When you feel stressed, the internal response promotes inflammation, which in turn can heighten your body’s allergic response.

Formal Stress Reduction Activities

Deep Breathing

• Practice deep breathing at a time when you can breathe easily.
• Breathe through your nose, but inhale easily and exhale forcefully. Repeat for 20 to 30 breaths daily.
• By fully opening your lungs when you don’t have a breathing problem, it will help your lungs when you do have a breathing problem.

Take a mind trip.

• Picture yourself breathing easily on a snowy mountain (There aren’t any pollen producing plants up there).

• People who learn enough simple self-hypnosis to do this (takes an hour or two) can see real improvements in hay fever symptoms. It takes practice (often a month or less), but it is free, and it knocks down your stress levels, too.

• Yoga is proven to reduce stress, so it may bring allergy relief. Also, various yoga breathing techniques can help open your stuffed-up nasal passages, and certain poses can expand your lungs.

Integrative MD recommendations

from Tina Sindwani, MD, residential fellow, Program in Integrative Medicine, U of Arizona, College of Medicine

Yoga: “Stress promotes inflammation, which can heighten your body’s allergic response. Yoga is proven to reduce stress, so it may bring relief. Also, various yoga breathing techniques can help open your stuffed-up nasal passages, and certain poses can expand your lungs.”

Natural Rx: Try these basic yoga poses..
• A yoga class or DVD at least three times a week during allergy season.
• Breathe through your nose, but inhale easily and exhale forcefully. Repeat for 20 to 30 breaths daily.

For more stress reduction techniques

• Go to our articles on Stress management.

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