How to MAXIMIZE your Infrared Therapy Treatment benefits...

We added the Sunlighten Infrared Therapy Treatment sessions over six weeks ago and after working with various clients- including myself, I have a few tips how to maximize your treatment!

More is not better. If you feel that you are not sweating enough and you feel you need to room to be hotter… it may not be the temperature. It could be you are feeling anxious, stressed and having the “monkey mind” going over time! In order to release toxins via sweating, we need to be in a parasympathetic nervous system state. What does this mean? Stay tuned.
Take time to unplug and disconnect in order to connect to your inner core. The infrared wavelengths will heat you up from the inside out – as a false flu and help purge the toxins out of the fat cells. BUT if you are not relaxed, stuck in the sympathetic nervous system (sympathetic dominenance) then you need to push your own “RESET & REBOOT” system.
Before your session begins, try Vibrant Blue Oil- PARASYMPATHETIC® to stimulate the “rest and digest” state of the nervous system in which optimal digestion, absorption and assimilation can best occur as well rest, repair and detoxification process as when in an Infrared Therapy Treatment session.
Take at least five deep inhales and long slow exhales before you start your session to help activate the Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). We need to activate the PNS in order to let the body, at a cellular level, to allow the body to respond to the mixed infrared wavelengths.

The longer the wavelength, the deeper the penetration to deliver energy to the cells, stimulating healing and relieving pain. Various cell and tissue types each have their own unique light absorption methods at varying wavelengths. NASA research has found that the NIR electromagnetic frequency band of energy penetrates deeply into the body and can have a healing effect on our individual cells. For example, inside the mitochondria of every cell are receptors which respond to Near Infrared wavelengths. The light triggers an increase in cell metabolism, protein synthesis (including collagen), and anti-oxidant activity (meaning the cells detoxify). Additionally, it reduces inflammation and pain while simultaneously triggering growth and regeneration in the cells.

In short, light therapy affects mood, circadian rhythm and other body processes, while Near Infrared Therapy acts a pain reliever and cell rejuvenator – two VERY different forms of energy, but both beneficial.

5. Push PAUSE & RESET. As you may have read my personal story in my book “LIFE IS NOT A RACE: IT IS A JOURNEY”…we all seem to be “running from a lion” for some reason or another. We are consumed by social media, text messages, emails, games and more that we are never still, present and focused. STRESS is the root to all disease or at least one of the culprits as it turns off digestion, detoxification and our immune system…BECAUSE those are Parasympathetic nervous system processes. Most of us are stuck in the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) because of our constant busyness, chronic “do-ers” and monkey mind… leaving us in the “Fight or Flight” mode instead of being receptive to digesting our food, detoxification processes and fighting infections. IF STRESS is ON- DIGESTION is OFF… as with DETOXIFICATION and IMMUNE system. Push PAUSE, RESET and REBOOT upon entry of the Infrared Therapy Treatment room.

6. DISTRACTIONS are everywhere and we need to “disable” notifications on our phone and other electronic devices in order to be present and focused. You don’t need to have “alerts” and bells ringing on your phone, watches, tablets and computer devices every time your name is mentioned, a text arrives or an email hits your inbox. PUT YOUR PHONE IN AIRPLANE MODE AND TURN OFF CELLULAR DATE upon entering the Infrared Therapy Treatment room.

7. DETOX your life from the inside and outside! Spending the day with toxic people, breathing in toxins, applying toxins to your skin or eating toxic food will obviously leave you TOXIC! Try my 5-day Detox Jumpstart Challenge (first week of each month) or go deep with my 30-day Total Transformation program to learn more about toxins and detoxification. The first step you can take to DETOX from you day before using the Infrared Therapy Treatment room is to apply the essential oils we have for sale in the studio or try our sample in the treatment room. We have oils from Vibrant Blue Oils to apply for the adrenals, liver, gallbladder, hypothalamus and parasympathetic (vagal nerve). Contact Debbie for more information on our “The WHOLESTIC Method” challenges and coaching programs.

8. The Vibrant Blue essential oils for stress are uniquely suited to re-wire your brain to reduce your stress. Applying the oils before your Infrared Therapy Treatment may help you shift into the parasympathetic nervous system (along with following the above guidelines) and improve your ability to detoxify, relax and repair.

More specifically, stress triggers the following responses in the brain:

1. “Fight or Flight” Response

The Autonomic Nervous System has two branches – the Sympathetic “Fight or Flight” branch and the Parasympathetic “Rest and Digest” State. Stress activates Sympathetic survival response, which effectively turns off everything not relevant to immediate survival, including digestion, detoxification and immune function. In the sympathetic state, blood flow is routed away from the organs of digestion toward muscles in the arms and legs in preparation for flight. The sympathetic state also increases heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate. The vagal nerve serves as the on/off switch between the sympathetic and parasympathetic states.

To rewire your brain to reduce stress, you can apply Parasympathetic™ oil to the vagus nerve to stimulate the Parasympathetic™ nervous system.

2. HPA Axis Stress Response

Stress triggers hypothalamus in the brain to initiate the hormonal stress response in the endocrine system. This response involves a three-part Chain of Command, known as the HPA Axis.

HPA stands for:

H = Hypothalamus, a pearl size region of the brain that serves as control center for neural and hormonal messages received from/sent to body. Upon receiving a stress message, the hypothalamus signals the pituitary gland.

P = Pituitary is the Hormone Middle Man.It receives hormonal messages from the hypothalamus, and translates these messages into hormones distributed to the thyroid, adrenals, and sex organs. When triggered by the hypothalamus, the pituitary sends a message to the adrenals to produce cortisol.

A = Adrenal glands produce and release the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol’s main job is to provide energy to fuel our body through the stressful situation. Chronic cortisol release keeps the body’s repair and healing processes shut down.

Our Hypothalamus™ and Adrenal™ blends can help calm the stress response and keep cortisol levels in balance.

3. Limbic System Response

The stress state can be driven not only by physical stressors, but by emotional and thought driven stress. The limbic system, a complex system of nerves and networks in the brain, analyzes and filters incoming stimuli to determine if it is a threat to our survival. You might think of the limbic system as a really highly sensitized security system. It categorizes all sensory input as either a threat or a non- threat based on past experience.

When the limbic system is damaged, this filtering process can become impaired and alter the way that the brain and body interpret, encode and react to sensory or emotional stimuli that it would usually disregard as not representing a danger to the body.

When not functioning properly, a hypersensitive limbic system categorizes non- threatening stimuli as threatening, triggering involuntary trauma patterns and contributing to distorted unconscious reactions, sensory perceptions and protective responses. In other words, Limbic System Impairment can sensitize the brain to a negative stress response and keep us stuck in a Sympathetic Dominant viscous cycle. Read more about Limbic System Impairment HERE.

Essential oils can be used to re-wire your brain to reduce stress by interrupting brain patterns, like thought patterns and emotions that trigger a stress response.   Since the sense of smell links directly to the amygdala in the Limbic Lobe of the brain, essential oils can be used to reset the volume on threat perception, and help calm the over-firing of protective mechanism that either fire too rapidly or too often. When we rewire neural circuits in the limbic system, it can impact our stress response, emotion, pain, memory and physiology.

Essential Oils for Stress

Essential Oils are uniquely suited to access and heal the brain (read more here) and support stress (read more here), making them ideal tools to help the brain build resilience to stress.

Parasympathetic™:  The Parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system is aptly called the “rest and digest” state. When the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in, your mind and body relax. This, in turn, reduces the production of stress hormones and allows for happy and healing hormones to be produced. It also turns on your immune system. This is one key reason why the parasympathetic state is so conducive to healing. To trigger the parasympathetic state, simply apply a drop of the Parasympathetic™ blend to the vagus nerve (behind the earlobe on the mastoid bone) before meals to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system “rest-and-digest” state.

Hypothalamus™: Often referred to as the “master gland”, the hypothalamus acts as the hormonal control center for neural and hormonal messages received from/sent to body and plays a key role in the body’s stress response. The production of growth hormones, sex hormones, thyroid hormones, and neurotransmitters such as serotonin, are all governed by the hypothalamus.   It is constantly reading blood the levels of hormones, and adjusting resulting signals sent to the body to maintain internal balance (homeostasis). Chronic and prolonged stress can damage the hypothalamus’s ability to receive clear messages from the body which then impacts all outgoing endocrine and neural signals. Applying Vibrant Blue Oils Hypothalamus™ blend over the third eye may help reset the natural ability of the hypothalamus to send and receive clear messages to and from the body.

Adrenal™: Our adrenal glands help determine and regulate the body’s stress response by secreting key hormones that regulate energy production and storage. Prolonged periods of stress can deplete our reserves of these hormones. Much like adaptogenic herbs, Vibrant Blue Oils Adrenal™ blend helps increase the body’s ability to adapt to stress

and maintain healthy adrenal function. Apply Adrenal™ over the adrenal glands on the lower back (back of the body, one fist up from the 12^th rib).

Emotion Balance™ Blends: Your thoughts and stress levels impact the limbic system which in turn throw off your immune system and hormones. It has been well researched that happy people have fewer stress hormones and a stronger immune systems. Emotion Support oils help you release negative thought patterns and emotions and affirm positive beliefs to buffers and protect you against the stress response that can weaken your immune system. My favorite emotion support blends are Liver Support™ to release anger, Small Intestine Support™ to support healthy boundaries, Spleen Support™ to release worries and bolster the immune system and Uplift™ for general joy and happiness.