An Alarm Phase : This is the instantaneous moment when the unpleasant or threatening stimulus presents itself. Here, the body reacts in order to "flee". It secretes adrenaline in order to give you lungs that breathe better, a more efficient heart and muscles, as well as a top memory and thinking, but this cannot last...
A Stress Resistance Phase : the stressful stimulus is repeated, the body is still in a state of alarm and it tells itself that it must capitalize as much as possible in order to resist, this is where our cortisolis secreted (as well as other hormones, but I don't want to talk about them now so as not to confuse you). This is when we are under tension and generally with all the symptoms of high cortisol.
A Phase of Exhaustion : the stress persists, the stimulus continues or is repeated incessantly for a prolonged period. The body begins to lose its means to cope with stress, at first by increasing cortisol even more, which weakens the immune system and this is where you catch all the diseases in the world (I exaggerate). It is very possible for example that you are more exposed to infections, if you already suffer from cystitis, mycoses, herpes, papilloma or other it is also likely that it will reactivate or become chronic. It is then that by exhausting itself, the cortisol rises then falls (cf. when I told you about high and low cortisol at the same time). When it reaches the stage of no longer being able to maintain the balance, because the stress continues, the cortisol becomes exhausted and the symptoms of low cortisol or even certain other diseases or what is called "burn-out" appear.
A large spike in cortisol will block the production of progesterone and therefore cause the symptoms of low progesterone (for more information, take a look at the last article)
Disruption of ovulation (delay or prevent it)
Decreased fertility (due to ovulation, but also due to low progesterone levels = increased risk of miscarriage). Now you can understand the relationship between stress and infertility.
Disruption of the menstrual cycle rhythm
Practicing yoga : I am not just talking about the current practices that are increasingly focused on physical performance, but rather a holistic practice in which you can practice chanting mantras, Pranayama (breathing), awareness in each asana (posture) and meditation.
Limit coffee : caffeine will increase cortisol secretion, so if you're looking to balance it out better, you can deduce that it doesn't necessarily help. If you really like coffee (like me), I advise you to limit your consumption to one cup per day, to be had in the late morning (around 10-11am). I advise you not to have coffee very early in the morning, because if you look again at the cortisol cycle diagram above, you'll see that very early in the morning you risk overdosing on cortisol with coffee, then suffering the consequences later and entering this vicious cycle of "tiredness = coffee = even more tiredness".
Limit alcohol , as it increases cortisol, limit your consumption to 3 glasses maximum per week and ideally red wine.
Practice cardiac coherence
A massage , ideally once a week, the touch of the skin stimulates a nerve (the vagus) and helps reduce stress
Meditation , which will promote awareness of the present moment with compassion and without judgment, which makes you act instead of "reacting". I leave you here the link of Adriana Aranzabal , a dear friend with a soft and relaxing voice, who offers different online sessions via Insight Timer
Orgasm creates a bomb of oxytocin (the love and bonding hormone) causing a decrease in cortisol ;)
Practice forgiveness , which will bring you compassion towards yourself first of all. Because to forgive is to accept and cherish one's faults, one's shadows and to acquire flexibility towards one's demands to finally embrace reality and learn to adapt, to transform the things that one lived as battles to simple life experiences ... and science confirms it
practice gratitude , and therefore help to transform the way we look at our life, because for some of us it is easier to perceive everything that "is not going well or what we do not have" so it is a whole learning process for our brain to also look at everything "that is going well", especially in times of stress. I am not going to lie to you, it is an effort at first, but know that there are very easy and simple techniques to put in place to help us. For example: A notebook where every day you write down at least 2 positive things from your day, that is already a good start.
