Wellness Tip: What does stress do & how to reduce it

Moderation and balance are the secret to a long, healthy life - Healthzone.ca: "What does stress do?

Stress really affects our hormones — adrenalin and cortisol. They raise blood pressure and heart rate and after the event you can feel very tired. If cortisol stays high, it takes calcium out of bones, decreases muscle mass and stores fat around the middle. Cortisol raises insulin which has been implicated in metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and triglycerides and is linked to inflammation and cancer.

Cortisol also completely changes body composition. You can have the same weight but less muscle and more fat as you get older. At low levels, it can depress your immune system which is the system that fights cancer.

How do we reduce stress and the corresponding cortisol production?

One of the principals of yoga is to control your breathing. Yoga teaching is to breath through it. You control breathing, you control hormones. It slows down adrenalin and cortisol. It allows the mind to relax, racing thoughts can pass. It’s actually shown to lower heart rate and blood pressure. It is just slow, rhythmic breathing."