Stress, you hear about it all the time, you’re told to reduce it, but what is it??

Stress is an acute response by the body when faced with a threat – be it physical, emotional, chemical, or spiritual. The body responds by activating what is called the sympathetic nervous system. This response prepares you to fight, fawn or flee.  

It’s a state of resistance to life, in a way.

Once the trigger or stressor (aka danger) has passed, we return to a parasympathetic state, which is where we rest, digest, heal and rejuvenate. This is the opposite arm of the autonomic nervous system (see image below), and this operates below the level of conscious awareness, meaning, you don’t have any control over it. 

When it comes to stress, it can be caused by more obvious things such as a car coming at you, or less obvious things, like your perception, or even your imagination.

Imagined stressors usually stem from early childhood where we formed beliefs, which are now deeply rooted into our nervous system, and those beliefs are now running the show. So for example if you believe deep down that you’re unworthy or unlovable, you may make terrible food choices, or work yourself to the bone in order to ‘rectify’ that wound and ‘prove yourself’ to the world around you. 

Most often, this leads to chronic stress (or what Harvard calls ‘toxic stress’, and it can impact our lives greatly. 

When in stress mode, we have issues with creativity, rationality, maintaining health, digestion, nutrient assimilation, sleep, relationships/friendships and more. If the body is in stress all the time, then our lives and bodies tend to fall apart. 

So what can you do if you’re highly stressed? 

Unraveling this can be complex, but I’ve created a short program to help you on your way! The Nervous System Reset is a short (but simple) dive into stress, how the body responds, and what you can do to start healing this, without having to stop doing all of your favourite things.

If this feels like too much at this time, but you’re keen to learn more about how to overcome stress, check out my article – Stress Impacts your Emotional and Physical Health – Here is How, and How to Fix it – for more.

Jen X