Want to manage stress better in 2019? Try out these 5 easy tips from Richard Sutton’s new book, The Stress Code.

The message of this book is one of resilience not avoidance. Supported by extensive scientific research, The Stress Code offers practical tools and skills to buffer the adverse effects of stress and enhance functionality and health.

5 tips from The Stress Code

1. Massage therapy: Lowers Cortisol (hormone for blood pressure control), raises oxytocin as well as dopamine and serotonin which all contributes towards healthy cognition.
2. Controlled breathing: Helps control blood pressure, assists with the management of anxiety and depression disorders while improving brain functioning, increasing your memory and emotional processing.
3. Swimming: Proven to reduce symptoms of chronic illness and improve life expectancy by reducing activity in the stress axis through the survival response called the ‘dive reflex’.
4. Meditation: Benefits a number of cognitive domains which include memory, verbal fluency, attention and memory. It also aids our bodies physically by reducing inflammation and improving immune regulation.
5. Music: Listening to slow, calming music increases oxytocin levels. It increases blood flow to areas of the brain and raises Immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels which is an antibody that increases protection against pathogens.

Richard Sutton is a health and performance educator and consultant. He has advised top athletes, Olympic teams and international sporting federations, and is currently working with the tennis player Maria Sharapova. He has lectured at a postgraduate level and consults to leading companies on stress resilience, employee engagement and productivity. Richard divides his time between the United States and Johannesburg.

Categories International Non-fiction South Africa

Tags Pan Macmillan SA Richard Sutton The Stress Code