How the Body Perceives Stress: An Insider’s Guide
Today I want to share my Insider's Guide to How the Body Perceives Stress to help you understand how your emotional response and stress response are connected through the body. Because chronic, toxic levels of stress can affect not only our mental and emotional health but our physical health as well.
Insider's Guide to How the Body Perceives Stress
Worry and Concern - Do you worry a little or a lot? Are there a million little things running around your brain that you have to keep track of? Do you always have to solve the problem? Not later…now?
Your body wants to help!
It’s going to raise your blood pressure and heart rate. It will lower your appetite because who has time to eat with everything you need to do. It’s going to increase cortisol production to help you stay alert to make brilliant decisions. And if you can’t get everything done today, it will keep you up all night until a solution is found!
Frustration and Irritation – Why can’t everyone just do their job? If everyone else put as much time and effort in as you do maybe you could relax a little. Maybe you wouldn’t be so grouchy if other people would step up. It’s not your fault, you just have higher standards. If you want something done right, you know you have to do it yourself.
Your body can help!
Now your heart rate goes up a little more along with your blood pressure. Not only do you have no appetite, but your body has oh so helpfully slowed down your digestion decreasing insulin activity. At the same time, it's increasing fuel availability so you can have more energy available to burn. You need this because all the cortisol and adrenaline are faithfully giving you insomnia.
Anxiety and Panic – Every time the phone rings your entire body tenses up. You cringe when you hear certain voices. You dread going to the office. And the thought of another contentious meeting or conference call makes your heart race. The text notifications make you want to curl up in the fetal position. Deadlines make you feel like you’re having a heart attack. You have started experiencing heart palpitations in the car on the way to and from work and your stomach hurts all the time. You can't tell if you're hungry or have an ulcer.
Don’t worry! Your body is going to help!
It knows you are fearful and it’s going to make sure you are always ready to run away!
Heart rate, blood pressure circulation elevated. Check!
Muscles tense and ready to go! Check!
Digestion, immune system and reproductive hormones all completely shut down. Check!
Good news, nothing’s going to get in the way of your survival!
Anger & Rage – You lose your temper over the slightest thing. Your family is walking on eggshells around you. You lash out at co-workers. People avoid you at work and that just makes you angrier. You fly into a rage in traffic and have a hard time letting things go.
Your body is there for you!
It’s going to keep your heart rate, blood pressure and circulation elevated just in case you need to beat someone up. Your gut has been shut down for so long that it isn’t making dopamine or serotonin (those feel good hormones) anymore, which doesn’t make you happy…literally, it keeps you from being happy. Your immune system is offline too because if you’re going to fight for your life you definitely don’t need to waste precious energy on fighting off germs.
Numbness & Dissociation - You're exhausted. You haven’t had a good night's sleep in days…weeks? You can’t remember how long it’s been. You get lost in memories of things that happened 5, 10, 20 years ago. You are missing time. You miss appointments and don’t really care anymore. You're hoping someone will fire you so you can go home to rest. You can't stand to be around other people. You self-medicate with alcohol and whatever else you can get your hands on. You can’t remember the last time you felt good (let alone great.)
Your body is going to save you from yourself!
You have overwhelmed your sympathetic nervous system and now it’s time to shut you down. No more Fight or Flight for you! If you won’t rest, your body will make you! It’s going to lower your heart rate and blood pressure and increase fuel storage because you need it to survive (translation: pack on the pounds). It floods the body with endorphins that numb everything and raise your pain threshold. The parts of the brain that control facial expressions, eye contact, social behavior have shrunk to point of being considered brain damage and prevent you from recognizing threatening situations. Your immune response remains low but that shouldn’t be a problem, since you won’t be leaving the house anymore. You can barely get out of bed. But at least you're alive.
Scary, huh? These are not necessarily a linear progression but spending too much time in any one of them can lead to some very serious health complications. The body stops recognizing that the threat is gone. 70% of all medical diagnoses are stress related. That means that we are making ourselves sick.
The good news is if that’s true, then we can also make ourselves well!
The stress response is rooted in the body, in the primitive, reptilian part of the brain. It’s physical, physiological and fast and far from rational. It can’t be reasoned with.
Even if we remove what we think is stressful to us, it might not be what the primitive brain and the body thinks is a threat.
The only way to come down off that ledge is by communicating with the body in a language it understands.
Movement, yes...
But not just any movement. Movement that works for YOU. Remember we are trying to reduce the threat, not create a new one. So, choose carefully. What works for your friend may not be right for you. If you choose a form of exercise that triggers any of the feelings we discussed above then it’s probably not the right one for you.
Look for ways to move that give you time to listen to your body and allow you to feel what’s going on without judgement. There are many modalities that offer ways to learn to lower the intensity, lower the impact and lower your stress response. Yoga for stress relief or trauma release exercise or better yet and integration of the two offer exponential relief for stress, tension & anxiety.
Experiment. Observe. In time you will start to notice subtle shifts in the body. When the body starts to let go so will you.
Nutrition, yes...
But not just any diet. Nutrition that supports YOU. Your gut health plays an integral part in your overall health but it’s critical to your overall sense of wellbeing. High fiber plant based eating patterns are loaded with prebiotics and probiotics. That means bring on the fruits and vegetables my friends! This kind of nutrition is less about counting calories and more about nutrient balance and density. The side effect is that when you feel better you tend to eat better, move better and sleep better.
Sleep, yes...
But not just any sleep. Deep, natural restorative sleep that comes from eating a balanced nutrient dense diet, moving with appropriate intensity and getting lots of fresh air and sunshine. All of those things help to down regulate the nervous system and allow us to find rest. We can’t change just one thing and expect it to “fix” everything but we can start the process. Everything is connected and everything counts. Everything we do when we’re awake let’s the body know whether or not it’ll be OK to rest at night.
Connection...
Not just making friends with others. Making friends with your body. Being able to stay present, feel whatever sensations you feel in your body without becoming overwhelmed by them. Trusting that any discomfort you feel is only temporary. This means becoming an objective observer and the expert witness in your own body. It takes practice, patience and sometimes a little guidance.
Trauma Release Exercise is a series of exercises that tap into your body’s natural tremor mechanism. They were designed by Dr. David Berceli and are easy to learn and practice for anyone anywhere. They offer a simple accessible way to shake off stress tension anxiety or trauma without having to retell your story. TRE empowers students to reconnect with the body, reset the nervous system and find safety in their own skin. That’s why they’re an integral part of Shifted, my signature course.
In six weeks you’ll find transformation that goes far beyond what the eyes can see…
Recognize your own stress response and how it affects your body.
Shake off deep tension, stress & anxiety using the body’s natural tremor.
Establish a personal stress release practice that you can count on.
Quiet racing thoughts and find ease in your mind & body.
Reclaim your strength, balance and flexibility without pain or strain on the joints.
Movement and breathing techniques to guide the body out of its stress response.
Find your own healthy balanced eating pattern without deprivation.
Build simple habits to allow you to get deep restorative sleep.
Reset your immune system, metabolism and hormone balance to fight for you.
What’s included in this 6 week course?
Weekly live group Trauma Release Exercise classes.
Weekly office hours for ACCESS to yours truly, Certified TRE® Provider, Health Coach, 200RYT and Nutrition Specialist with over 20 years’ experience fitness & wellness
Curated wellness & stress management topics in a self paced snack sized format that includes 5 Minute Stress Busters and breathing techniques that you can use throughout your day.
Weekly Live Trauma Release Integrated Yoga classes. Yoga + TRE + guided meditation with yours truly.
FxFit High intensity, low (zero) impact video workouts designed to build functional strength and core stability that you can do anywhere in 20 minutes with added BONUS stretch segments.
Yoga Snacks that teach you the building blocks for your own personal practice.
ACCESS to all live events even if you can’t be there live!
AND don't forget the BONUSES!’
E book The Elements of Stress explaining how the body’s natural stress response can affect our health and how we can use the language of movement to help calm the nervous system and allow it to heal and build resilience.
Audio TRE practice guide
PLUS
Private Trauma Release Session with Certified TRE® Provider & Health Coach Ericka Thomas
Enrollment is opening soon to join me and an exclusive group of Beta testers! The cost for this 6 week beta course is only $397 for a limited time with coupon. Click below and fill out the contact form. I’ll add you to my list for an invitation to join.
Space is limited because this is a high touch course that includes one on one access. It’s for people who’ve tried everything else and are ready to take back control.
Hi There!
My name is Ericka Thomas and I’m a Certified TRE® Provider, Trauma informed Yoga instructor and Health Coach. I believe in the human capacity for connection and transformation that goes beyond what the eyes can see.
I help people just like you shake off stress, anxiety & tension to find balance between real health and real life and I’d love to work with you!
I offer customized corporate packages, individual programs and private sessions.
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