Stress & Cortisol
Cortisol is popularly known as stress hormone. Stress is a feeling of emotional strain and pressure that makes us accomplish tasks much quicker than our actual capacity. Stress is a completely natural process for human body from centuries but why is it a big deal in recent times? The actual purpose of stress is protection. When we see a snake, we run. During this run, cortisol is released into blood stream and our body is under an intense pressure to escape from snake. This phase of cortisol being active lasts for a couple of minutes which will not create any serious problem inside us. But in current times, due to deadlines, endless scrolling, hustling between multiple jobs, cortisol is being active 24*7 creating stress buildup inside us.
Root-cause of Stress According to Ayurveda
Acharya Charaka says,
Iṣṭasya Alābhaḥ Aniṣṭasya Lābhaḥ
Not getting what we want & getting what we don’t want is the root cause for stress and other mental disorders.
Expressions of Stress
Stress is expressed in different forms in different people. After all “No TWO humans are same” so why should the expression of stress be the same :D. Here are the expressions of stress
- Kāma – Uncontrolled desires
- Krodha – Increased anger
- Lobha – Greed of others property
- Moha – Confusions
- Īrṣyā – Envious
- Śoka – Excessive grief
- Cintā – Repeated and increased thoughts
- Udvega – Anxious
- Bhaya – Fear
5 Ayurvedic Tools to Lower Your Cortisol Levels Naturally
The prime dosha involved in stress generation is Vata Dosha and in stress buildup is Pitta Dosha. The 5 Ayurvedic tools which reduces cortisol are focused on calming down this aggravated Vata and Pitta Dosha are
- Abhyangam in 3 Prime Spots
- A nourishing diet with adequate fats
- Nasyam
- Ice on top of eyes
- Temple music
1. ABHYANGAM IN 3 PRIME SPOTS
Abhyangam literally means smearing oil on the body. Oil is the best ingredient which calms down the aggravated Vata Dosha. Oiling full body is always superior but due to our busy lifestyle schedule, it’s highly impossible to do full body oiling on a daily basis. I wanted to make this easy, effective and practical for you hence I am going to reveal just 3 parts of the body where we must apply oil on a daily basis. They are as follows:
- Śiraḥ (Head – Head massage)
- Śravaṇa (Ears – Back of the ear massage)
- Pādaḥ (Foot – Foot massage)
Best oil for Abhyangam : Cold pressed black sesame oil (click to buy)
2. A NOURISHING DIET WITH ADEQUATE FATS
Decreasing or completely removing fats from diet always increases the stress. Fat is nourishment and an under nourished body always invites Vata Dosha aggravation. Moderation is always key. The best fat sources that you can add-on to diet to reduce cortisol levels are
- Cow Ghee (click to buy)
- Coconut oil (click to buy)
- Cashew nuts (click to buy)
- Walnuts (click to buy)
- Macadamia nuts (click to buy)
- Pecans (click to buy)
- Pumpkin seeds (click to buy)
- White sesame seeds (click to buy)
Always keep in mind that,
Dry food = Dry body = Increased Vata Dosha
3. NASYAM
Nasyam is a process of administering medicine through nose. It is one of the important procedures among the classical panchakarma. There is a simpler version of it which we can do very easily at home on a day-to-day basis. Nasyam not only reduces stress, but also arrest hair fall and promotes hair growth at the same time.
Here is the demo of how you can do it
Universal Nasya Oil (Safe) : Anu-tailam (click to buy)
Dosage: 2 drops in each nostril
However, if you are still not sure whether to do it or not and feel like you need extra guidance to do Nasyam, feel free to write an email to me.
4. ICE ON TOP OF EYES
When we are stressed, we often have this feeling of our eyeballs getting fried. That’s because of aggravated Pitta Dosha. Eyes are already sites of Pitta Dosha which is hot and on top of it stress adds some extra heat. Ice works excellent here. All you have to do is take an ice cube in a small piece of cloth or hand kerchief and dab it over eyes. Do this as many times as you need it.
Another quick on the go option is face mists made with coolant herbs. The best choices are
- Rose water (click to buy)
- Mogra water (click to buy)
- Vetiver water (click to buy)
5. TEMPLE MUSIC
Few months ago, when I’m in Vishakhapatnam, I happened to meet an old man. While having conversation with him, I got to know that he is a retired musician and currently he is making music to heal kids suffering with ADHD. I’m in aww for a moment. Then I explored on the subject of how temple music heals stress. Here are some of my fav pieces which I discovered on this journey.
Whether you have observed it or not, we have worked all through our 5 sense organs. All I want to say is a disease process especially when it comes to psychological disorders, what we see, what we hear, what we smell, what we taste and what touches us every thing play a very very crucial role. So always and always protect your eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. Be extremely conscious about what, why and how of your looking, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching / interacting.
PROTECT YOUR AURA
These tools might not work in the cases of chronic stress buildup. If you are looking for permanent solution for stress, and are committed to it, then you are always welcome with a warm hug to book a consultation with me
