Are you living daily LIFE as a RACE?

Your built in Emergency Response System (EMS) is your stress response system which includes three main members…the HPA Axis = hypothalamus, pituitary gland and the adrenal gland. When we feel rushed, over-scheduled, anxious and constantly on over drive (and the list goes on!), we are accumulating unnecessary stress in our “stress beaker”. Our stress response system then constantly stimulated and activates the “fight of flight’ nervous system as well as releasing our main stress hormone cortisol.

Our constant feeling of stress and addiction to busyness as well as non-stop connection to social media, text and emails, shifts our body from being in the rest, digest, recover, detox and repair nervous system, the parasympathetic nervous system) and moves us into the opposing nervous system- the sympathetic nervous system. The constant activation of our stress response system or “EMS” can lead us to becoming “sympathetic dominant” – almost becoming “stuck” in the sympathetic “FIGHT or FLIGHT” nervous system.

I only have mentioned external sources of stress but we also have many sources on internal stress as gut infections, congested liver, auto-immune disorders, leaky gut, parasite and fungal infections. We are on overdrive every day- living life as its own race instead of only racing on “race day” for our marathon or triathlon we have been training for months. Instead of participating in a one or two days a year, we are now participating in a “RACE” every day…the race of LIFE! But we have a CHOICE and we can adjust our behavior and habits by working on neuorplasticity – build new habits to create new roads in our brain.

The Stress Response System or our built in Emergency Response System (EMS) includes three major plays as i mentioned above…Dr. Wilson explains it well on his website www.adrenalfatigue.org as the source of stress activates a chain reaction:

hypothalamus: activated to prepare us to physically to respond to the stressor (internal or external)- EMS alert. A threat to our homeostasis triggers the chain of events to activate.
pituitary gland: signaled from the hypothalamus to activate the stress hormone production
adrenal gland: hormone is sent to the adrenals from the pituitary gland to release stress hormones as cortisol that will affect each and every cell in our body as well as body systems.

Once the stressor is completed or passed (the lion went away) or if the stress hormones gets too elevated, then the reverse happens- the HPA Axis is stimulated to decrease production of the adrenal hormones. The other body systems return to normal as well as metabolic functions. The HPA Axis works together as a team to help balance our response and reaction to sources of stress and to help us maintain well being during the stressful situation. BUT what if this source of stress doesn’t stop?

The stress response increases our heart rate, blood pressure and increases blood flow to our muscles to help us “flight from the lion”. Not only does our heart rate and blood pressure increase so we can run as fast as we can from the threat or emergency, but also our blood sugar and insulin levels are increased to produce the quick energy to respond immediately. While the body is prepared to react to the threat or emergency, all other body functions and processes are put on hold as digestive.

During the STRESS response system is activated…Dr. Wilson explains on www.adrenalfatigue.org about how the parasympathetic nervous system functions are slowed down or paused as:

digestion processes are slowed way down
decreased production of stomach acid that is needed to breakdown food properly
decreases digestive enzymes
decreases peristalsis
decreases nutrient breakdown and absorption
moves resources away from building tissues and repair
cuts back immune activity
lowers sex drive- libido

Do you have digestive issues? A congested liver? Low sex drive? Many unexplained symptoms can be related to living daily life as a race and over activating the HPA Axis system or your personal EMS response team. Overtime we have “Red Flags” that we ignore or are too busy to even notice they are happening to use… we are going so fast each day that we never slow down long enough to be aware of our many red flags.

Over time, we start to breakdown, feel fatigued and overwhelmed. I explained all of my personal “Red Flags” in my book LIFE IS NOT A RACE so I won’t go into them now but remember every STRESS response is going to lead to an increase in the hormone CORTISOL in our body and we feel that we are in “FIGHT OR FLIGHT” mode everyday and all day.

The stress hormone CORTISOL is related to: