Stress is inevitable. It is something we all will experience at times. It is kind of part of the modern-day lifestyle. It's when we experience too much stress that is starts to have a negative effect. It then starts to affect our energy, hormones our mood and our weight and the list goes on.
Ongoing stress (emotional, physical, psychological) and high levels of cortisol are not good for our adrenals.
When the adrenals are exhausted, we start to experience adrenal fatigue. The symptoms of this is exhaustion, lack of motivation, anxiety and intense sugar cravings and more.
All stress is the same to the body. It can't tell the difference.
The physical effects on the body is blood-sugar imbalance, weight gain around the middle, poor digestive function, low motivation, impaired thyroid function etc.
Stress directly affects the synchronicity of the hormones. So, if you are stressed, the hormones will be out of whack. So when our cortisol are high for long periods of time, they affect the production of sex hormones and it also makes it hard for the body to produce those "feel good" hormones.
If you feel anxious and sad, it may be because you are producing too much cortisol.
High levels of cortisol levels are also linked to weight gain and lower thyroid function. When our body is stressed the digestion slows down. The body diverts the blood away from the digestive tract and we don't digest the food properly.
So when we experience stress we need to SLOW DOWN. It's is time to give the body a chance to heal.
The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for the body's rest and digest function. It works to bring body to a state of calm.
The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for the body's fight or flight response. It controls how we react to perceived threats.
These two systems work together to keep the body balanced. Normally this works perfectly but the problems start when we are stressed too much and for longer periods of time. When we are in constant state of stress, the sympathetic nervous system works overtime.
Some things you can do to combat stress
- practice deep belly breathing
- having a bath with salts and essential oils
- listen to some relaxation music
- meditate
- read or listen to an audio book
- have a break from the computer or your phone
- take a power nap or just "chill"
- smell therapeutic Essential Oils such as Stress Away, Lavender
- etc.
I think it's easy to fall into the fast pace of life and become disconnected to how we are actually feeling. We don't allow ourselves to rest enough to know how it actually feels to be totally relaxed. Have you ever noticed when you go away on a break or holiday, you feel tired or even perhaps get sick as you start to slow down. I believe this is a sign that you are being in a state of sympathetic system overdrive.
I usually say "You have to slow down before you can speed up". We cannot just keep speeding up and speeding up. The mind and body needs slowing down in between.
Have a wonderfully relaxing day!
Karin xx
CLICK HERE or on the Image below to learn how you can get 24% off the beautiful Essential Oil blend Stress Away etc.
0 Comments