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March 17, 2018

SIMPLE LIFE HABITS Part 1: Stress Management

Life Habits Part 1: Stress management. To help you manage hormones, cravings, and inflammation

 

Life what?

I consider these as practices other than diet that can help us keep inflammation in check, regulate immune function, balance hormones, optimize digestive function, and a whole lot more. Sounds like a lot! It sure is, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. In this series, I discuss a few of my favourite life habits.

 

Stress management:

Managing stress and our reactions to stress are very important for the optimal function of all systems in our bodies. A certain amount of “eustress” can be beneficial to motivate us and challenge us, however, if the level of stress or how we react to it becomes too much, it becomes “distress”, which can be damaging to both our body and mind, and can lead to negative long-term consequences.

Because we can’t live in a bubble, we will always have a certain amount of stress around us. The key is working on improving our ability to manage it, and how we react to it. There are many different ways we can train ourselves to better manage stress levels. The key is finding something that works best for you.

Some of my favourite approaches to improve stress management skills include:

  • deep breathing, spending time in nature (even just 10 minutes!)
  • mindfulness practices
  • meditation
  • connecting with others
  • taking regular breaks
  • having a relaxing cup of tea
  • participating in hobbies or sports
  • and most importantly, taking time for you! When the airplane is going down, it is so important to put your own oxygen mask on before helping everyone else with theirs. Same goes for life. More on this in another post.

I often suggest deep breathing as a first and very effective step to train the nervous system to calm down. Often when we feel stressed, we tend to breathe quickly and shallowly. However becoming aware of this tendency, and breaking it with some slow, deep breaths can stimulate your nervous system to relax.

Your diaphragm, a muscle between your lungs and your stomach, is innervated by a nerve called the vagus nerve. When activated, it can communicate with your nervous system and tell it to switch into relax mode.

[ctt template="7" link="3aJdI" via="yes" ]A certain amount of “eustress” can be beneficial to motivate us and challenge us, however, if the level of stress or how we react to it becomes too much, it becomes “distress”, which can lead to negative long-term consequences.[/ctt]

 

The Nervous System

We have two modes of our nervous system, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), otherwise known as “fight or flight”. This is the nervous system that is activated during stressful times. For short periods of time during an emergency, this nervous system can help you perform better, run faster, more effectively recall the events of the situation, and protect yourself. These are all great things when you are being chased by a bear, or whatever short-duration immediate stress presents in front of you.

However, when this fight or flight response is activated continuously, repeatedly, or for long periods of time (like in today’s hustle-bustle society?), all sorts of imbalances can happen. The body isn’t supposed to be in stress mode all the time. Think about animals: when the stress of a chase is over, the animal discharges that energy and then goes and relaxes. We don’t tend to do that.

Chronic production of stress hormones like cortisol over long periods of time can affect all sorts of systems, including the brain, the immune system, the digestive and reproductive systems, and can lead to the development of inflammation. Lots of things can go wrong with too much stress!

On the other hand, the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is called the “rest and digest” response. When this system is activated, we feel relaxed, and blood flow and nerve conduction to the digestive tract and reproductive organs are optimal. We don’t need to digest or reproduce when we are fighting for our lives so these two systems don’t get much attention in SNS mode.

Deep breating is an easy and effective way to relax your nervous system

So back to breathing. When we take a slow, deep breath, stretch receptors in the diaphragm activate the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve communicates with the nervous system and activates the PNS. The vagus nerve also innervates many digestive system organs.

It seems like such a simple exercise, but deep breathing can provide so many benefits. It can be helpful to practice on a regular basis. I find my nervous system tends to switch to PNS much more easily the more and more I practice deep breathing. It can be a great exercise to try during stressful moments, and before meals to optimize nerve conduction to digestive organs.

A great simple starter breathing exercise is 4-7-8 breathing. Taking slow, deep breaths, breathe in through your nostrils for a count of 4, hold it for 7, then breathe out slowly from your mouth for a count of 8. Try this 4-10 times, and see how you feel afterward. Often people remark feeling much more relaxed. How about you?


A great simple starter breathing exercise is 4-7-8 breathing. Taking slow, deep breaths, breathe in through your nostrils for a count of 4, hold it for 7, then breathe out slowly from your mouth for a count of 8. Try this 4-10 times, and see how you feel afterward. Often people remark feeling much more relaxed. How about you?

 

Come back next week and I will talk about another simple life habit that can help control hormones, inflammation, and cravings.

Filed Under: Information, Life Habits, Stress Management

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  1. SIMPLE LIFE HABITS PART 3: Mindful Eating - WellBalance says:
    April 28, 2018 at 11:45 AM
    […] Part 1: SIMPLE LIFE HABITS Part 1: Stress Management […]
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It’s a vicious cycle. But you can get out of it. It’s a vicious cycle. But you can get out of it. And it makes a huge difference for all of your symptoms.

This is especially important for those of us with autoimmune and endometriosis symptoms.

If you want an effective plan & toolkit to get control of stress & physical symptoms like pain, fatigue, and digestive troubles, I’ll be teaching exactly what to do tomorrow in the workshop: Relaxing You.

Registration closes TONIGHT

Even if You can’t make it live, the recording & all the extra continuing education courses I’ll be gifting you after the workshop is worth it so you can finally get better control over stress & your symptoms.

Send me a DM to @wellbalancend and I’ll send you all the details, and answer questions you may have about it 💛
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The nervous system is a very important piece of th The nervous system is a very important piece of the puzzle for overall health, especially for us with chronic illnesses like autoimmune or endometriosis.

Just like it’s important for our muscles to be toned & flexible, the same is important for the nervous system. It’s what keeps us well in many ways.

If the autonomic nervous system is NOT flexible, meaning you experience poor vagal tone, poor heart rate variability, or you’re stuck in sympathetic fight or flight or dorsal vagal freeze modes, studies show it has all sorts of negative effects on your physical body, including what’s listed on slide 1.

When you start teaching the nervous system to become more flexible, all sorts of benefits come from it, including better control over inflammation, pain, anxiety and depression, autoimmune conditions and endometriosis.

This is such an important & necessary step that it’s the very first thing I teach my own clients. It creates the foundation so everything else we do works better. It’s the first step to getting better control over fatigue, pain, digestive troubles, mood, and more.

If you want to learn exactly what I teach my own clients in their first 2 sessions with me to develop better nervous system flexibility, then register for the upcoming workshop: Relaxing You.

Registration closes Friday night, so time is of the essence.

Even if you can’t make the live workshop on Saturday, I encourage you to register so you’ll receive the recording. I’m offering email Q&A support for replay watchers.

It’s going to be an informative day, with lots of value, and I’ll be gifting tons of extras to help you continue your learning journey afterwards.

Send me a DM ✉️ to @wellbalanceND and I’ll give you all the information you need about the workshop, and I’m happy to answer any questions you have about it.

I’d love to see you there 💛
When your nervous system isn’t regulated, neithe When your nervous system isn’t regulated, neither is your health.

It’s important! Do you consider this?

When the nervous system is dysregulated, it can impact all the processes listed in the slide & so much more. This is especially important news for any of us with chronic illnesses like autoimmune or endometriosis.

When the nervous system is triggered, so is everything else.

The first step? Start creating nervous system flexibility - it takes the pressure off all the other systems & processes in your body.

It will also help you see, perceive, and manage stress much more easily, which, in turn, helps you keep your nervous system better regulated. It creates a positive cycle.

This is so important, it’s the first step I take my own clients through - it makes everything else work better.

Within the first month, they start seeing improvements in mood, energy, sleep, and digestion - because of this nervous system regulation work.

I’ll be teaching exactly what I guide my clients through in their first 2 sessions with me this coming Saturday. It’s a virtual workshop that’s jam packed with tools & techniques, along with explanations as to why - because when you understand, you’ll be more apt to try them.

All participants will be gifted with extra learning material after the workshop so they can continue their learning journey. It’s truly a value-packed experience that will get you on the road to getting much better control over symptoms.

If you’ve been trying all the diets, even Carnivore, and you’re still struggling with fatigue, pain, bloating, digestive troubles, and you want to learn exactly how to better regulate your nervous system so you can finally get some results, I suggest you join me in this workshop.

There will be a recording if you can’t make it live, but registration closes this Friday night - for both the workshop & the recording.

Want in? Send me a DM to @wellbalanceND, I’ll give you all the information & answer any questions you may have 😊
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Who’s that girl talking about the nervous system Who’s that girl talking about the nervous system, autoimmune, endometriosis, Carnivore, and all that other stuff?

My name is Michelle Dowker, Naturopathic Doctor turned Empowerment Coach.

What does that even mean??

I learned my calling & magic involve helping women, who’ve struggled like I have with autoimmune conditions & endometriosis, empower themselves to find better health by healing the emotional roots of their physical symptoms.

The women I best help have tried all the diets, often all the way to Carnivore, just like I did.

But they know there’s something missing. They know that stress, unresolved emotions, and past trauma are affecting their physical symptoms, preventing them from experiencing all the results they would have expected from the degree of commitment they’ve put into such major changes to diet & lifestyle.

For me, Carnivore helped me get back on my feet after a major flare, like a miracle. But reintroduction was impossible. And I was becoming more & more intolerant, even to some meat.

Once I dug deep & did some personal healing work myself, things got better. My tolerance to food improved. My life transformed, and continues to.

This is what I help my clients with now.

While I have clinical experience as an ND from my past career life, my role now is a guide & coach, to assist women to connect to their own self-knowing, get out of survival mode & blossom into the full potential of their health & lives they truly deserve.

Sound interesting? Make sure to follow me & turn on post notifications to learn more. Or send me a DM to @wellbalanceND, I’m happy to hear from you 💛
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Metabolic flexibility = ability to respond or adap Metabolic flexibility = ability to respond or adapt to changes in metabolic demand.

Those with type 2 diabetes, for example, often have poor metabolic flexibility. It creates a cycle of decline difficult to get out of, unless metabolic flexibility is addressed.

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) flexibility is equally important = Ability of ANS to adapt to changes in environment by modifying body functions, attention & perception.

When ANS is flexible, it can easily move back & forth between its different states. This helps us deal with challenges then quickly move back to a relaxed state.

The problem is when we don’t have flexibility - - we lack vagal tone, have poor heart rate variability, exhibit incoherence, in sympathetic dominance or dorsal vagal dominance. If we remain stuck here, allostatic load & overload result in serious physical changes.

This affects health in many ways: inflammation, anxiety, symptom triggering of autoimmune, endometriosis, fibromyalgia & chronic fatigue, heart disease, even cancer.

Developing nervous system flexibility is vital for everyone - especially for those of us with chronic illness.

If we don’t, no matter what diet, treatment, or therapy we try, we may not see all the results we want, or any at all.

This is the 1st step of many I guide my own clients through.

I work with women who’ve tried all the diets to try to improve things like fatigue, pain & bloating.

They’ve come to realize stress & emotions are really at the root of why they haven’t seen all the results they desire.

When we work to heal the emotional roots of their physical symptoms, everything transforms in beautiful ways.

The first step is ALWAYS to create nervous system flexibility. The rest of what we do won’t work as well without this.

That’s why I’ve created a workshop to teach you exactly what I guide my clients through in their first 2 sessions with me, so you, too, can create better nervous system flexibility. It makes a difference for symptoms, mood, energy & more.

Want in? Send me a DM to @wellbalanceND or check out my bio link for information. Registration closes Friday. I’d love to see you there 💛
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This one very important nerve can do a lot to infl This one very important nerve can do a lot to influence health & symptoms in all sorts of ways.

This is especially important for any of us with chronic illness like autoimmune & endometriosis. Studies show the state of your vagus nerve makes a difference.

The aim is to have good vagal tone, which supports good nervous system flexibility. When these are strong, heart rate variability is also strong.

All of the above positively influence how the body & brain function in many different ways. Swipe to view some examples on the slides.

Without these things, we can get stuck in states of sympathetic fight or flight, or dorsal vagal freeze modes - because the nervous system isn’t flexible enough to bring you back to a relaxed state.

Without these things, we can end up with allostatic load & overload, which can have serious physiological consequences to the body - from inflammation, autoimmune development, heart disease, all the way to cancer.

When I work with my clients, teaching the nervous system to become more flexible & improving vagal tone are the very first things we do. Without this step, the rest of the work we do won’t be as effective.

It’s a mandatory foundation that makes a huge difference.

I’ll be teaching this foundation step in my upcoming workshop called Relaxing You.

The goal is to learn how to relax the nervous system & gain improved flexibility & vagal tone, to gain better control over symptoms like fatigue, pain, digestive troubles, and other symptoms of autoimmune & endometriosis.

Registration is open until Feb 26. To register, go to my bio link or DM me & I’ll send you details. You can do that at @wellbalancend 

Or you can go to

https://wellbalance.ca/relaxing-you

Improving the state of the nervous system can do a lot, not just for the mind, but the whole body.

I’d love to know: do you believe this to be true?
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