By Coach Christina
Approximate Reading Time: 2-4 min
Let’s face it, moving is stressful! It should be a time of excitement, a time for new adventures but in reality, it can be a time of high stress.
My husband and I have recently relocated our tribe to B.C from Alberta. Our 9 hour journey was meant to be full of memories, lots of stops along the way to take in the views. But in reality, we were up at 4am, tired from being up late the night before filling last minute boxes, spent hours loading the moving trucks, then packed our daughter, pup and cat in the car by lunch and hit the road. We were running high on adrenaline.
The drive was anything but perfect. Of course at the end of August, the highways were packed with weekend warriors. Rerouted for accidents, long waits for ferries, and the smoke! The smoke was so incredibly thick from all the forest fires. Now, on top of fatigue, stress, high cortisol, are lunges were screaming for fresh air.
When we finally arrived at 4:30am to our new home, it was time to relax. Or was it? Now we had to settle into our new community, new school, new work, new everything! This transition period can be extremely taxing on your adrenals due to such high cortisol levels.
What is Cortisol?
Cortisol is known as the stress hormone because of its role in the body’s stress response. This hormone is made in the adrenal glands and is actually important for your health, but too much of it can wreak havoc on your body and cause a number of unwanted symptoms. In prolonged periods of stress, you may feel extreme fatigue, have unexpected weight gain, headaches, difficulty concentrating, and even mood swings.
Having felt all the above symptoms during these few months of transition time, I knew I had to get moving! Regular physical activity keeps you healthy as it reduces stress. It also stimulates the production of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that are the body's natural painkillers and mood elevators.But it had been weeks since my last workout. Preparing to move provinces and settling into our new home, exercise definitely took a back burner.
How can I reduce stress?
One of the easiest ways to get your body moving after relocating is to get out and explore your new territory. Almost every day, the famjam, pup and I hit the trails.
There really is no better way to make your new home feel like home, connecting with nature all around you. Spending time in nature can help relieve stress and anxiety, improve your mood, and boost feelings of happiness and wellbeing. It’s the best way to start reducing your stress levels.
Importance of Human Connection
Next best thing to being outside, is to find a gym, hiking groups, sports teams, where you can be surrounded by like-minded people and build your community again. Never underestimate the empowering effect of human connection. Human connection brings complex values to our lives. Relationships give us a sense of belonging in the group, a sense of identity in contrast to others in that group, an almost therapeutic-support system. This is why I believe it is so crucial to rebuild your community after moving somewhere new.
Last year while I was still in Calgary, I had connected with Restore Human through their Level 1 Course. I knew I had to make the time to come check out their studio now that I was here in Vancouver. Restore Humans methodology of blending active rehab, natural movement and a touch of traditional style fitness truly resonates with me.
After having a few sessions with Coach Kesh, I could feel my stress levels reducing. I was feeling less tired, reduced pain and my strength was increasing. But I was also building my community again.
With a decade of Personal Training experience I’ve seen how a lot of gym environments operate. Restore Human and their Methodology is one of a kind and very much inline with my outlook. So I took the leap and am now part of their Coaching team. Community gains!
So if you have recently moved, be mindful of your stress levels, get out into nature, get moving and connect with people around you!
Coach Christina