exercising Archives - Running Your Race Well

Is your child getting too much Cortisol?

by Running Your Race Well | Oct 12, 2019 | Family

Too much Cortisol

I referred to this in one of my earlier post “Is your child struggling to learn”? It talks about how video games create the startle effect which creates Cortisol in the body. Too much Cortisol for a long period of time creates stress on the body.

We as parents need to know the signs!

Did you know that screaming at your child can cause their Cortisol level to elevate? As long as you are not yelling all day, the affects won’t last long. It’s when a child is being yelled at a lot that it affects their prefrontal cortex.

Three major biochemicals are released when a body is in stress. They are Adrenaline, Cortisol and Norepinephrine. It makes their body go into fight or flight mode. Everyone goes through that some time or another, but it is not healthy to stay in that mode.

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My Story on why this became

my mission to help parents.

I was in a situation where my stress level (Cortisol) was up from being around people who yelled. It eventually caused me to have an autoimmune disease. Realizing this, I did research to see if it was true.

It was compelling to find the link between my situation and how Cortisol levels affected my health. Every time I found myself stressed out, I could physically feel my Cortisol level go up. This needed to change.

If yelling affected me in this way, then I needed to know how it affected our children. I did some research and came across an article that talked about how yelling can be a drug-like fix where the brain gets a buzz from the Cortisol. You can read more on this from this Blocked to Brilliant article.

High cortisol levels can lead to anxiety, stress, fatigue and more.

There is a correlation between elevated Cortisol and blood sugar imbalance. Children are gaining weight and it’s not entirely because of bad eating habits. It can be contributed to high levels of Cortisol. Knowing this is the key to healing.

– Kim Fowler

Awesome news

You can help change the levels of your child’s Cortisol!

Get rid of stress to lower Cortisol levels

1. Less Exposure to Stress

Be aware of how much stress (Cortisol) your child is exposed to on a daily basis. Some stress if okay, as long as it is not long term. If they are stressed out about something, talk to them, or have them talk to someone they are comfortable with.

Correct your diet to lower Cortisol levels

2. Control their diet

The way your child eats can affect your child’s hormonal imbalance. This is where we see anxiety attacks, insomnia, mood swings and weight gain. There is a great book that explains how to heal your gut. The book is called, “Cooking for Hormone Balance” by Magdalena Wszelaki.

3. Teach them to relax

This is where I go to my happy thoughts. I sit still in a quiet place to calm down. You can have them visualize their favorite place (Ex: the pool) with their eyes closed. Remind them of the sounds, smells, taste, feel and things they see. Mine is the beach. I think of feeling the sun on my skin and putting my feet in the sand, hearing the waves crash, birds chirping and wind in my ear. I taste the salt water and I see my kids swimming, laughing and having fun. Have a plan in place for which thought they can have if they get stressed out. Demonstrate it for them.

4. Light exercise

Your child isn’t going to go to the gym. Go out as a family and kick a ball around, go for a walk at the park or go to a playground. Enjoy nature. Getting out in the sun for some Vitamin D is good along with spending time together. Moving around is healthy for the soul and body!

5. Make a plan for your family

Do some research yourself. Once I decide what action plan that I am going to use, then I write it on a piece of paper. Write down the most important actions first (How to make our morning less stressful, visualizations to do for my child when is stressed out, healthy menus, exercises for ya’ll to do and a plan for you when you are stressed to help control yelling), Let me show you what I mean. The night before I lay out clothes, make our lunches and lay shoes out to make our morning easier. I make a meal plan for the week on Saturday. These meals are healthy to improve my hormone balance. Then I find time that our family can spend outdoor time together (swimming). A walk with my teenager gives us time to talk about what is bothering her and come up with a plan. In the evening, if my child’s day was stressful, I message her back (not long) and walk her through visualizations of her happy thoughts..

USE YOUR CALENDAR TO SCHEDULE

I lay out my calendar and write in the important things for the month. EX: I schedule when we will spend family time together, whether it is fun or exercising. For instance every Monday and Wednesday can be for exercising and Thursday and Saturday can be for family fun. Just don’t overload your schedule because that causes stress.

Then schedule your doctor appointments. Next, fill in when to meal plan and go shopping. After this, schedule time for you then schedule time for you and your husband. Taking time to fill yourself up (activities that you love or relaxing) will give you the energy to fill others up and let go of stress. Yoga seems to do this for me.

Now that the important things are filled in, see if there is time for anything else (volunteering, etc.) Looking at your calendar after everything is filled in, will show you how busy you are. Too much busyness causes unnecessary stress. In today’s time, our kids are in a lot of sports. Maybe they can only do one sport at a time. This can free up your calendar if you do this. Get your own calendar out and try this. Maybe you can carve out something in your schedule to help you out. If you need help, let me know in the comment below. I would love to hear from you. Enjoy!