'Your Belly is a Storage of Cortisol Waste': A 9-Minute Routine That Claims to Clear It

Your

body holds a lot. But between the chronic pain, fatigue and puffiness, the severity of which you just can't trace back to a logical conclusion, the answer typically always lies with hormonal imbalances. And your cortisol levels in this case, are an oft-overlooked spectrum.

Are You a Victim of Your Cortisol?

Take a look at the following list of symptoms: weight gain (particularly in the face, chest and abdomen), high blood pressure and blood sugar, severe fatigue and sleeping problems, easy bruising and slow healing, anxiety, depression and brain fog.If you annoyingly relate to having recurring issues with multiple symptoms on this list, chances are you have high cortisol. Now while lifestyle changes, stress reduction and medical advice are crucial in fighting them, controlling the cortisol dump your body's been holding can begin right this instant - and all it takes is 9 minutes.

9 Minutes to Relief

The first three minutes entails breathing - and just that, albeit to a specific rhythm. Inhale for four seconds and exhale for eight seconds. While you're at it, let your belly expand fully. Harvard studies, as per wellness influencer Natalia, reveal that relaxed breathing to controlled routines can lower cortisol by as much as 23% within one round.For the next three minutes, perform the lying twist. Lie down and bring your right knee to your left elbow slowly. Hold your breath for two seconds - and deeply - once you assume form. You are most likely to feel a release. Continue on to the other side.For the final three minutes, the routine involves practicing what prominent though leader, Dr. Joe Dispenza, calls "removing emotional dirt." Use your breath to sweep your ribs down to your groin in one wave. Keep repeating till you hit the three-minute mark.

Natalia for one, seems to have greatly benefitted from the routine. On an Instagram post, she shares: "Right after, my stomach felt soft. Usually it’s hard like a board, even empty. By morning, it looked flatter, even after pizza at 10pm. But the craziest part came on day three. I stopped checking my phone every five minutes." She explained the 'magic', via a quote from neuroscientist Andrew Huberman: "Cortisol creates phantom anxiety, the brain chases dopamine." So once you target the cortisol and your brain stops obsessing over the next dopamine hit, your body has a good chance of finally feeling at peace.