Chronic stress wreaks havoc on our internal systems, adrenals, skin, & overall health.
Forcing the body to take on more than it can handle — in terms of work, relational commitments, or too much exercise—creates unnecessary stress. Many of us are victims of chronic stress without even know it. According to James Wilson's book, Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome, "adrenal fatigue affects up to 80 percent of American adults at some point during their lifetime."
This societal pattern requires a change, on a micro and macro level. In support of your intention to manage stress, you have to work with your body’s internal systems.
Of course, not all stress is "bad." Adrenaline & cortisol are the body’s natural response to a fight or flight situation. Adrenaline is meant to inspire action when your life is in danger, like if you're being chased by a tiger. Nowadays, stress hormones may be constantly firing off in small quantities at everyday things like the ping of a cell phone or during an uncomfortable conversation.
Chronic erratic levels of stress and cortisol are associated with a weakening of the immune system, weight gain, breakouts, adrenal fatigue, adverse menstrual or menopause symptoms, and premature aging.
Today, I am going to share my top three secrets on how you can reverse these issues, from an energetic perspective.
1. SECRET 1: Less is more
This secret is so simple and so profound. Develop a relationship with your body where you can notice when you're overdoing it and then make a shift: choose to incorporate more rest on days when you’re tired. If you feel like you constantly have to drink coffee to keep up or are on the brink of falling asleep all the time, your body is telling you that it needs a break. It needs time to heal & reset! Notice if you're saying yes when you mean no, over-committing, or putting too much on your plate.
Give yourself permission to journal, take yoga, meditate, read, dance, spend time in nature, or enjoy the company of family/friends more often. Find balance between your level of activity & relaxation.
You will also want to adapt your exercise routine based on how you are feeling. Engaging in low-impact exercise can often have greater long term benefits than forcing your body through high intensity activity all the time, which can lead to injury or burn out. Every day is different. Everybody is different.
You will find overtime that allowing your body to rest or engaging in low-impact exercise on days you have less energy will actually get you closer to your fitness goals.
As a woman, there is even a natural energetic arch during each monthly cycle that corresponds to your biological hormone cycle. This brings us to secret number two.
2. SECRET 2: Embrace your hormones
The four phases of your female reproductive hormone cycle (follicular, ovulatory, luteal & menstrual) correlate with the rise and fall of energy over the course of a month.
The first half of the month you’ll have more outward energy. You may be tempted to think that the first half is “better” because being more extroverted/outward is more promoted by societal standards.
But actually, the cycle of creation requires rest and reset periods to reflect adapt and make changes.
Luckily enough, your hormone cycle naturally programs these rest and reset periods (mainly during the second half of your luteal phase and your menstrual phase). The question is: will you work with your natural patterns? Or fight them and continue to pack your to-do list with insatiable expectations that contribute to mental & physical health issues?
Now you may ask, how do you will know if you should push yourself or be gentle? Especially if your cycle is irregular, you don’t track it, or you don’t have a cycle? This leads me to secret number 3.
Secret 3: Trust your intuition
Allow the divine support of your intuitive connection to guide you. What feels good? What is your body needing? Start to get familiar with this, practicing what you really need rather than what you “think you should do.”
Get out of your head. And into your body. You can access this connection through breathwork, yoga, dance, exercise & meditation. Developing a connection with your intuition and then channeling its guidance through your body is the practice.
Give yourself permission to rest in order to manage chronic stress. It's a mental shift. There are literal neural pathways that cause us to psychologically create the same patterns, day in and day out, until we consciously shift. So if someone is subconsciously addicted to the story that "life is a struggle," they will continue to create that in their reality. Science is proving that we have the ability to change these neural pathways through heart-based meditation & mindset training. So, if you experience chronic stress and adverse health/aging symptoms, the first step is shifting your mindset: giving yourself permission to slow down and working through the shadows of shame, anxiety, or restlessness that come up when you decide to make that shift.
Supplement tips:
In order to support healthy adrenal function, you can consider adding adaptogens to your diet such as ashwagandha or rhodiola. Always check with your trusted physician before adding supplements to your diet.
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