Listen on iTunes | Listen on Spotify | Listen on YouTube | Review the Podcast
I know a thing or two about stress. No matter how much I hate it, or at least hate to admit it, I find a lot of comfort in being stressed. Somewhere along the path, I attached the idea that stress is a measurement of productivity keeping me stuck in the stress response.
If I wasn’t stressed, was I being lazy?
While I know that’s not true, deep in my biology, I continuously found myself creating stress even when stress didn’t exist. Most of my stress was self-created. I was always fighting to do more and work harder.
I was the queen of complicating what was simple, creating stress that often didn’t even exist.
Ultimately, I missed life because I was too busy chasing a perception. Ironically, one I didn’t even like.
But here’s the thing: stress is normal, even natural. If you’re living, you’ll experience stress, and that stress can be incredibly beneficial. You were designed for stress, but stress in relation to rest, not the prolonged and chronic stress we experience today.
Things turn south when you get stuck in one of the stressed states, whether the fight or flight state known as your sympathetic nervous system or the freeze response known as the dorsal vagal state.
In this podcast, I break down the three states of the nervous system, explain why they are needed, and how your body uses them. I prove why not one state is bad. It’s only harmful when you get stuck in any one state that slows the body down, triggering unrest that leaves you unwell. Like all things in the body, the goal is a balance birthed out of movement.
Understanding The Stress Response
The stress response gets a bad wrap in the health space, but it’s incredibly beneficial, and your body is perfectly capable of handling it.
Your body was designed for stress, and it can thrive off of it.
Anytime your body feels heightened, runs low on energy, perceives a threat, or gets pushed, it will kick into gear the stress response of the nervous system that acts on your hormones and cells to change your actions. Stress changes your reactions, thoughts, energy flow, and nutrient needs.
It can take on many forms, including emotional, work, life, and even health stress, like pushing yourself through a hard workout.
Stress is not the problem. Arguably, nothing inside your body is the problem. It is all working for your good. I know you don’t hear it often, but God didn’t design your body to fail. He designed it to live well.
In many cases, stress propels people to change in the ways they want. For example, working out is stressful on the body, but it’s necessary to build muscle and see gains and growth.
Stress isn’t the problem. The problem is allowing stress to become a constant in your life. Allowing yourself to get stuck in stress throws off your biological balance.
Don’t allow your nervous system to get stuck. The key is supporting your nervous system to maintain a flow, a movement that allows you to transition from one state to the other.
Your body is always working to rebalance itself, but it can only do that to the degree you support it. That means you must learn how to support and nourish your nervous system.
Nourishing Your Nervous System
Your nervous system needs nourishment more than just your mind. In fact, it is difficult to change your mind, thoughts, stories, and perceptions without first nourishing your nervous system, providing the nutrients it needs to complete the necessary functions.
Complete is a critical word to understand biology. Without completing the function, the body is left to compensate. Compensation never leads to healing. It leaves you stuck in whatever state you’re in because it lacks the resources to regain balance.
That’s why learning how to nourish your nervous system is important.
5 Ways to Nourish Your Nervous System
01. Supply Consistent Energy
Food is certainly one place we get energy, but it’s not the only place. I like to view food for the nutrients it takes to make energy rather than energy itself. Because of this, the need for food is critical in supporting, balancing, and regulating the nervous system.
One of the greatest stressors in our current lives is food restriction, deprivation, and starvation, especially in a time and place when those things are chosen rather than forced.
Food restriction is an automatic stress to the body. What you fail to provide your body either has to make and what it can’t make you force to conserve for the most critical functions, leading to compensation rather than completion of biological acts.
Getting unstuck from the stress response requires you to consume enough consistent meals. Intake of food at the appropriate time with a sustaining amount of nourishment is necessary to move the body out of the stressed state. Make sure you consume consistent meals, especially earlier in the day.
**People who have experienced trauma should refrain from prolonged periods of restrictive eating (intermittent fasting) because they are more prone to move into a stressed state and stay there as a precaution to ‘stored body memory’ about their past.
How much energy do you have? Take the quiz to find out!
02. Blood Sugar Balance
Energy is one of the most critical elements in health, and blood sugar is one of the leading factors in energy creation. Because of that, blood sugar is a master regulator, and insulin (the hormone responsible for use) is a master hormone. It singlehandedly tells your body how safe or unsafe it is via the flow of blood sugar.
Every second of every day, your body works to regulate energy, maintaining an even and balanced flow. When your blood sugar rises beyond its threshold or falls, this becomes an automatic stress response.
It’s the famous “sugar roller coaster” that many health professionals speak of. Newton’s third law proves why it’s difficult to come by quickly. It states, “For every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
What rises will fall to the same degree it went up. Blood sugar is no different. Like everything, it takes a moment to regain balance, which can keep the body stuck in the stress response for prolonged periods.
But this only happens when you push it beyond the intended threshold and increase your blood glucose to ‘unhealthy levels.’
When you maintain an even flow of balance, this prevents unnecessary stress responses from occurring.
Lower your blood glucose using these tips!
03. Consume More Minerals
Minerals are among the most important nutrients for your nervous system. They are mobilizers. They help to mobilize signals and even stress to ignite the body or free it from what it is holding onto. Minerals mobilize what holds you back, freeing you from unnecessary energy drain and allowing you to relax.
When stressed, your body looks for more mobilization and support. This forces you to use considerably more minerals than at rest.
Sometimes, getting stuck in the stressed response is nothing other than a severe mineral deficiency.
Make sure you nourish your body and nervous system with an adequate amount of daily minerals. But take note: It is difficult to consume enough minerals for your body;s needs. Especially if you are critically stressed or stuck in the stress response.
You may need to consider supplementing with minerals. Here are some of my favorite mineral supplements my family uses: Cell Salts, Magnesium Glycinate, Ancient Minerals, LMNT Electrolyte Drink, Magnesium Flakes, and Epsom salts. **
**Make sure you speak with your physician before consuming minerals.
04. Daily ‘Consistent’ Movement
“Stressed was not meant to sit.”
I heard that quote from an unknown source and thought it hit the nail on the head. Stress should move. Most stress, at least in ancient life, required movement, but today, a considerable amount of our stress is emotional, leaving most people turning toward resting rather than moving.
Of course, there is a place to rest, but too much rest is just as unhealthy as too little. When it comes to stress, resting isn’t always the best option because your body needs help moving stress through and out of you, which requires you to move.
Stress only leaves if you help release it.
Moving the body happens to be one of the best ways to get rid of or free the stuck places of stress, allowing it to leave the body.
That doesn’t mean you have to engage in a hard workout. It could mean shaking your body for a minute or two to release the build-up, having someone rub your shoulders or back, taking a leisurely and relaxing walk, or performing any other form of body movement.
When you’re feeling stressed, turn to a form of movement before you attempt anything else. You might be surprised what a ten-minute walk can do for your mind or how a quick shake-out can help release tension. Even deep, intentional breathing is incredibly powerful in healing.
Don’t just sit in it. Help your body move through it.
05. Sleep Well
Of course, I just told you not to sit in stress, but sitting and sleeping are very different things. In a world that has fallen to the opposite extreme of hustle culture, promoting more rest, I want to remind you that this, too, proposes a problem. It brings with it confusion of artificial rest versus true rest.
Don’t get me wrong; there is time and a place to slow down, lay on the couch, and binge Netflix. But generally speaking, the best form of rest you can provide yourself is by sleeping well at night.
One of the biggest hurdles to good daily health is sleeping well. Over half of the population complains about not sleeping or at least not sleeping well, and this is a problem. Without sleep, your nervous system has difficulty resetting and rejuvenating, preventing it from leaving the stressed state.
Sleep outside of energy is the best regulator of our body systems. If you want to be well, you have to sleep well, at least consistently.
The difference between rest and artificial rest is how well you sleep at night. You might be “resting,” but if you’re not “sleeping,’ you’re not healing. Aim to get at least 7-9 hours of sleep per night for healthy nervous system function.
If you aren’t sleeping well, ask yourself if you’re mobilizing enough stress and energy throughout the day.
You can solve your sleep problems by moving more consistently every day.
Your job is not to change your body. It’s to support it.
When you learn how to support your body, you change it. You free it to mobilize what keeps you stuck, helping you reregulate every function inside of you.
Stop trying to control stress. Instead, regain the right relationship with it. Your nervous system is never wrong, and your body is never against you. It doesn’t need you to fix it. It is perfectly capable of healing.
Stress is part of living. It’s necessary and even healthy, but all within balance. Don’t avoid stress because you’re probably creating more of it. Use it and rebalance it throughout your daily life.
Remember, health is a lifestyle. It’s a daily action that requires you to show up and choose to create it.
Are you stuck in the stress response? Learn to get unstuck.
This podcast belongs to a larger series called Health School. A podcast devoted to teaching you health is much easier than you know, but that happens when you understand the foundations of how your body works and its connection to your mind and soul.
Get all of the remaining podcasts in this series here.
I know a thing or two about stress. No matter how much I hate it, or at least hate to admit it, I find a lot of comfort in being stressed. Somewhere along the path, I attached the idea that stress is a measurement of productivity keeping me stuck in the stress response.
I thought if I wasn’t stressed, I being lazy.
While I know that’s not true, deep in my biology, I continuously found myself creating stress even when stress didn’t exist. Most of my stress was self-created. I was always fighting to do more and work harder.
I was the queen of complicating what was simple, creating stress that often didn’t even exist.
Ultimately, I missed life because I was too busy chasing a perception. Ironically, one I didn’t even like.
But here’s the thing: stress is normal, even natural. If you’re living, you’ll experience stress, and that stress can be incredibly beneficial. You were designed for stress, but stress in relation to rest, not the prolonged and chronic stress we experience today.
Things turn south when you get stuck in one of the stressed states, whether the fight or flight state known as your sympathetic nervous system or the freeze response known as the dorsal vagal state.
This podcast breaks down the three states of the nervous system, explain why they are needed, and how your body uses them. I prove why not one state is bad. It’s only harmful when you get stuck in any one state that slows the body down, triggering unrest that leaves you unwell. Like all things in the body, the goal is a balance. Balance comes from movement.
TAKE BACK YOUR METABOLISM AND BUILD METABOLIC FLEXIBILITY
“Health Made Simple blew my mind. I cannot tell you how much understanding I gained. Alexa has changed my entire outlook on health. I especially loved the practical steps and guides I used, which changed my relationship with food and my body, making health feel possible for the first time in a long time. Taking this course has been the best decision.” – Cindy L.
Stop waiting for health and start living it. Health has never been easier! Learn more about Health Made Simple here.
