How I Reduced My Stress Levels Basically Overnight

It’s no secret that stress kills. In fact, chronic physiological stress is linked to 6 of the leading causes of death. Stress puts our bodies on high alert and living in this fight or flight constantly can cause inflammation which wears on the immune system and ultimately can lead to an increased risk of digestive issues, heart disease, stroke, weight gain and more. Unfortunately for us, the system is kind of set up for us to fail on this one, so it’s up to us to work against the grain to get back to homeostasis.

I’m not here to scare you, but until I opened my eyes to the fact that I was in chronic stress… in my 20s… I didn’t ever think this type of warning pertained to me. I feel like since I turned 30 in June, I have instantly noticed small pains in the morning, little ailments throughout the week, etc. and I know that I can only control what I can control — so my physiological stress was first on my list. I knew that this was something that would domino effect the rest of my life, so getting ahead of it now was key.

Here’s the thing about physiological stress… it’s not super noticeable. It’s kind of that hidden beast that you may not even realize is happening within your body. It can come from a whole host of things: illness, injury, nutritional deficiencies, lack of sleep, essentially anything that interrupts your homeostasis. This is different that psychological stress, which is more noticeable. This comes from things like: work pressures, family dynamics, friendship woes, academic expectations, and likely shows up as anxiety or nervousness. This we can really feel and recognize instantly… physiological stress, not as much.

Let’s take it back.

In my last post I dove into the mistakes I made when I started my first business. One (a large one) being my cortisol levels were through the roof due to my inability to escape fight or flight. Through burnout, I was not just “feeling stressed,” I was physiologically interrupting my body’s homeostasis and, therefore, wreaking havoc on my body, in turn, causing long-term detrimental effects to my overall wellness. I've been living in chronic stress for years, honestly without even knowing. It was evident during my “hustle” years that I was not taking care of my body, and I was very aware that I was in that chronic fight or flight feeling — tired but wired. However, I like to think I exited that era back in 2021… 3 years ago… and unfortunately, my body is still not out of the woods. Thankfully, I recognized that now and have since taken action.

How did I find out that I was in this chronic stress state, and how did I recognize what was causing it? Also, how did I nearly eliminated my physiological chronic stress basically overnight? Let’s talk about it.

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