Give Yourself a Break

Strategies for Reducing Stress and Boosting Your Health

When you’re feeling stressed, you may know instinctively that it’s taking a toll. Medical research backs up that notion: Among other things, stress causes the body to release hormones that can disrupt normal bodily function and it figures in myriad symptoms and health problems, including heart disease, certain cancers, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, headache, muscle tension or pain, and stomach upset.

The good news: Stress busters are easier to find than you might think. Read on for more details, including practical tips and local destinations that’ll help you roll with whatever life brings. Your body will thank you with better health.

Exercise Your Options
According to a recent study, mice that are given lots of opportunities to exercise are more resilient to stress. People are pretty much the same. Break a sweat, and you get your feel-good neurotransmitters — known as endorphins — pumping. Keep a workout going, and you’ll be distracted from whatever’s bugging you. The “runner’s high” effect, plus just getting a needed break from the day’s irritations, can leave you feeling calm and clear.

Get Sleep, Stay Calm
According to sleep researcher Matt Walker, getting enough sleep is one way to avoid getting stressed out. Walker and his fellow UC Berkeley researchers have seen on MRI scans that the part of the brain responsible for alerting the body to danger, the amygdala, goes on overdrive in sleep-deprived research subjects who are shown negative images. At the same time, the prefrontal cortex, which is in charge of logical reasoning and can mediate a stress response, shuts down. The result is an inability to put emotional experiences into context, and a tendency to get stressed out easily.

Breath In, Breathe Out
What, exactly, is “pranayama” breathing and why is it a stress reliever? Get answers from Nataliya Bryantsev, a yoga teacher with South San Francisco Parks and Recreation and a registered nurse.

What is pranayama?
In Sanskrit, “pranayama” literally means breath and expansion. In yoga practice, it corresponds to breath awareness and breath mindfulness.

How does breathing help reduce stress?
The goal of pranayama exercises is to activate diaphragmatic, or abdominal, breathing—the same type of breathing you see in newborns and toddlers. This type of breathing gets lost as we get older. However, it is a natural mechanism for activating the “rest and digest” nervous system and minimizes the influence of the “fight and flight” response to stressors

Does a person have to be really good at concentrating for pranayama breathing to work?
Breath awareness, mindfulness and staying in the present moment are important. However, these will develop naturally and almost instantly, even for beginners, because abdominal breathing is an innate mechanism. The effect of pranayama exercises can be felt immediately as deep rest, calmness and inner peace.

Relax in Peaceful Places

Lands End: San Francisco is one of the few places where a beautiful walk to cliffs overlooking the ocean is available within city limits. From the parking lot at 48th and Point Lobos avenues, go east on the Coastal Trail. Take the turn to Mile Rock Beach to reach the Lands End Labyrinth — where you can clear your mind with a stroll designed to be contemplative. www.parksconservancy.org/visit/park-sites/lands-end.html

Kabuki Springs & Spa: The Japanese baths at Kabuki in San Francisco are like nothing else in the Bay Area. For about $22, you can spend as long as you want in the pristinely clean and quiet baths, steam room, sauna, hot tub and cold pool. Consider indulging in a relaxing massage while you’re there. www.kabukisprings.com

Skyline Drive: Cool forests, ridgetop ocean views and rolling hills along Skyline Boulevard southeast of Half Moon Bay near La Honda will help give you a new perspective. Roadside vista stops and trailheads allow you to get out and hike, or at least breathe in the beauty of the surrounding redwoods and eucalyptus. www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/portal/site/parks

Berkeley Rose Garden: Even when this gracefully tiered garden is not in bloom, views of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge make this spot great for thoughtful relaxation. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=12048

Spirit Rock: This Buddhist meditation center hosts ongoing classes, daylong sessions and residential retreats. Even someone who has never tried meditation before would be comfortable here. The natural West Marin setting is stunningly beautiful. www.spiritrock.org

Ananda Palo Alto: A weekly Sunday morning meditation session and service — combining readings from the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita, music, chanting and meditation — are ways to experience the stress-reducing benefits of meditation. www.anandapaloalto.org

Madison Square Park: Free, stress-reducing tai chi is offered in this downtown Oakland park early every morning by a master teacher who has volunteered for decades. www.10000stepsoakland.org/madison.php