With the rhythm and demands of modern-day living, you may find yourself in increasing states of anxiety and stress.

Not only can this type of strain compromise your emotional wellbeing, it can also have a big impact on your physical wellbeing by way of a hormone called "cortisol".

Cortisol is a stress hormone, that is actually good to a point, because it causes you to get things done.

But on the other hand, too much cortisol too often, can be a major health threat due to the way it impacts your body's systems over the medium to long term. 

For this reason, it's important to have a basic understanding of what cortisol is and how it works in the body so that you can best manage your levels of stress and ensure it doesn't get out of control.

What is Cortisol?

Produced in your adrenal glands (located at the top of your kidneys), cortisol is vital for human health because it it drives a variety of essential functions.

Cortisol also works in conjunction with your brain to control your mood, as well as your levels of motivation and fear.

Physiologically, it also plays an important role in the regulation of your body’s sleep cycle, by way of it being released into your bloodstream by your adrenal glands. 

It usually peaks in the morning, prompting you to wake up, and reaches its lowest level at approximately 3am, the time at which most people tend to experience their deepest level of sleep.

Other Key Functions of Cortisol

• Helps manage the body’s use of carbohydrates, fats & proteins
• Regulates blood pressure
• Provides anti-inflammatory effects in order to reduce irritation & pain
• Aids the immune system to address injuries, illness and infections.

You could compare cortisol to a type of natural “alarm system” that alerts you to any potential threats and that provides you with enough energy to enable “fight or flight” mode.  This prompts you to either confront or escape from something that could be dangerous or otherwise negative to your wellbeing in some way.

Once the threat or stressor has passed, under normal circumstances your cortisol levels should naturally decrease, along with your heart rate, blood pressure and your other body systems, returning them to an "unaroused" state.

However, if your body produces too much cortisol as a result of heightened or chronic levels of ongoing stress, this can throw these functions out of balance and into chaos, greatly impacting your mental, emotional and physical health and wellbeing.

Effects of High Cortisol

Having elevated cortisol levels for a prolonged period of time has several negative impacts on your overall wellness because it can:

• Interfere with memory & learning
• Decrease immune function & bone density
• Lead to weight gain
• Increase blood pressure
• Put you at a higher risk of heart disease & Type 2 Diabetes
• Reduce libido & fertility.

Signs & Symptoms of High Cortisol

• Gaining weight especially around your belly & face
• Acne & skin problems, including thinning of the skin
• Bruising easily
• Weakened immunity & slower healing from injuries & infections
• Constant fatigue
• Problems concentrating & focusing
• High blood pressure
• Headaches

Adrenal Fatigue

In severe prolonged cases of high stress and physical exhaustion, many people experience more serious and potentially debilitating symptoms commonly referred to as Adrenal Fatigue.

Learn more in our blog 5 Ways To Heal Adrenal Fatigue

How To Reduce Stress & Cortisol Levels Naturally

With stress being the main precursor to cortisol, the same measures that can help to reduce stress levels will normally also help to lower your cortisol levels.  Here's some of the best ways to help reduce stress and cortisol:

Quality Sleep

The amount of sleep you get, along with the regularity and depth of it can significantly influence the levels of cortisol in your body.

Here are some key things you can do to both increase the quantity and improve the quality of your sleep

• Keep a regular schedule & go to sleep at the same time each night
• Avoid caffeine in the afternoon or evening (consume in the morning only)
• Limit distractions & technology use before bedtime (The “blue” light from screens can inhibit sleep!)
• Diffuse pure essential oils like; Lavender, Vetiver & Roman Chamomile next to your bed, to help you fall asleep as well as to encourage deeper, uninterrupted sleep. 

Learn more in our blog How To Sleep Better With Essential Oils

Appropriate Exercise

The body actually interprets exercise as a form of stress and consequently will stimulate the release of cortisol into your body.

For the most part, the fitter you are, the better your body is at handling physical stress and will tend to release less cortisol when exercising.

However, after periods of extreme “high intensity” exercise or physical strain even the fittest of people can experience a surge in cortisol levels.

It’s important to find the right balance and type of physical activity for where you're at in terms of age and capability, so that you can take advantage of all the benefits of exercise, without causing your cortisol levels to go through the roof.

Low-Intensity Steady State Cardio (LISS)

Not only will this type of exercise help to reduce your stress levels, but these “low impact” forms of exercise also put less strain on your body compared to the more high impact types.  By the same token, they will generally not elevate your cortisol levels too much.

Here are some of the best low impact exercises that you can do for between 30-45 minutes each day depending on your level of fitness and health:

• Walking briskly
• Bike riding
• Light jogging

Other benefits of these low impact forms of exercise is that they can also help to:

• Strengthen your cardiorespiratory system
• Lower cholesterol levels
• Decrease blood pressure
• Improve blood flow & circulation

Relaxation & Mindfulness

Relaxing both our body and mind is a surefire way to reduce stress in your life and the associated high levels of cortisol.

The following activities are fantastic in this regard:

• Meditation
• Yoga
• Tai Chi
• Earthing (walking outside barefoot e.g. on the sand at the beach or on the grass at the park).

Our minds are often the biggest threat to our peace and can cause us to get ourselves into very stressed out states and suffer from anxiety.

Even if there is no physical threat or stressor present, just thinking “stressful” thoughts can cause the same physiological response and trigger a release of cortisol.

Although everyone is different and different types of thoughts will have different effects on different people, here are some common themes that can cause you to get stressed out mentally, emotionally and physically:

• Time
• Guilt
• Shame
• Jealousy
• Resistance
• Attachments
• Self-criticism
• Perfectionism

By practising a form of conscious stress reduction, such as deep breathing sessions or mindfulness meditation, you can learn and train yourself to become more self-aware and recognise stressful thoughts for what they are. 

This then gives you tools to deal with them and can go a long way to helping you relax both your mental and physical state and correspondingly lead to a reduction of cortisol.

Healthy Relationships

Unfortunately, many people find themselves in toxic relationships in one form or another with family, partners, friends or work situations which can cause huge amounts of stress and tension.

Depending on the nature of each relationship, some will be able to be improved and brought up to a healthy "less stress provoking" state and for others it might actually be best for all parties concerned that the relationship take its course and comes to an end if it's no longer healthy. 

Quality, dependable and fulfilling relationships are one of the most soothing ways to reduce stress and anxiety in even the most challenging times, so it's important to value and nurture them.

The Main Takeaway

Cortisol is a vital stress hormone that has an important functional purpose in the body.  However, excess stress can lead to the over production of cortisol, which can cause you to spiral downwards physically, mentally and emotionally and lead to a range of chronic health problems.

The key to keeping cortisol in check starts with managing and reducing stress in all areas of your life.  And managing stress is all about being conscious of the factors that trigger stressful behaviours and thoughts and embracing some of the tried and tested suggestions we've highlighted for you here as part of your everyday self care routine.

Tolman Self Care.