Ever feel like stress is that uninvited guest at your mental party—the one who shows up early, eats all the snacks, and refuses to leave? Stress has a sneaky way of hijacking our focus, creativity, and even our sense of humour. The human stress response has evolved for many positive and powerful reasons, survival being the main one, but when our stress activation is prolonged or even “chronic”, it truly can cause havoc, constrict who we are, what we do and how we show up in the world. Our bodies are always communicating with us, and if you pay attention you’ll be able to feel and see if stress is limiting your life. Most importantly, know that there is always something you can do about it.
The mental signs of chronic stress might manifest as difficulty concentrating, overthinking or perpetually dwelling on problems. We can also pick up warning signs about our stress levels through our emotions – if we’re often irritable, have constant mood swings or tiny things easily frustrate us. We might feel on edge for no reason or unmotivated. Our physical body can also communicate that we need to take care of ourselves – we might carry lots of physical tension, regularly get headaches or feel nausea.
Interestingly, procrastination or avoiding tasks because they feel too daunting, can be a sign of prolonged or chronic stress as our nervous system is overwhelmed and can’t cope with anything more. We might withdraw from the world or social activities and find ourselves excessively using our devices or relying on alcohol or caffeine. Another big marker that we need to pause and reassess how we’re taking care of ourselves is if we experience less joy doing activities that once brought happiness.
If these signs sound familiar, one of the most important things you can do is to slow down. Your stress response might say, “Keep going!”—but with awareness each small act of slowing down sends a powerful message: “I am in control. I can pause, breathe, and move through this with ease.”
Here are three simple yet transformative ways you can give yourself a break. I believe number one is the most important as it helps set the tone for the day and influences all your choices from that moment onwards.
1. Start Your Day Slow
One of the most powerful things you can do is to start your day with a pause. Meditation is one way you can begin your day in a more relaxed state. It’s a powerful tool for managing stress because it directly influences both the mind and body, helping to regulate the nervous system and bring a sense of calm and clarity. When we meditate, our body shifts from the sympathetic nervous system (responsible for the fight-or-flight response) to the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes relaxation, slows the heart rate, and lowers blood pressure. This shift not only helps us feel calmer in the moment but also builds long-term resilience to stress.
On a hormonal level, meditation reduces cortisol—the primary stress hormone—helping to prevent the physical effects of chronic stress, such as fatigue, anxiety, and inflammation. Mentally, meditation cultivates a sense of presence and awareness, allowing us to respond to challenges with greater clarity rather than reacting impulsively. By creating space between our thoughts and emotions, meditation helps us break free from the cycle of overthinking and worry that often accompanies stress.
The more consistently we practice, the more our nervous system learns to default to a state of balance, helping us navigate daily life with greater ease, focus, and emotional resilience.
In most meditative lineages they encourage a moment of stillness and quiet at the beginning of the day. Over time, these quiet morning moments become second nature, helping you feel calmer, more focused, more resilient and help us reframe the “rush” mentality that stress exacerbates.
2. Take A Break The Caffeine & Alcohol
The caffeine-alcohol cycle disrupts your nervous system by overstimulating it with caffeine, which increases anxiety and cortisol. Then it’s pretty normal at the end of the day to need a bit of “dedation” in the form of alcohol, which affects sleep and recovery, creating a rollercoaster of stress and fatigue. Giving yourself a break (at least three months) from both of these drugs is a gamechanger for physical, mental and emotional health.
3. Shift Your Energy With Movement
If stress makes you restless, channel that energy into conscious movement of some kind. Depending on the state of your nervous system you might need a slow walk or gentle stretching; or some more intense exercise in a group setting can help drop you into your body, out of your head channelling some of the anxious energy into vitality and life force.
The thing to remember is that stress makes everything feel urgent, even when it’s not. It’s important to consciously slow down and challenge the idea that you must do everything right now. If we don’t listen to what our internal systems are telling us, and slow down, then eventually our bodies will force us to stop, often through burnout, illness, or exhaustion.
Slowing down isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity that allows your nervous system to reset, your mind to regain clarity, and your body to restore its energy. By honoring those signals early, you can maintain your well-being and keep moving forward without crashing.
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