{"id":31999,"date":"2025-10-27T21:06:45","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T21:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/simple-solutions-for-acute-stress\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T21:06:45","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T21:06:45","slug":"simple-solutions-for-acute-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/simple-solutions-for-acute-stress\/","title":{"rendered":"Simple Solutions for Acute Stress"},"content":{"rendered":"
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You\u2019ve seen it in nature documentaries: A herd of gazelles is grazing peacefully when a cheetah jumps from the brush and races toward them. They scatter in desperate flight, but the cheetah manages to catch a gazelle and bring it to the ground. The animal goes stiff. Then the cheetah, apparently uninterested in a stiffened corpse, simply walks off.<\/p>\n

To the surprise of anyone watch\u00ading, the gazelle then gets to its feet and vigorously shakes its entire body before running back to the herd. Soon\u00a0it\u2019s grazing again, as if nothing had happened.<\/p>\n

You might not often be chased by cheetahs, but a phone call with terrible news or a jarring fender-bender can be enough to trigger your own survival instincts. And, as happens with that gazelle, the moment you experience a serious threat<\/a>, adrenaline pours into your bloodstream. Your mind is sharpened, your senses are heightened, and your heart races to move all available energy to your muscles. For a few moments, you are endowed with supernatural strength. It is fight-or-flight time.<\/p>\n

Yet sometimes you can\u2019t fight or flee, so you freeze. The gazelle survived because of its freeze response, tricking the predator, before it literally shook off the experience. It\u2019s as if the gazelle rebooted its body\u2019s computer after it had frozen up.<\/p>\n

Humans are animals too and likewise built to recover swiftly from an acute stress response. The next time you\u2019re facing acute stress, try one of these natural interventions to help reboot your own system<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Move<\/h4>\n

Whether danger is real or perceived, your body interprets it as a call to action. In nature, this usually means you fight or run. So, if you\u2019re able, do something vigorous: Go for a run, take a spin class, or get in some interval training on a rowing machine.<\/p>\n

Adrenaline can power us for only 30 to 45 minutes at the most, so it doesn\u2019t take long to burn off that excess\u00a0energy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Breathe<\/h4>\n

When the gazelle froze, it briefly stopped breathing. In acute stress situations, many of us have a similar response \u2014 if slightly less extreme. Our breathing often becomes shallow, rapid, or restricted. Here\u2019s a simple calming technique to help you return to baseline:<\/p>\n

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  1. Slowly breathe in through your nose to the count of four.<\/li>\n
  2. Hold your breath for two seconds.<\/li>\n
  3. Breathe out even more slowly through your mouth, to the count of seven. Try making an audible sigh with your outbreath to increase the calming effect.<\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Shake It Off<\/h4>\n

    Just like the gazelle, you can shake your body to dissipate the lingering effects of an acute stress reaction. Shaking your body can also help you release underlying stress in the aftermath of traumatic events<\/a>. Try this exercise on your own or in a group:<\/p>\n