Enter Relax Mode

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The parasympathetic nervous system

“Feed and breed”, “rest and digest”, call it what you want but this nervous system is responsible for most of the good things in life!

Under the influence of the parasympathetic nervous system our heart rates are slow and our digestive juices are flowing.

This is our default mode, or at least it should be.

Contrast this to the symptoms of the sympathetic nervous system responsible for our fight or flight response (previous post).

Without the parasympathetic nervous system we are unable to relax, properly digest food or successfully make babies.

So really, the survival of our species depends upon it!

Having read about the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and the symptoms they produce, can you see that you may be experiencing the fight or flight response more than you think?

Or perhaps you’re starting to wonder if you are literally stuck 24/7 in survival mode?

Switching ourselves back to relax mode

First we need to recognise the correct definition of stress as “a force that produces strain, increased pressure, an overload, a tax on the system.”

What this means is that stress is not just that feeling of having too much to do, it is anything that over-taxes and tires out our systems.

For example, too much pressure on the bones of the feet may cause a stress fracture.

Eating a poor diet is also stress because it places too much pressure on the digestive and metabolic systems.

Once we have updated our perception of stress we can then go about recognising the sources of stress in our own lives and begin to manage them.

Where to begin

Now there may be one significant cause of stress in your life that when eliminated has a drastic effect on your overall health.

Often though there’s a bit more work to do than that, and to achieve optimal health, we need to find balance across the board.

Below is a list of things that cause stress and what you can do to start reducing your stress load.

Stressors and solutions

Take home message

Stress is not just what we have been led to believe. We don’t need to be experiencing a major life crisis to be under high levels of stress and experiencing real physical effects on our health.

To truly improve our health in this day and age we must be proactive in managing and reducing stress.

Professional Women & Working Mums: Grab my FREE Burnout Recovery Guide.

Kelly Moriarty is an online health & nutrition coach and founder of The Green Body Plan.

After 5 years as a veterinarian Kelly was unhealthy, stressed out and generally dissatisfied.

She now helps professional women make the same changes she did to beat burn out, lose weight, recover their energy and take back control of their health naturally.