10 minute read

Health is a complicated topic so I like to focus right down to the core of the issue, as mostly everything health and body-related arises from some kind of nervous system dysfunction. So, reducing stress is key to putting things back together again.

Your nervous system is the key element in health; it’s the electrical network that ties everything together. Stress is essentially the overloading of this network, and if you can imagine what a computer or a phone is like when it’s overloaded, this is the same as what happens to your body.

Under too much stress, the body starts to shut down.

In the most simple terms possible, we have two states of ‘being’ within the nervous system – sympathetic, and parasympathetic. They can’t be both ‘on’ at the same time. 

Sympathetic is stimulation; when you’re active, alert and feeling energised. In an extreme sense, it is aggression and anxiety. Your heart rate is higher, your vision much sharper, and you’re one edge a little more here. 

Parasympathetic is relaxation; when you’re slower, less alert, maybe even drowsy. In an extreme state you are dissociated, numbing out, or depressed. In reducing stress, the goal is to activate, or make more dominant, this arm of the nervous system.

We all fluctuate up and down with the rise and fall of cortisol, and the activation of what is called the vagus nerve. When it is activated, we rest, digest, heal and rejuvenate, and when it is not activated, we are in pursuit. 

So we want to be riding the daily waves of alertness back to calm, we should be able to solve problems quite easily, handle our emotions and not have too much trouble getting to sleep or eating a healthy diet. 

With excessive stress, your ability to function within this window (what we call the window of tolerance) narrows. We end up flipping between hypo and hyper states, struggling to find balance.

If you have health issues, it’s likely you’re not in that safe window. Reducing stress will increase safety in your body and mind.

So, if you want to focus on your health, then nourishing your nervous system by managing and reducing stress is the best way to go about that. This way we widen the window and allow the body to live in a healthy and wholesome state, only ‘flipping out’ in times of real distress, like if a loved one passes or we have a near-accident. 

I put together an amazing online program to support women in addressing this – The Nervous System Reset – it’s been amazing for my clients and other Women are benefitting hugely from completing it.

For now, I am going to suggest a bunch of tools that can help to provide balance within the nervous system, and even starting on one for a while will start you off in a positive direction; 

• Meditation (yes, even if you’re ‘no good at it’. No one is good when they first begin and as little as 10 minutes per day can lead to big changes in the long term)
• Belly breathing – this is where you expand your diaphragm and breathe into your belly, rather than your chest. This engages the parasympathetic nervous system to help the body relax
• Journaling – if you’re a stress-head, write it all down. Dump it. 
• Caffeine management – relying on caffeine actually increases stress within the nervous system as it is a stimulant. Having coffee first thing in the morning tells your body it is actually midday, so prepare for the crash later on as your body is confused. 
• Whole food diet – the healthier the diet, the less impact on the gut and nervous system 
• Alcohol management – this is a depressant. It can calm you down in the moment, but it tends to disrupt sleep and it can poke holes in your gut lining. 

So that’s stress! Something you want to look into if you’re struggling with your health and body goals.

Jen X