What does this mean?

We live in a fast paced society with a constant go-go-go mindset. Everything we do we strive to do it either faster, better or at a high frequency. This type of mindset impacts our health and I will be explaining how.

The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) controls homeostasis and the body at rest and is responsible for the body's "rest and digest" function. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) controls the body's responses to a perceived threat and is responsible for the "fight or flight" response. Both nervous system functions are important and we should experience both functions but in todays society it’s common to get stuck in the sympathetic nervous system, or the “fight or flight” response. Whether it’s real stress running for our lives being chased by a mountain lion or mental stress of managing our bills our “fight or flight” response is active.

The NOT Healthy Lifestyle

It’s not healthy and not good for our bodies to be in a constant sympathetic nervous system, this means your body is in a constant state of “stress.” When our body is constantly stressed our homeostasis is thrown off as well as our digestive functions. This is a contributing factor to obesities rates, it makes sense that in the United States we have both a high stressed country and an obese country. If our hormones and digestive functions are thrown off why would we expect anything different then high obesity rates.

What Is Stress?

When we say stress we are referring to the bodies physiological stress so maybe you don’t “think you are stressed” but that doesn’t mean you aren’t in a state of physiological stress (sympathetic nervous system). Anytime you are are in a high focused situation it is safe to say you are experiencing physiological stress. Pretty much anything you are doing on a consistent basis that you “need to do” is stress, driving in your car is stress, doing bills is stress, rushing is stress, being at work is stress, worrying is stress and physical activity is stress, yes working out is good for you but it is also stress response. This can actually be a dreadful circle of having too much stress in your life, gaining weight and trying to fix that weight gain with working out (more stress). WHY WOULD THAT MAKE SENSE???? It doesn’t.

We can turn on our stress response by simply having a thought. It is also true that the thought that turns on our fight or flight response does not have to have anything to do with what is happening right now. We can think about a test in three days and feel nervous. If we think about our mom yelling last week, we feel angry. Events from the past affect how we feel now. These memories can activate our stress response. When we worry and feel fear about playing in a soccer game next Saturday, the same chemicals are released in our bodies as when we are running for our life being chased by a mountain lion.

Okay My Life Is Stress, Now What?

Great I convinced you that your life is stress and now what do you do? You can’t just stop your life, that wouldn’t make sense. Though just not doing your responsibilities does sound nice…

Our stress response is a body function that we need and it is not un-healthy that we get stressed what is un-healthy is that we get stressed and we STAY STRESSED. That’s what the problem is, we practice how to get into this physiological stress on a daily basis but we never practice how to come down from that, how to relax (parasympathetic).

Let’s take an example of the animal kingdom and show how stress was meant to be managed in nature. Think of a deer calmly grazing in a beautiful forest.  When the deer sees a Mountain Lion, its stress response gets activated. When the Stress Response gets turned on, the deer’s body is altered by chemicals. If the Mountain Lion begins to the approach the deer, the deer has the energy to run away.  If the deer is able to escape the Mountain Lion and all is well, then perhaps 30 minutes later, the deer returns to calmly grazing, the deer came down from its stress response and is now in its reset and digest response.

Great a deer can be care free after almost dying… what can I do…

You can practice activities that break your daily normal. These activities could be meditation, yoga, stretching, calm walks, drawing, playing an instrument, breathing exercises and more. What ever your activity may be you should be able to control your breath and drop your heart rate. I know what you might be thinking “I am already stressed because my day is too busy, I don’t have time to add more to it.” And that may be true but you will see drastic health benefits from even just a few 1 minute breaks in your day. Stop what you are doing get into a better headspace and give yourself 1 minute . After that 1 minute you can return to your stress. I am not asking you to change your life but instead give yourself a few 1 minute breaks throughout the day that will end up changing your life for you. Prioritize your mental health.

Disclaimer: The information on this site is intended to provide general educational information only, and does not constitute, nor is it a substitute for, medical advice.