Stress management | #1
Hello Friends,
Welcome back! With a fresh name but the same mission, I'll continue sharing monthly health themes, detailed insights, and resources for deeper learning. You'll still find my favorite discoveries in the "Additional Finds" section. Excited to reconnect!
November Theme
Stress Management: Physiology, Protocols, Supplements & More
As November brings shorter days and less sunlight in the Northwest, many face challenges with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and holiday stress. Come along as we embark on a four-week series on comprehensive stress management:
Week 1: The Science of Stress
Week 2: Physical and Nutritional Stress Management
Week 3: Mental & Cognitive Strategies
Week 5: Holiday Season Survival Guide
The Science of Stress
To manage our stress effectively, we must first understand how it works. When our brain perceives a threat, it disrupts our body's natural balance (homeostasis) by triggering the fight-or-flight response. While this response is vital for survival in short bursts, chronic activation can harm our health.
The “sprint response” acts within seconds
Releases Adrenalin and Noradrenalin in the blood stream
Increases heart rate, and breathing rate to deliver oxygen to the bodies muscles quicker.
Can quickly subside once the threat is gone.
The “marathon response” acts within minutes
Releases cortisol into the blood stream
Maintains high alert state
Takes longer to reset
Chronic Stress:
A continuous cortisol secretion from an overactive HPA axis, can devastate your health. It weakens your immune system, disrupts digestion, increases heart disease risk, and affects mental health through anxiety and depression. Hormonal imbalances can also emerge, impacting everything from metabolism to fertility. However, this month we will be exploring ways on how to activate your parasympathetic nervous system so you can counter these effects and restore your body's natural balance. The key is recognizing that while short-term stress is normal and healthy, chronic activation of your stress response requires active management to protect your long-term health.
Resources:
Huberman Lab Podcast - Dr. Robert Sapolsky: Science of Stress, Testosterone & Free Will
Huberman Lab Podcast - Tools for Managing Stress & Anxiety
Additional Finds
App that I love for increasing productivity:
"Opal: Screen Time for Focus" is the first app that actually helped me get my social media use under control. Instead of feeling guilty about endlessly scrolling Instagram or having to completely delete my accounts, I can now set boundaries that actually stick (better than the app time limits you can set in Apple settings where I will instantly ignore my limit and go back to scrolling). This app lets me block specific apps during my morning and evening routines with an additional daily app limit, this has given me so much of my valuable time back to me.
Quote That Struck Me:
“Beware of looking for goals: look for a way of life. Decide how you want to live and then see what you can do to make a living within that way of life” - Hunter S. Thompson, journalist and author.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
