Stress is a normal part of the human experience, and healthy levels of stress are crucial for survival. However, many people in today’s society have developed chronic stress that knocks your body out of balance, leading to fatigue and burnout. Stress can be caused by so many internal and external factors, including work stress, environmental toxins, relationship issues, financial issues – the list goes on!
Signs that you might be experiencing chronic stress….
- Constant fatigue
- Gut issues
- Brain fog
- Insomnia
- Chest Pains
- Frustration, or a “short fuse” with friends and loved ones
- Low libido
- Emotional dysregulation
- Racing thoughts
- feeling sad/lonely
This list is not comprehensive, as we know that our mind and body are interconnected, leading to so many different factors that can knock our body out of homeostasis.
What happens when our bodies perceive a threat (AKA stressors)? When stressful situations continue over time, the adrenal cortex becomes more involved, ACTH (Adrenocotropic horomone) is released by our pituitary gland, which causes our central nervous system to maintain sustained stress. 3. The Sympathetic nervous system activates, which is our “fight-or-flight” response. This triggers a top-down response from your brain which releases a a couple of hormones – Cortisol and Epinephrine.
Cortisol is a steroid that shuts down nonessential parts of the body during “fight-or-flight” response so that your body’s energy can be used to life saving activities. Since we don’t actually need to run away from a wild animal or deal with a life saving activity most of the time, this is shutting down parts of our body’s essential functions when unnecessary.
In acute situations, this is okay, but when our bodies are chronically releasing cortisol and we cannot regular our nervous system. Our nervous system is connected to all of our other body systems, and therefore, can have a great impact on how our body functions when put in stressful situations.
When our sympathetic nervous system activates, our body’s energy takes from other systems to:
- Decreases activity in the digestive system
- Increasing heart rate
- Increases blood glucose to be released in to the blood
- Slows recovery and tissue repair.1
How to know whether or not you have a healthy stress response?
When your brain signals the alarm bells and activates the HPA axis cascade, you should enter recovery as soon as the perceived threat goes away. However, if the recovery here is much longer and your mind and body are stuck in this fight-or-flight mode, then all of your energy is going towards emergency response, tiring your body and mind out quickly, which ultimately leads to fatigue and burnout. (this is sourced from slideshows from my health coaching program – not quite sure how to cite these)
What’s the key to reversing chronic stress?
Activating the parasympathetic nervous system! This has the opposite effect of the sympathetic nervous system where everything slows down, and your brain tells you that you are safe and no perceived threats are near.
6 tips for Activating the regulating your nervous system:
- Regular Exercise
- Deep Belly Breathing
- Getting out in Nature
- Eating Cleaner
- Prioritizing Sleep
Diving Deeper into these 6 Practices: (going to expand on these here)
- Regular Exercise
- Deep Belly Breathing Practice:
- Social Support
- Eating “Cleaner”
- Prioritizing Sleep
- Herbs to Support Nervous System:
A lot of these herbs listed below contain all 3 properties, and there are so many other supporting herbs, but here are a few that are more commonly found in commerce that can be purchased fairly easily:
*Always consult an herbalist to ensure proper proportions and dosages of herbs: 2, 3.
- Nervine Relaxants
- Black Cohosh
- Hops
- St. John’s Wort
- Motherwort
- Lemon Balm
- Catnip
- Kava
- Antispasmodic (Muscle Relaxants)
- Skullcap
- Valerian
- Hypnotics (Aiding relaxation and sleep)
- Skullcap
- Bitter Lettuce
- Purple Passionflower
Honorable mention: build your support system and social circle – we’re social beings, and being around others creates a natural sense of safety and security!
Sources:
- Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology – Twelfth Edition (New York, Pearson Global Edition, 2018), 294
2. Thomas Easley | Steven Horne, The Modern Herbal Dispensatory (North Atlantic Books, 2016), 160
3. David Hoffman, Medical Herbalism (Healing Arts Press, 2003), 345-346
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