Category: balance

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How does Stress work in the body?

In this fourth post about the main contributing factors to our health and wellness, I’d like to talk about stress and how it works in our body and mind.

We all experience stress to a greater or lesser degree. No one is immune to it throughout life. The main difference in how stress impacts and affects us as individuals, is how we respond and ultimately process stress, which we experience in our everyday lives.

A certain amount of stress is actually beneficial to our overall health and wellbeing at times, giving us a boost or surge of energy, motivation and inspiration, to help us get through something like a deadline at work or a test. However, prolonged chronic stress can create more serious health challenges, including having an impact on the cardiovascular, immune, neuroendocrine and central nervous systems.

Further to this, as you may recall from my previous post about how emotions impact our health…prolonged stress can impact these emotional responses as well, bringing about a debilitating sense of self in both physical and psychological ways. While we can all generally manage some simple stress triggers, by tapping into our bodies natural ability to cope, prolonged chronic stress can and does have serious implications upon our overall wellbeing in the long term, if left unchecked.

Stress is our natural inbuilt response to an experience, which to us as an individual, felt threatening or challenging in that moment, either physically and/or psychologically. Our hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and autonomic nervous system are the major aspects of our body, which react to stress, which we, as individuals, feel is threatening, by activating the fight-flight-freeze-fawn response via our sympathetic nervous system – the part of our body, which pushes our entire system into stress, in an effort to keep us safe and survive the threat, be it real or perceived.

The body and some of its major systems may remain in this state of sympathetic activity for some time if we do not or cannot switch off the stress trigger.  This is when we see chronic symptoms begin to manifest. However, when we are able to reduce or eliminate the root cause which triggered our stress response in the first place, the parasympathetic nervous system then takes over, moving, calling, guiding our body into a recovery phase, which may include feeling more tired, hot and hungry than what is considered normal. This is simply a natural response and symptomatic of the body regenerating itself, in an attempt to return to a state of homeostasis…i.e. balanced health and wellness again.

How does stress work in the body though…?

It isn’t new knowledge that traditional, long-standing, ancient paradigms of health and healing all acknowledge the mind-body-social-spiritual connection and the way in which different types of emotion and mental imbalances take root in different parts of the body.  Indian Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese medicine are two of the more well-known disciplines, which explore these connections, as well as other ethnic-based traditions found in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

The foundational beliefs of these traditional disciplines (which have been successfully used for over 2500 years) are that every organ and tissue in our body correlates with the same vibration or energy of specific emotions, which we may feel at any given time.  Therefore, it stands to reason, that every symptom, be it physical or mental, which creates an imbalance in our body, putting it into a state of dis-ease, develops from an emotional stress trigger, which is connected with a specific organ or tissue, creating a block or disruption in the normal flow, for optimal functioning to happen.

A domino-type effect can then begin to occur if symptoms are not dealt with in the immediate moments, days and weeks following a stress trigger. This is when we see symptoms changing from being acute (short-term) to chronic (long-term). This can potentially add further stress to the mental and emotional psyche of the individual, thus multiplying the overall stress on the mind-body…and a whole myriad of other symptoms can begin to grow and emerge, feeling like it’s spiralling out of our control.

Big ‘T’ traumas such as earthquakes, major accidents, fires, floods and divorce can all cause incredible stress and left unchecked, can contribute to existing symptoms, as well as manifest new ones. Small ‘t’ traumas can equally contribute to existing symptoms and because they’re small, we often ignore the significance of them. However, like a slow dripping tap, over time, they too can contribute to chronic symptoms.

Stress, be it a big ‘T’ or little ‘t’, is something, which to the individual, felt unexpected, dramatic and isolating and you had no strategy at that moment to deal with and handle what was happening. We call this a UDIN. It’s a very subjective experience…therefore no two people respond the same way and thus, no two people came to have their symptoms from the same stress trigger.

These events or stress triggers can begin when we’re children and become conditioned responses, such as a comment or look we received from a parent, teacher or bullying in the playground and they can also happen as adults, with major events such as those described above.

Whatever the original trigger for the UDIN moment, because we’re all subjective individuals, with our own conditioning and background, the pattern and process our own biological programming will follow through it’s sympathetic and parasympathetic phases will depend on how we’ve perceived the UDIN. For example, a child who’s told she can’t play football because she’s a girl may take this personally and feel devalued, thus impacting her muscular-skeletal system. Whereas another child given the same comment may feel like their territory is being invaded, thus impacting their bladder.

The key point to remember is that stress does not come from just one source, such as a major event like an earthquake. It can be cumulative over time as well, such as that condemning comment from a parent or teacher…which is then reignited by a boss or spouse later in life and so it goes on and on and on, thus reopening the old unhealed wound again and again and again and keeping the body in a fight-flight-freeze cycle of stress, whenever that button is pushed.

These conditioned responses form beliefs and over time, we become entwined in an unconscious cycle of stress, whereby specific organs will react with the corresponding brain relay and related emotions are all retriggered. This on-going cycle ultimately forms symptoms, which can and do become chronic. Knowing the root cause of these life-long response patterns, as well as the big T events, can help us detect where symptoms have stemmed from and inform us in a more specific and individual way to create a plan for changing patterns, behaviours and emotions. This ultimately allows the body to complete its own natural process of healing, through this deeper understanding and empowerment of us as individuals.

There is a lot we can do on our own to take back our power and reduce stress in our lives. Here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Learn to meditate to quieten your mind. InsightTimer is a fantastic free app with loads of guided meditations to get you started. I would advise beginning with guided meditations until you know you feel 100% comfortable with a silent practice. Seek out a certified teacher for more specific guidance and disciplines. After many years of exploring and trying out different styles and approaches, I now personally practice Transcendental Meditation (TM), which has been a life-changing addition to my daily self-care routine, since I began practicing it several years ago.
  • Spend time in nature. Research now shows us that time in nature is very healing for our overall wellbeing. The Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku, which loosely translates as forest bathing, has become a cornerstone of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine. The beach is also a very powerful space to de-stress from those daily grinds. Simply kicking leaves in the park or getting outside can be all it takes though, to change your state of being. So get outside and breath in some of those positive vibes.
  • Move your body. Whatever your ability, movement will help. Find what works for you and commit to it. The best movement activity for you is the one you do regularly…so experiment and try some things out. There is so much to choose from these days, from high-energy HIIT classes to slow motion yoga and everything in-between. So find the one which gives you that high and go for it. You’ve nothing to lose except the stress you don’t want anyway.
  • Journalling. For those who like words…writing things down can help. I’ve been a journaler for many years and when I am consistent, it helps heaps. One resource which I found helpful was the simple morning pages practice described in The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
  • Find your tribe. Community and a sense of belonging are so important to us as humans, in order for us to thrive. With the age of technology, many of us find that we’re a lot more isolated however, even with the social media platforms of our day. So I’d encourage you to seek out your face-to-face tribe so that you have people who are on the same page as you, who cheer you on when you need that extra support, motivation and inspiration. We don’t always get this from our biological family…so I like to see these groups of people who form our community as our soul family…they get you and accept you for who you are, no matter what.
  • Where possible, eliminate the stress triggers, which you can control yourself. And set boundaries, which support you to maintain a stress-free space for yourself.
  • Breathe. So often when we are in stress, we actually forget to breathe normally. So take the time to sit and take some slow deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth, while placing your hands on your heart. You will soon notice yourself calming down and feeling a sense of peace again.  The Heart Math Institute continues to do extensive research on how some simple breathing with your hands on your heart can help with more balanced heart coherence. See their website for some free resources.
  • And if all this seems a bit too much to manage on your own, then you can also book a discovery call to see how working with me can help and support you on your journey towards balanced health and wellness again.

“It is not that stress kills us, it is our reaction to it” 

~ Hans Selye

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Our Organs & Tissues

I’ve needed to take some time out from being so active in my writing in recent months. The sudden loss of loved ones does funny things to your attention, priorities and focus…and so I’ve honoured this diversion, following its gentle guidance to nurture that which needed my self-care and caress…and it’s brought me all the way into February. 

I’m here now though, grateful and excited to embrace this new space and energy, which I’ve been introduced to in recent months, as a bittersweet bonus to the grief I’ve felt, as well as that freshness, which comes with a new year. 

And so I’d like to continue the discussion I began towards the end of last year, by sharing with you my third principal and domain to tune into for balanced health & wellness: our organs and organ tissue. It’s a pertinent place to continue this discussion, given that I’ve experienced grief recently, because we often feel the loss of loved ones very physically, such as in our heart or stomach. Which exact part of the organ is reacting, is the key question, however.

It goes without saying, that if we have uncomfortable physical symptoms, it’s wise to seek medical attention and diagnosis from our doctor as soon as possible. When we delay this action, we run the risk of symptoms becoming a lot worse and chronically debilitating…and no one naturally chooses this for themselves.

That said, it’s the root cause of these symptoms which I’d like to explore further…because, what many of us are not aware of is that not all symptoms are sympathetic in nature (i.e. when the body system as a whole is in a state of stress) as we’ve been conditioned to think and see illness and disease. Many symptoms are actually parasympathetic in their nature i.e. they are the body’s message to us that it is now doing its best to rebalance and regain homeostasis, after a phase of stress and would, therefore, like you to listen to it and oblige by resting and allowing it to do its job effectively, with appropriate support. Inflammation is a good example of this.

In the western health paradigm many of us live in, obvious stressors such as age, diet, exercise, accidents and injuries are explored and made accountable for many maladies which present themselves in the GP surgery or A&E wards. And when it comes to emergency medicine, the western approach is second to none in its life-saving treatments and procedures.

However, we’re seeing a growing number of symptoms showing up in patients and clients within this same medical system, which are given the autoimmune label or even cause unknown as the long term prognosis. Yet how can this be accurate? How can a whole body system, which is so sophisticated in its entirety, all of a sudden begin to turn on itself (such as in the case of autoimmune symptoms) or manifest symptoms, out of the blue, where a cause is not known?  As briefly mentioned in some of my own background, I refused to believe this notion as a young person, when given such a prognosis with vitiligo in my 20s. And as a result, I have since found out that it is possible to find the root cause of these symptoms, and so much more, when we understand that the body’s organs and tissues are not separate from the rest of the body’s biology, chemistry and physiology. Our brain, organs and tissues are all intricately connected…!

As much as it is helpful to have specialists in oncology, gastroenterology, cardiology, endocrinology and all the other -ologies in medicine, it’s time we recognised that none of the symptoms, which show up under any of these disciplines are operating as separate systems within the body. We have cells, which become tissues, which become organs, which become organ systems, which are part of the greater whole, that is the human body. And they have all evolved, according to the embryology of three germ layers within our body.

Each of these germ layers (endoderm – inner layer; mesoderm – middle layer; and ectoderm – outer layer) is connected to a part of the brain e.g. the brain stem, which is the first part of the brain to develop is connected to the endoderm layer. Thus, organs and tissue, which also develop in this germ layer will also be connected to the brain stem.

Knowing this gives us valuable clues when it comes to symptoms because each germ layer responds differently when in sympathetic or parasympathetic phases. Our emotions, beliefs and how we respond to subjective stress also impacts organs and tissue differently.

When I work with clients, I work integratively with a medical diagnosis, because it’s vital to know the exact origin of the symptoms I am exploring with my client. When I have this information about which organs or tissues are reacting, it informs me about the biological function of that part of the body…which in turn gives me vital insights into the thoughts and emotions likely being experienced to trigger this organ or tissue reaction. The more specific the diagnosis, the more accurate my analysis is i.e. it’s better to know it’s the epidermis layer of the skin with the symptoms, rather than just the skin because each tissue within an organ plays a specific role in its function within the body as a whole.

So think for a moment about the biological reason why we have the organs and tissues which function in our body as a whole…each part plays a vital and very specific role. It’s the logic of biology – it’s bio logical.

When we take the time to explore and understand our body’s biology and how our organs and tissues are reacting and responding in sympathetic and parasympathetic phases, we gain a very clear insight into the why of presenting symptoms. With this knowledge, we’re then able to determine specific stress themes, which are correlated with that organ tissue, its biological function in evolutionary and embryology terms, as well as the brain layer involved.

With this fundamental detail about the root cause of symptoms, we can then approach options for rebalancing the body system in a more informed and holistic way…as in truly rebalancing the whole person, in mind, body, spirit and social aspects. Without this whole-person approach, we’re missing the point of health and wellness in medicine, where it’s meant to be about supporting people to feel empowered and whole again.

So next time you have some sort of physical symptom, don’t just brush it off. Your body is talking to you…the question is, how well are you listening?

For more information about my work and how I can help you with your symptoms, get in touch now to begin taking back your power over your health and wellness journey.

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Emotional Health

 

“One of the tasks of true friendship is to listen compassionately and creatively to the hidden silences. Often secrets are not revealed in words, they lie concealed in the silence between the words or in the depth of what is unsayable between two people.”

~ John O’Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

In the wake of mental health awareness day recently, I’d like to share the 2nd core factor which I believe plays a key part in balanced health & wellness…our emotions.

Often seen as a sign of weakness due to our social conditioning, many of us have learnt to suppress our deepest emotions, myself included. However, I’ve learnt the hard way, that keeping this depth of emotion in, holding on to it & ruminating over & over can & does contribute to physical symptoms in illness & disease.

With several decades of research in many fields to back this up now, from endocrinology, psychology & medicine to sociology & energy psychology, the evidence is there…emotions are “a positive or negative experience that is often associated with a particular pattern of physiological activity, producing different physiological, behavioural and cognitive changes.”

This research shows outcomes such as breast cancer patients needing fewer doctor visits for related problems, just by sharing their feelings; HIV patients seeing an improvement in infection-fighting T cells by writing about their concerns; & energy psychology showing a direct link with symptom onset & holding onto emotional hurts. There is also research proving links between how individuals respond to perceived negative emotions & heart attack risk.

There is a caveat in all this…emotions are actually neither good or bad & we need all of them, because they aid in our overall survival. They are a necessary & vital part of our existence in fact. It’s how we process, respond & resolve them which is key however.

What’s the answer then?
Basically, it’s ok to experience & express emotions such as fear, anger, disgust, sadness etc. It’s the holding on to them & what we do with them after the event has passed which provoked them in the first place, which is key.

So here are a few ideas for helping to release, let go & free yourself up:

  • Journalling, daily.
  • Time in nature regularly.
  • Regular exercise you enjoy.
  • 10% of your day outdoors…or 2.24 hours outside, in small increments.
  • Meditation, guided is best to start with.
  • Increase water intake, reduce alcohol, caffeinated, fizzy & sugary drinks.
  • Increase fresh whole foods, reduce packaged & ready meal type fast foods.
  • Look into EFT (aka tapping)…it’s amazing!
  • Establish a regular sleep routine.
  • Have a #notech90 mins before bed.
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What is balanced health?

“Each of our cells is a living entity, and the main thing that influences them is our blood. If I open my eyes in the morning and my beautiful partner is in front of me, my perception causes a release of oxytocin, dopamine, growth hormones – all of which encourage the growth and health of my cells. But if I see a sober tooth tiger, I’m going to release stress hormones, which change the cells to a protection mode. People need to realise that their thoughts are more primary than their genes, because the environment, which is influenced by our thoughts, controls the genes.” 

~ Bruce Lipton, author of Biology of Belief.

Balanced health & wellness is a combination of several factors, which when in harmony, support us to achieve the health we desire. The first of these core factors I’ll introduce, of which I believe there are eight key ones, is our beliefs.

As Bruce Lipton explains in the quote above, our beliefs are foundational in our overall health and wellness. More and more research now proves the powerful influence our beliefs have on our health, from how we view and treat symptoms and more importantly, how these symptoms came to be present in our body in the first place. None of it is coincidence, by chance or without biological explanation.

So how does it work?
Our beliefs start forming the moment we’re conceived. Some would argue even before that. As a growing foetus though, we pick up on what’s going on around us, especially from our Mother. Our Father’s influence is important too, even in this early developmental stage, as Rupert Sheldrake explains with morphic resonance. Most of our beliefs are thought to be formed in those formative years, from birth up to approximately seven years old. We’re like sponges and believe everything around us, especially from our primary carers. From here to approximately our teens, we’re more experimental and model what we’re observing from our primary influencers. The often intense stage of socialisation from teen onset to early 20’s is also a powerful time for forming beliefs, as well as other traumatic experiences like relationship breakups, job loss and homelessness.

The point is, our beliefs impact the health and vitality of our biology more than we’ve realised up until more recently. And what’s more, most of these beliefs aren’t simply hanging out for us to see, realise and then simply erase. They’re generally a bit more invisible…and are part of our unconscious mind, which helps run our autonomous nervous system. We need this system because it helps us breath, digest, see etc. It also includes our fight-flight-freeze-fawn response too…how we recall, perceive, respond and react in any given situation. Therefore, if we’ve grown up believing the world is a dangerous and unhealthy place, this will more likely be our reality in our body’s health too.

This can be positively influenced and changed by our conscious mind though. And that’s the point Bruce Lipton makes above. We can choose to change our thought patterns and beliefs and these new thoughts and beliefs can thus positively influence a healthy change in the body’s homeostasis, towards more balance, harmony and health again. Quite simply put, what you think about, you bring about because thoughts become things…as well as other factors too, which we’ll come to in future posts.

This is one piece of the health and wellness puzzle, albeit an important one, which is why I start with it. And as the poem THINK so succinctly says…

“If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It’s almost certain you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out of this world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will –
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you’re outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man
But sooner or later the man who wins,
Is the man who thinks he can!”

Watch this space for the next part in this health and wellness puzzle. And in the meantime, as Mike Dooley says, “Thoughts become things, so choose the good ones.” 💚