Latest / WholeHeart Conversations / Body Awareness in Stress Reduction
Transcript
- 0:00Constance Lavonice: The American Psychological Association 2019 survey on stress in America found that more than three-quarters of adults report physical and emotional symptoms of stress.
- 0:16Constance Lavonice: Their most recent survey in 2025 found that the overall stress levels among adults have remained relatively consistent with previous years.
- 0:31Constance Lavonice: When respondents were asked to rate their average level of stress during the past month on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 meaning little or no stress, and 10 meaning a great deal of stress, they reported an average of 5, which indicates moderate distress or dysfunction.
- 0:56Constance Lavonice: In mental health terms, a person is functional, but they're experiencing noticeable symptoms.
- 1:04Constance Lavonice: What life reveals is stress is inevitable.
- 1:09Constance Lavonice: It's a normal part of life, and stress can be mitigated.
- 1:15Constance Lavonice: Welcome to our first podcast of 2026.
- 1:20Constance Lavonice: If you're new here, you are listening to Whole Heart Conversations, a podcast especially for women, to receive biblical encouragement that fosters resilience through the practical application of God's Word.
- 1:37Constance Lavonice: I'm your host, Constance Lavonice.
- 1:41Constance Lavonice: First Corinthians chapter 6, verse 19, tells us that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
- 1:51Constance Lavonice: Verse 20 adds, therefore, honor God with your bodies.
- 1:57Constance Lavonice: We can begin to honor God when we're aware of our bodies and paying attention to what's going on in our bodies.
- 2:07Constance Lavonice: What is your body saying to you?
- 2:10Constance Lavonice: Your body is an important aspect in managing stress.
- 2:16Constance Lavonice: What are some of the symptoms of physical stress?
- 2:19Constance Lavonice: I'm going to mention ten.
- 2:21Constance Lavonice: The first is low energy, feeling tired and fatigue.
- 2:28Constance Lavonice: The second, headaches, upset stomach, including diarrhoea, constipation, and sometimes nausea.
- 2:39Constance Lavonice: The fourth thing is aches, pains, muscle tension.
- 2:47Constance Lavonice: Number five, chest pain, an increased heartbeat.
- 2:53Constance Lavonice: Six is insomnia.
- 2:56Constance Lavonice: Maybe you can't sleep at night, you're having difficulty falling asleep, or you're having difficulty staying asleep.
- 3:07Constance Lavonice: The seventh is frequent colds and infections.
- 3:12Constance Lavonice: Number eight is nervousness and shaking.
- 3:17Constance Lavonice: Nine is dry mouth and difficulty swallowing.
- 3:22Constance Lavonice: Ten jaw clenching and grinding your teeth.
- 3:28Constance Lavonice: So if you're experiencing any of these symptoms, take a moment and ask yourself what is causing stress, a feeling of strain and pressure in your life.
- 3:40Constance Lavonice: It could be from external factors like your environment and life experiences, or internal factors, such as your thoughts, perceptions, expectations, behaviors, or it can be due to an illness.
- 4:01Constance Lavonice: Once you've identified the cause, use the strategy of body awareness to mitigate it.
- 4:09Constance Lavonice: Pausing throughout the day to take note of how your body feels.
- 4:15Constance Lavonice: Notice if you feel any tension in your forehead, your jaws, your neck, your shoulders, hands.
- 4:27Constance Lavonice: Scan your body maybe a few times a day.
- 4:33Constance Lavonice: And if you notice any tension or uncomfortableness, take a moment to relieve it.
- 4:41Constance Lavonice: Do what you need to do to relax that area.
- 4:46Constance Lavonice: Relaxing your shoulders, maybe your arms, facial muscles, or stretching.
- 4:54Constance Lavonice: And one of the quickest ways to achieve a relaxation response is through deep breathing, breathing from your diaphragm.
- 5:06Constance Lavonice: And if you wanted to try it now, you could sit in a comfortable position and just place one hand on your chest and the other hand on your stomach, and just imagine an empty balloon with the tip facing up inside your belly.
- 5:25Constance Lavonice: And as you breathe in, you fill the balloon or your diaphragm with air, your stomach pushes out as that's happening.
- 5:37Constance Lavonice: And you breathe out, and as you breathe out, releasing the air in the balloon or diaphragm, your stomach pulls in again.
- 5:49Constance Lavonice: Practice it.
- 5:51Constance Lavonice: The out breath should be twice as long as the in-breath, and the out breath always produces a relaxation response.
- 6:02Constance Lavonice: Some practical strategies that we can use to alleviate the physical symptoms of anxiety are walking in nature, movement, you know, exercise, like gardening, swimming, any type of sports, dancing, whatever type of movement that you enjoy.
- 6:28Constance Lavonice: Practicing good sleep hygiene, routines around sleep that enables you to sleep better, eating healthier, more fiber, more vegetables, water intake, avoiding simple sugars that creates insulin spikes and inflammation.
- 6:50Constance Lavonice: Another strategy is to laugh out loud.
- 6:56Constance Lavonice: Proverbs 17 says, a joyful heart is good medicine.
- 7:01Constance Lavonice: You can also sing and do something creative like drawing, coloring, writing, play indoor and outdoor games that you enjoyed as a kid.
- 7:15Constance Lavonice: For me, those were kickball, jump rope, hopscotch, and some other games that I enjoyed.
- 7:24Constance Lavonice: Be creative and intentional with these strategies so that you can take care of yourselves, mitigate the physical effects of stress in your lives, and honor God in your bodies.
- 7:40Constance Lavonice: And if this message was helpful, please subscribe and join us each week.
- 7:46Constance Lavonice: Share this message with a friend and text the show and let me know which strategy you plan to use.