Everyone Needs A Happy Place

Living from the inside out is much more than just caring for your diet and exercise. It also includes taking care of your mind and spirit.

I have had an exceptionally stressful few weeks and in reflecting on what had got me to that point I realized that I had made adjustments in my schedule to accommodate the extra work by removing things that brought me joy and that energized me. By removing those things, I had no happy place which meant I had an even harder time managing all that I needed to. Ever since this light bulb moment, I’ve worked hard at focusing 15 min a day on me and my mental health. There’s nothing like finding a place or an experience that relaxes every part of your body. The more I can experience the place – smelling of the dirt and grasses, hearing the birds and crickets and seeing the beauty of the earth – the more I’m able to connect to me!

We live in a very stressful time. We are surrounded by stress all day long and that stress has a big impact on our mental and physical state. The main area in our body that helps us cope with stress and survive are our adrenal glands. They are known as “the glands of stress.” It is their job to enable your body (with the secretion of hormones) to deal with stress from every possible source. Your resiliency, energy, endurance and your very life all depend on their proper functioning.

Adrenal Fatigue

Your adrenals respond to every kind of stress the same, whatever the source. Life’s stresses at their worst come in the form of such cataclysmic events as the death of a loved one, an automobile accident or a serious illness. But stress can also take its toll in less obvious ways, like an abscessed tooth, a bout of the flu, intense physical exertion, a severe quarrel with a loved one, pressure at the workplace, an unhappy relationship, environmental toxins, poor diet, etc. If these smaller stresses occur simultaneously, accumulate or become chronic, and the adrenals have no opportunity to fully recover, adrenal fatigue is usually the result.

With each increment of reduction in adrenal function, every organ and system in your body is more profoundly affected. Changes occur in your carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism, fluid and electrolyte balance, heart and cardiovascular system, and even sex drive. Many other alterations take place at the biochemical and cellular levels. Interestingly, even your body shape can transform when your adrenals are fatigued. Your body does its best to compensate for under-functioning adrenal glands, but it does so at a price.

Other Impacts

People who suffer from adrenal fatigue frequently have erratic or abnormal blood sugar levels in the form of hypoglycemia. The adrenals also have an effect on mental  states. As a result, people with adrenal fatigue show a tendency toward increased fears, anxiety and depression, have intervals of confusion, increased difficulties in concentrating and less acute memory recall. When the adrenals are not secreting the proper amount of hormones, insomnia is also one of the likely outcomes.

As the condition worsens, it lays the foundation for other seemingly unrelated conditions such as frequent respiratory infections, allergies, rhinitis, asthma, frequent colds, and a number of other health problems such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, hypoglycemia, adult onset diabetes, auto-immune disorders, and alcoholism. People in this state may appear to friends and family to be lazy and unmotivated, or to have lost their ambition, however the reality is they are forced to drive themselves much harder than people with healthy adrenal function merely to accomplish life’s everyday tasks.

Do I Have Your Attention?

Learning how to manage your stress is critical to your health!

Find a place to let go of that worry, that stress, that self-doubt and connect to who you are and who you want to be. Connect to your goals and your aspirations for the future.

Here are some other ideas:

• Use your mind as a powerful healing tool.
• Keep a journal – jot down your experiences each day.
• Eliminate the energy robbers (things in your life that drain your energy). If you can’t eliminate them write down a plan to deal with them.
• Notice and write down at least one small, everyday thing that you are grateful for each day.
• Get enough sleep.
• Eat an abundance of whole foods. Eat the rainbow.
• Laugh often.

The More You Know

 

If you want to read more about adrenal fatigue I suggest reading Adrenal Fatigue, The 21st Century Stress Syndrome. With clear, easy to understand directions, Dr. Wilson shows you not only how to find out if you are suffering from adrenal fatigue, but what to do to feel good again.

 

Here’s to finding our “Happy Place” and living from the inside out!

 

Source: Adrenal Fatigue, 21st Century Stress Syndrome