I would guess that whatever physical or emotional challenges you may be dealing with, stress has a lot to do with it. We hear a lot about stress and that it’s “bad”. But just being told to reduce stress isn’t always very meaningful unless we understand why it’s important. It kind of tends to be this thing happening in isolation when in fact it’s integrated into every part of our cell tissues and system functions.
To continue with the example from last week and daily vitamins and thinking of the body as a car or vehicle, when driven on a smooth open road, all is well and the vehicle can easily accelerate on its way. When there is heavy traffic, when the paved road ends and it becomes a dirt road, or when we go way to fast, conditions are suddenly very different and adjustments must be made. There is stress, the road is no longer open and smooth. If no adjustments are made, the vehicle is at great risk and the vehicle may not survive long. One of the big problems with stress is that we resist or deny it in a futile attempt to carry on without making adjustments. Since this is not sustainable, it becomes inevitable that it would result in some sort of physical or emotional crisis which will vary greatly from person to person and may include weight gain, depression, anxiety, fatigue, poor sleep, uncomfortable digestion, joint & muscle pain, irritability, lack of focus and concentration, just to name a few.
Let’s have a look at what’s happening when we are under stress. Ultimately we have a built in stress response that is meant to protect us, most animals have this. When you are in real danger to your life, you must flee and find safety, that is the only thing that matters. Once the threat has passed, life is meant to carry on peacefully. You may have experienced this in an urgent emergency situation when you seem to have super human strength and are able to manage an extraordinary amount of disruption, you are able to continue with little sleep and little food, those don’t matter, only resolving the crisis matters. In this case, stress is helpful. Stress is also helpful to urge us along with deadlines because failure to meet deadlines has consequences.
When the body enters the stressful state, the digestion process stops! Yes, pretty much the whole thing from saliva release in anticipation of eating to excretion once nutrition has been absorbed. Think about it, if you are running from a predator, it’s not very handy to have to make a bathroom break along the way. ALL of the energy in the body is directed to getting to safety. The amygdala in the brain is enlarged to maintain the state of fight, flight, or fright. This is why many people don’t have an appetite in a crisis and when they do eat they may not feel well because the body isn’t able to process and digest the food, so it just sits in the gut.
Sleep is disrupted for the same reason. When there is a threat, one must remain on high alert to survive. Eventually sleep will be necessary, but the body and its intelligence comes equipped with reserves for such situation, like an extra can of fuel in the trunk of the car, or a generator available during a power outage. The adrenal response also includes increased heart rate and blood flow to muscles accelerates to enable fast movement and response.
The problem is that many of us remain in a state of stress far too long and far too often. Many animals will often take a nap, graze, or even play upon being out of danger. Some animals shake and ruffle themselves after a stressful incident. This is releasing any leftover tension to be able to return into a state of calm. There is a period of transition back to an unstressed state signaling digestion to get turned on again and all other systems to down-regulate and recover. Often instead of honoring this need to ease back up to speed, we go for a coffee and attempt to carry on. But now the machine has been on a bumpy road and the wheels are out of alignment and low in air. If we carry on without appropriate care and maintenance, further damage will likely occur and we may end up on a detour because it’s hard to move forward in a straight path with the alignment off.
Can you see how this all works? When you don’t take action to manage the stress in your life, your body remains in a biological survival mode. Your brain is “tired and wired”, and you can’t stop thinking about your problems. You may eat meals, but with the digestive system even partially offline, you will likely experience heartburn, constipation, and weight gain. This is all because the stress center of your brain is still activated and as long as it’s activated, everything else is shut down.
It’s not so much about avoiding stress, but managing it. Acknowledge when you experience a stressful situation and allow yourself the space to recover and realign with your purpose and path. It will be different for each of us. Consider what works for you which may be a walk in nature, a bath, prayer or meditation, a shower, dancing to loud music, journaling, or talking with a trusted friend for family member. Try practicing regularly so that when life gets intense you will have something already in place to support you.
(Originally published February 2021)
