I recently had the honor of joining a panel discussion on Resilience Radio, a local podcast hosted by Irvin Eisenberg, OT. The theme that guided the conversation was “Bouncing Back from Calamity.” Two other wonderful practitioners were part of this, giving the perspectives of herbal medicine, naturopathic medicine, and Chinese medicine. There were a few key ideas that showed up during our back-and-forth on building strategies for stress, and I’m inspired to share them here.
Train the Body with Supportive Habits
We agreed that life comes with small stressors each day, sometimes persistent background stress, and sometimes unexpected, major, calamity type of stress. We were referring to the impact of the heavy rains and flooding this summer that has shifted many of our lives in central Vermont. The title of Irvin’s podcast is Resilience Radio, and we were talking about how to be resilient through stress. The online Oxford Language reference defines resilience to mean, “the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties.”
This group of health care practitioners repeatedly said that creating health-promoting, daily habits is a key element in building strategies for stress. We need to train our nervous systems, in healthy and enjoyable ways, to deal with the stressful experiences that life brings. Stress is a natural part of living and our bodies have clear ways we’ve adapted to this, enabling us to survive as long as we have.
It has seeped into all of our brains that a healthy diet and regular exercise is so important. We may each strive for this daily in our own ways, and can also look at why we may not be meeting our goals. This is often about a lack of time and energy or maybe not feeling knowledgeable. Our panel discussed ways to help people create healthy habits that will make them more resilient in times of stress. There are specific nervine and adaptogenic herbs that can help relax our nervous systems, taken in tea form or put into a warm bath. This means making space in the day for yourself and finding ways to take control of your day, despite your work schedule. Drinking a cup of tea is caring for yourself. Taking a walk in nature is another way.
Be in Nature
Remember that you are part of nature, just like the plant, tree, or bird that you walk by. We have created a lot over time to make us feel separate from it, but being amongst nature can help your nervous system come back to a more regulated state. It may be considered a stressor for a natural object to be separated from nature, though we don’t typically look at our modern lives in this way. We have many accessible ways around us here to easily be in nature for a short walk. When you do, focus on what you see and hear and smell. Let your mental activity fade to the background and take note of what’s around you and how your body feels moving.
Take Your Sleep Seriously
We also discussed the restorative quality of healthy sleep as a key to managing stress and bouncing back from hardship. Nervine relaxant herbs were mentioned again, particularly drinking in tea form in the earlier evening or putting into a bath before bed. I’ve learned that warming your body before bed can help instigate it to cool down to induce sleep. There are acupoints that I mentioned a couple of months ago in this column that can be stimulated to help calm the nervous system and mind toward sleep.
Poor sleep itself is a kind of stress for the body, which then adds to the struggle for dealing with further stress. So taking sleep quality seriously and seeking help if you struggle is of utmost importance toward creating resiliency. Don’t hesitate to speak to an herbalist or a naturopath, and explore remedies that have time-tested effectiveness. The first formula you try may not be the one that your body responds to, so don’t be immediately discouraged.
It struck me during our podcast conversation when the herbalist reminded us that plants are resilient, as is all of nature. Along with our homes businesses and hearts, the natural world adapts and re-calibrates from disasters that occur. In this discussion, we repeatedly shared that the connections we have amongst us are crucial to bouncing back. Spend time nourishing those relationships as importantly as you do nourishing with food. I continue to be uplifted by the impressive love and support for our neighbors and businesses to help them recover and carry on from the recent calamity we’ve experienced.
Strategies for Stress
To learn more about Irvin’s podcast, and listen to this episode when it releases, please visit his website here.