to tackle but realizing that I can break it down into a series of tiny actions. I need to put the left-hand glove with its right-hand partner, lock the passport in my filing cabinet and drop the golf ball into my Tupperware box in the shed. Easy! Before I know it, those shelves will be empty.
The stress in your life is no different to this. Now that you’ve read this book, I hope you’ve expanded your view of what stress is and have come to realize that it’s lurking in many hidden places. MSDs are coming at you from all directions, pretty much all the time. There’s nothing I can do about that. But what I can do is make you more resilient to them.
Without question, the L.I.V.E. framework is the most important intervention in this book. A life devoid of meaning and purpose will stress you out faster than anything else. I urge you to begin introducing this idea into your life today. When you do, you’ll find it makes the other recommendations much easier to achieve. Remember, you don’t need to do every single one. Don’t look for perfection but for a balance across all four pillars.
You have in your hands a toolkit full of powerful interventions, most of which are both simple and free. If you enact enough of them, they’ll turn you into a stress superhero, fighting off those MSDs as if you’re surrounded by a forcefield of calm.
But you have to start small. Not every page of The Stress Solution is going to be relevant to your life. But I’d like you to pick an intervention which, when you saw it, truly resonated with you. One that truly struck a chord deep within and that made you think, ‘I could do that right now.’ It may well have been something easy – holding hands with your partner, breathing purposefully for sixty seconds, lighting some candles. That doesn’t matter. Your world is defined not by the books you’ve read but by your actions. That simple intervention is your first step.
Take it.
References
Introduction
Aditi Neurkar et al., ‘When Physicians Counsel about Stress: Results of a National Study’, 14 January 2013, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1392494
PURPOSE
R. Cohen, C. Bavishi and A. Rozanski, ‘Purpose in Life and Its Relationship to All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Events: A Meta-analysis’, February–March 2016, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26630073
Andrew Steptoe, Angus Deaton and Arthur Stone, ‘Subjective Wellbeing, Health and Ageing’, 5 November 2014, https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)61489-0/fulltext
Pia Hedberg et al., ‘Depression in Relation to Purpose in Life among a Very Old Population: A Five-Year Follow-up Study’, August 2010, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20686985
Arlene D. Turner et al., ‘Is Purpose in Life Associated with Less Sleep Disturbance in Older Adults?’, 10 July 2017, https://sleep.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41606-017-0015-6
The 3 Habits of Calm
Michael D. Wood et al., ‘Buffering Effects of Benefit Finding in a War Environment’, 4 March 2011, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08995605.2010.521732
J. David Cresswell et al., ‘Affirmations Improve Student Performance in Undergraduates’, 1 May 2013, http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0062593
Jeremy P. Jamieson, Matthew K. Nock and Wendy Berry Mendes, ‘Reappraising Stress Reduces Heart Rate’, 26 September 2011, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3410434/
Xianglong Zeng et al., ‘Meta-analysis of Loving Kindness Meditation’, 3 November 2015, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4630307/
Schedule Your Time
Grant Hilary Brenner, ‘Your Brain and Creativity’, 22 February 2018, https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/experimentations/201802/your-brain-creativity
RELATIONSHIPS
Human Touch
C. D. Walker, ‘Maternal Touch and Feed as Critical Regulators of Behavioural and Stress Responses in the Offspring’, November 2010, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20862707
M. W. Kraus, C. Huang and D. Keltner, ‘Tactile Communication, Co-operation and Performance: An Ethological Study of the NBA’, October 2010, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21038960
Mariana von Mohr, Louise P. Kirsh and Aikaterini Fotopolou, ‘The Soothing Function of Touch: Affective Touch Reduces Feelings of Social Exclusion’, 18 October 2017, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-13355-7
F. McGlone, J. Wessberg and H. Olausson, ‘Discriminative and Affective Touch: Sending and Feeling’, 21 May 2014, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24853935
J. A. Leonard et al., ‘The Effect of Friendly Touch on the Delay of Gratification on Preschool Children’, 2014, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/24666195/
Get Intimate
J. M. Twenge, R. A. Sherman and B. E. Wells, ‘Declines in Sexual Frequency among American Adults, 1989–2014’, 6 March 2014, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28265779
Lancet, ‘The Third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles’, 30 November 2013, https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/vol382no9907/PIIS0140-6736(13)X6059-3?code=lancet-site
J. A. Coan, H. S. Schaefer and R. J. Davidson, ‘Lending a Hand: Social Regulation of the Neural Response to Threat’, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17201784
J. D. Meeker, A. M. Calafat and R. Houser, ‘Urinary Bisphonol A Concentrations in Relation to Serum Thyroid and Reproductive Hormone Levels in Men from a Fertility Clinic’, 15 February 2010, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20030380
J. H. Mendelson, N. K. Mello and J. Ellingboe, ‘Effects of Acute Alcohol Intake on Pituitary-Gonadal Hormones in Normal Human Males’, September 1977, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/894528
Nurture Your Friendships
Mental Health Foundation, ‘The Lonely Society?’, 2 May 2010, https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/sites/default/files/the_lonely_society_report.pdf
L. F. Berkman and S. L. Syme, ‘Social Networks, Host Resistance, and Mortality: A Nine-Year Follow-up Study of Alameda County Residents’, February 1979, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/425958
Nicole K. Valtorta et al., ‘Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Longitudinal Observational Studies’, April 2016, https://heart.bmj.com/content/102/13/1009
George M. Slavich et al., ‘Neural Sensitivity to Social Rejection Is Associated with Inflammatory Responses to Social Stress’, 2 August 2010, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2930449/
BODY
Eat Yourself Happy
Lancet editorial, March 2015, https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366%2814%2900051-0/abstract?code=lancet-site
R. F. Slykerman et al., ‘Effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 in Pregnancy on Postpartum Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety: A Randomised Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial’, October 2017, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28943228
A. P. Allen et al., ‘Bifidobacterium longum 1714 as a Translational Psychobiotic: Modulation of Stress, Physiology and Neurocognition in Healthy Volunteers’, 1 November 2016, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5314114/
Make Exercise Work For You
Timothy J. Shoenfeld et al., ‘Physical Exercise Prevents Stress-Induced Activation of Granule Neurons and Enhances Local Inhibitory Mechanisms in the Dentate Gyrus’, 1 May 2013, http://www.jneurosci.org/content/33/18/7770
Eli Puterman et al., ‘The Power of Exercise: Buffering the Effect of Chronic Stress on Telomere Length’, 26 May 2010, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2877102/
C. W. Janssen et al., ‘Whole-Body Hyperthermia for the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial’, 1 August 2016, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27172277
Reset Your Rhythm
Carla S. Möller-Levet et al., ‘Effects of Insufficient Sleep on Circadian Rhythmicity and Expression Amplitude of the Human Blood Transcriptome’, 25 February 2013, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3607048/
Seung-Schik Yoo et al., ‘The Human Emotional Brain without Sleep – a Prefrontal Amygdala Disconnect’, 23 October 2017, https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(07)01783-6?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982207017836%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
Anne Germain and Michael Dretsch, ‘Sleep and Resilience – A Call for Prevention and Intervention’, 1 May 2016, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4835317/
Tetsuya Matsubayashi, Yasayuki Sawada and Michio Ueda, ‘Does the Installation of Blue Lights on Train Platforms Prevent Suicide? A Before-and-After Observational Study from Japan’, May 2013, https://www.jad-journal.com/article/S0165-0327(12)00587-3/abstract
Amandine Chaix, ‘Time-Restricted Feeding is a Preventative and Therapeutic Intervention against Diverse Nutritional Challenges’, 2 December 2014, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4255155/
MIND
Technology Overload
Holly B. Shakya and Nicholas A. Christakis, ‘Association of Facebook Use with Compromised Well-being: A Longitudinal Study’, 1 February 2017, https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/185/3/203/2915143
Royal Society for Public Health Report, ‘#Status of Mind: Social Media and Young People’s Health and Well-being’ (n.d.), https://www.rsph.org.uk/our-work/campaigns/status-of-mind.html
Eric J. Vanman, Rosemary Baker and Stephanie J. Tobin, ‘The Burden of Online Friends: The Effects of Giving Up Facebook on Stress and Well-being’, 9 April 2018, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224545.2018.1453467
Adrian F. Ward et al., ‘Brain Drain: The Mere Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity’, 3 April 2017, https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/691462
Bathe Yourself in Nature
A. J. Park et al., ‘The Physiological Effects of Shinrin-yoku (Taking in the Forest Atmosphere or Forest Bathing): Evidence from Field Experiments in 24 Forests across Japan’, January 2010, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19568835
Richard Taylor, ‘Fractals in Psychology and Art’, 3 February 2016, https://blogs.uoregon.edu/richardtaylor/2016/02/03/human-physiological-responses-to-fractals-in-nature-and-art/?xid=PS_smithsonian
Daniel K. Brown, Jo L. Barton and Valerie F. Gladwell, ‘Viewing Nature Scenes Positively Affects Recovery of Autonomic Function Following Acute-Mental Stress’, 6 April 2013, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es305019p
Take Time to Breathe
Kevin Yackle et al., ‘Breathing Control Center Neurons that Promote Arousal in Mice’, 31 March 2017, http://science.sciencemag.org/content/355/6332/1411
Xiao Ma et al., ‘The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults’, 6 June 2017, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5455070/
Anup Sharma et al., ‘A Breathing-Based Meditation Intervention for Patients with Major Depressive Disorder Following Inadequate Response to Antidepressants: A Randomized Pilot Study’, January 2017, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5272872/
R. J. Davidson et al., ‘Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation’, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12883106
F. Kurth et al., ‘Brain Gray Matter Changes Associated with Mindfulness Meditation in Older Adults: An Exploratory Pilot Study Using Voxel-Based Morphometry’, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25632405
M. K. Leung, ‘Meditation-Induced Neuroplastic Changes in Amygdala Activity during Negative Affective Processing’, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28393652
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To have completed my second book just twelve months after my first would simply not have been possible without the help and support of many people.
Vidhaata
, for helping me understand who I really am.
Jainam and Anoushka, for ensuring that I never take my work too seriously and for reminding me on a daily basis of how to take pleasure in the small things in life. You drive me to improve myself and teach me how to become a better man. Both of you are special gifts and I love you more than words can say.
Mum, for showing me what unconditional love is. Your drive to keep pushing yourself and trying new things inspires me.
Dada, for always being there for me.
Jeremy, Ayan and Luke, for the many ‘jam sessions’ of new ideas over the phone, endlessly listening, giving feedback and, of course, for the friendship.
Mike, for the continued support, advice and mentorship.
Antony, for trusting your intuition.
Chetana and Dinesh, for teaching me how to look at life through a different lens. You have, without realizing it, helped shape many of the ideas in this book.
Dhru, for your amazing ability to bring the best out of people. I have been a grateful recipient on multiple occasions. You have influenced this book in many ways.
Steve and Carron, for being two of the finest friends I could ever have hoped to have.
Christian Platt, for your refreshing honesty, intuition and for opening my eyes to what is possible.
James and Dallas, for the brotherhood from across the pond.
Will Francis, you are simply the very best literary agent. This is just the start.