Managing Stress
Stress impacts all seven physiological functions that the body must balance in order to achieve overall wellness:
1) Immune System: stress will lead to inflammation and cause immune dysregulation.
2) Energy & the Mitochondria (powerhouse of the cell): stress is a source of oxidative stress and diminishes mitochondrial function (but it is reversible), and eventual brain neurodegeneration.
3) Detoxification: stress impairs the liver detoxification pathways and increases toxic burden through poor dietary choices. The number ONE toxin for most of is STRESS! Chronic stress is one of the largest contributors of chronic disease. Stress impacts our physiology and psychology, ultimately changing our eating and lifestyle behaviors, and vice versa.
4) Transport: stress increases blood pressure and increases carotid artery intima thickness, leading to cardiovascular diseases and brain neurodegeneration.
5) Communication: stress causes alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-thyroid-gonadal axis. In other words, it effects all aspects of the production, transport, sensitivity and detoxification of all hormones.
6) Structural Integrity: stress decreases bone density in postmenopausal women.
7) Assimilation: stress causes increased intestinal permeability. Please read this wonderful article called “Stress Affects Your Health and Your Digestive System.” Our digestive system is our FIRST line of defense. If our digestive system is not optimal, we are open to an endless amount of threats, from cancer, anxiety, depression, fatigue, hormonal imbalance, etc. The list is endless…..
How Can We Manage this Number One TOXIN in our lives? Here are a few resources for you on how to combat stress:
Stress Busting Eating Plan to Combating Sleep Deprivation & Weight Gain
Eliciting the Relaxation Response
When things feel difficult & you are not sure where to turn, remember, “You are Unwritten.“
TODAY is where your book begins! Play the video below while reading the lyrics posted underneath the video. I hope you find these words as meaningful and appropriate as I have, in coping with your stressful issues and your outlook on life.
Lyrics to “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield
I am unwritten
Can’t read my mind
I’m undefined
I’m just beginning
The pen’s in my hand
Ending unplanned
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
Oh, oh, oh I break tradition
Sometimes my tries are outside the lines
We’ve been conditioned to not make mistakes
But I can’t live that way
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
Oh, yeah, yeah