April 17, 2024 • 55 mins
In this podcast episode, we delve into the topic of chronic stress and its impacts on your health, with a particular focus on cortisol and adrenal function. We explore how stress affects your digestion, immune health, and mental well-being, underlining the significance of your individual responses to stress. Our discussion encompasses your body's physiological stress response, the interplay between your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, and the consequences of chronic stress on your overall health.
Throughout the episode, we discover various strategies for managing stress, including the importance of sleep, exercise, genetics, nutrition, and meal planning. We also discuss the role of supplements, lifestyle modifications, and the necessity for professional guidance in tailoring stress management strategies to fit your needs. The episode concludes with practical advice on implementing dietary changes, incorporating adaptogenic herbs, and embracing self-care and gratitude as integral components of your stress coping mechanisms. Tune in as we unpack the complexities of chronic stress and equip you with actionable tools to foster your well-being.
DISCLAIMER:
This is not medical advice – we do not diagnose or prescribe. This conversation is for educational purposes only. Please seek advice from your health practitioner.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the K6 Wellness Revolution podcast.
My name is Sharon and I'm theowner of K6 Wellness Center here
in Dallas, texas.
I'm going to be your hosttonight and we are going to
discuss all things health andwellness Today.
Specifically, elena and I willbe talking about stress and your
adrenals and how this allaffects your health.
(00:21):
Here at K6 Wellness, we doacknowledge the importance of
not just looking at the physicalbody for your health, but
looking at every aspect of yourlife, and that includes the food
you eat, your environment, yourpersonal care products and, yes
, the amount of stress that yourbody encounters every single
day.
So when we're looking at themind, body and spirit, you'd be
(00:45):
surprised to know how muchstress has an impact on your
overall health, and that's whywe're going to take a deep dive
today on how our bodies react tostress.
So let's dive right in.
Hey, hey, elena, hello.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
How are you?
I'm stressed, just thinkingabout stress.
Let's jump in.
It's stressful thinking aboutall the information we need to
talk about, yes, and how muchstress people are carrying
around with them all the time.
I get stressed for my clientssitting across from me every day
.
It's like there's things we cando, there's, there's practices
you can implement.
(01:19):
Doesn't have to be so stressful, because life will always be
stressful.
I actually saw a funny quotethat said you know, when people
say life is stressful, then thisperson said hey, I want to ask
compared to what, compared towhat I don't know, I feel like
death is probably less stressful.
I mean probably, but you know,it's life or death.
(01:39):
What's the alternative?
So let's learn, become friendswith the stress in our lives,
right, or yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
manage it better?
Yeah, for sure, but okay, andthat's I think this is.
It's funny and we make light ofit.
But stress means a lot ofdifferent things to different
people, right?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yeah Well, I think just to begin with we should
break down what is stress,because we all think we know
what it is.
But we think of it as aphysical thing, but it is also
an emotional response and it'swhat our body does in a
stressful situation to cope withit.
So we don't just crumple up anddie.
(02:25):
Give our bodies the stamina tosurvive stressful situations and
release that cortisol untilit's safe to rest.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, that's true.
I mean, I start every day witha healthy dose of stress, power
lifting, and I love it, but thatis stress and I think, just
like you know, school isstressful.
I think relationships, right,can be can be stressful, and and
(02:56):
I think that we can probablyeven classify stress into hey,
there's positive stress, likeexercise, building muscle right,
we're having to stress ourfibers and stress our bones and
then there's negative stress,right, which could be toxic
relationships or just hardrelationships, or things that
(03:17):
make us tired, even if they'regood things.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
How about traffic, oh ?
Speaker 1 (03:21):
yeah, I don't feel like we live in a triplex yeah,
and I'm not sure that traffic isever a positive.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
No, it's not a positive, but it's a stressor.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
It is.
Yeah, I think that's a goodpoint.
But how we deal with stress isreally based on our perception.
Just like you and I havedifferent ideas of what good
exercise is, because our bodiesneed different things, and we've
worked out together before andI was like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
I just want to die, Because then I hear of your
workouts.
I'm like that would kill me.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
So it's finding what each of us can handle, be it our
exercise or our environmentwhat each of us can handle, be
it our exercise or ourenvironment, yeah, and even
personalities and people, orwhatever.
Like graduate school ever goes.
Oh, I don't know how you'redoing it.
I'm like, well, I love it, Idon't hate it right now, I'm
just glad it's almost over.
But it's really, I think, moreabout a person's perception of
(04:25):
the stress.
Right, because it could besomething for my benefit, but if
I don't perceive it as leadingto a good end or having a good
outcome, it may as well be justa bad stress.
It's really your perception,just like I think we tell people
(04:45):
you need to walk every dayWalking.
When I hear that, I'm like, ohhow relaxing, because when I go
for a walk, I go for a stroll,right.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
But I go for a power walk.
That's, that's how I relax.
Is a power walk?
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
You don't know what a slow walk is.
You've been shopping with Elenaor walking around a mall in the
dark at 4.30 in the morning,you don't know what fast is.
Stressful Stress walk yeah, itcan be very relaxing to somebody
(05:20):
.
Again, it's just yourinterpretation of it.
But how you perceive it, howyour brain perceives it, really
gets the autonomic nervoussystem activated, right as far
as our stress response and justto review autonomic nervous
system, we've got sympathetic,parasympathetic.
We'll look as sympathetic asour gas pedal and our
(05:46):
parasympathetic is our brakes,so to speak.
If we were a car.
It's not that you need all ofone and none of the other, it's
using the right one at the righttime.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
And you can't do both at the same time.
I mean, think about drivingyour car.
You can't have the gas pedaland the brakes at the same time.
I know, when I was learning todrive I did that once and you
realize, don't ever do thatagain.
It kills the car.
So same thing would happen toour bodies.
We can't have both.
So our bodies will pick in asituation if we're going to
crash or if we're going to pedalto the metal and just keep
(06:22):
going until we eventually runinto something and crash.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yeah, and our sympathetic is known as our
fight or flight or fright.
Right, that's the bear chasingyou through the woods.
And then parasympathetic isoften referred to as rest and
digest, or feed and breed.
I call it vacation mode, andwe're supposed to spend 80% of
our lives in parasympathetic,with only 20% of the time being
(06:48):
totally stressed.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
And that's not the modern life.
That's not true.
I feel like everyone that Iwork with and even balancing it
in my own life.
There's no way there's an 80-20balance there.
There's no way.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
No, and really I think modern advancements in
technology have not set us up toadhere to that it takes.
I know, even just to go onvacation and unplug, it takes me
a whole week just to come downand then you have to go and then
I can settle into, yeah,pressing and relaxing, but but
we do need that mix and you wantto have enough resources
(07:27):
hormonally to be able to formthe proper response.
So, yeah, if you do get put ina situation where the bear is
chasing you through the woods,you want to know that you can
run, that your body is going tohelp you.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
So well, and and thinking about what's happening
to our body in a stressfulsituation, be it an acute trauma
or chronic stress, I think it'simportant to realize what kind
of health conditions areaffected or impacted by that.
I think everyone just thinks ofhearts and strokes, with stress
(08:05):
that is never checked orbrought down.
But you know, we see all kindsof stuff like digestive issues
and skin problems, weight issues, depression, anxiety, all these
things that tie into a chronicstressful environment, I feel
like.
And sleep I think sleep is oneof the biggest ones.
Well then, that's what'simpacted by stress so you're
(08:28):
stressed because you aren'tsleeping, and you aren't
sleeping because you're stressed, so somewhere you have to get
in there and interrupt thatvicious cycle.
Or that leads to even morethings, you know greater skin
issues, digestive issues, heartissues, and it's not just the
heart we have to worry about.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
No, it's whole body.
And I think if you look at ourstress hormone, cortisol, which
is produced by your adrenals, Imean cortisol does a lot of
different things and some ofit's good, but overall, when you
have too much cortisol over along period of time, but overall
, when you have too muchcortisol over a long period of
time, you're going to put onweight, and most Americans
(09:08):
aren't looking to put on weight.
So it is important to be ableto interrupt the system, like
you say, I think, especially asit relates to sleep, because
that's our body's rest andrepair time.
That's when all the magic hasto happen.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
And magic hours of the night, 10 to 2.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Yep, those are the hours we never want to cheat
ourselves out of the mostimportant hours of sleep.
But for our listeners out there, what time do you go to bed?
Because if you're not going tobed until midnight, we are
losing out on half of the mostimportant four hours of sleep
and I think that if we can justshift, it's hard to think about.
Hey, if you're going to cheatyourself, don't do it in that
window or get up early, go tobed early and get up early.
(09:58):
But nobody does that and Ithink it's because of light
electricity, yeah, but the sleepis so important.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
You can get away with a lot if you're sleeping.
I mean, looking at you and yourexperience through graduate
school, what do you always say?
Like you're a rock star atsleep and your sleep routine you
do not mess with my sleep Right.
I'm here to attest to that,because to see what you've been
able to work through and handleit's amazing.
It's impressive, but I knowyour sleep is never negotiated.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
It's not Much to my family's chagrin.
Yeah, I do tend to turn to apumpkin, but my eyes pop open at
anywhere from 4.30 to 5 in themorning, and that's when I feel
my best.
So that's when I get up and Iwork out and I'm ready to go.
So yeah, and for me works, butreally according to circadian
rhythm, right?
The way that our our adrenalpattern is is designed to
(10:54):
operate.
We're supposed to have thehighest level of cortisol about
two hours after we wake up everymorning, and then it steadily
decreases as we go through theday.
But I think when we've trainedour body to adapt to the
lifestyle we want, then we oftenfind ourselves getting that
second wind.
I think is what people call it.
(11:15):
You know where.
Maybe 8 pm they're like we'rein a go, let's go out.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
It could also be because so many people get that
crash in the afternoon.
Yeah, your cortisol shouldn'tbe crashing yet, it shouldn't be
tanking yet.
But what do people do?
They go reach for sweets andcaffeine to ride them through
the rest of the afternoon.
Then they get to the eveningand cortisol is thinking well,
okay, I guess we're going still.
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
So, with stress, we've talked about how it can be
, you know, a good force, badforce but I think it's important
to just acknowledge thatoccasional stress is normal and
it can be healthy.
Right, it's a way to grow, ithelps us survive, like if the
bear is chasing you through thewoods, just for that, yeah, yeah
(12:04):
, for sure.
And exercise, again, is a goodexample, whether you're doing
cardio or power lifting, highintensity workouts.
I think a lot of that, and whatwe've learned through genetics
especially, which has beendriven home recently, a lot of
what feeds you is is going to besomewhat dependent on your
genetic makeup.
(12:24):
Feeds you is is going to besomewhat dependent on your
genetic makeup.
And I'm I'm a high intensitypower person.
I will.
I've run a, I ran a halfmarathon once and I don't care
to do it again.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Well and that's an interesting point there though,
sharon like for for ourlisteners, it it can be really
really helpful to one know whatyour cortisol level is doing and
there's ways we can test thatbut also know what your genetic
predisposition is to yourfitness routine and your weight
routine, and then you cancombine those and we can test
for those too, and it can reallyhelp you feel less defeated
(12:58):
when you're in this, thispattern of maybe you're doing
what you think are all the rightthings, but it's not right for
you and it's actually creating alot more stress, and then you
feel like you're hitting yourhead against the wall and that's
, you know that's discouraging,yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Now, with with stress , with cortisol, like we get
stressed.
If you're going to take a test,we usually feel stressed, a
little anxious, right?
If somebody comes up to yourcar window and points a gun in
your face, you're going to feela little stressed.
If you have an evaluation atwork or school, that can induce
(13:36):
stress.
If you're facing a hardconversation with a loved one,
that could induce stress, Ithink facing any situation you
don't want to do can bring aboutstress.
But there are some positiveaspects to cortisol, our stress
hormone that gets released intimes of need.
(13:56):
Right, it will give you theenergy to fight.
You've heard about women likepicking up cars off their babies
or, you know, doing superhumanfeats.
That's cortisol, or adrenaline,if you will, but it helps to
increase your focus and it alsoincreases blood flow to your
(14:17):
muscles.
And think about it If you're ina physically demanding situation
that is not normal to yourdaily routine, that's going to
help you survive.
That's your survival instincts.
But outside of that, it's whathappens.
Well, in the long run well,even in the short run you're
going to have a decreased immuneresponse.
(14:38):
Why?
Because all of your resourcesare going to helping you survive
.
Right, your blood flow is goingto really be centered around,
like your, your vital organs.
It's.
It's going to be um, it's, andit's not going to be about
(14:58):
digesting lunch that gets put onthe back burner, so digestion
will suffer.
You're going to have usuallyincreased blood pressure and
you're going to have a decreasedsex hormone response.
But that makes sense if, inparasympathetic mode or you know
feed and breed, when we'rethinking about having sex and
procreating, when you're insympathetic state or fight or
(15:21):
flight or fright, procreation isnot at the forefront of your
mind.
So you got to think about thoseopposites.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
But I think also some people.
Well, we see a lot of peoplelow libido.
It's just a result of thestress we live in and people
think they just need morehormone support for that.
Now, sometimes hormone supportcan help with your stress
response, but that's not alwaysthe answer if we aren't helping
to resolve that constant stressresponse, chronic stress, while
(15:54):
it can have all these badeffects, right, because our body
is trying to keep us alive.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
We would link it to an old school idea of adrenal
fatigue.
But if you think of adrenalfatigue, it's well, your
adrenals are too tired to dotheir job and that's not
actually an accurate description, but it does make sense.
But really, what it's moreabout is an axis it's your
hypothalamus, which is yourregulation center of your brain,
(16:24):
your pituitary gland, which isthe stimulation center in your
brain, and your adrenals, andyour adrenals produce cortisol,
right.
So chronic stress can make youfeel tired, but it's not adrenal
fatigue, it could be justprolonged high cortisol response
(16:47):
and it keeps you in thatsympathetic state.
But you are going to startdepleting all of your reserves,
right?
You're going to run till youcan't run anymore and, like you
said earlier, you're going tohave the caffeine and the sugar.
And what do those things do?
Well, they alter yourmetabolism over time, and now
(17:10):
we're stressed and we have aweight problem.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Bonus yeah.
And then that creates morestress, because you don't like
where your weight is going, youdon't like where your energy is
going, you don't like where yourhealth is going yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah for sure.
And then, when you've got thisconstant dumping of cortisol
into your body, your immunesystem can take a hit.
And this is where you can.
I mean, everybody knowssomebody or maybe you're that
person that you go and go and goand go and then you get a
respiratory virus or bronchitisand it turns into pneumonia.
(17:47):
Or when you crash and get sick,or somebody else may have been
down two or three days, you'redown for two weeks and you're
non-functioning.
And there again, it's becauseof the constant stress, whether
it be mental, emotional,physical.
We've just depleted ourselves'ability to be resilient.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Well, let's talk about what happens to your gut,
to your digestive health.
Your gut is where your immunesystem is primarily at.
70% of our immune system is inour gut, and when you have a
constant dumping of highcortisol into your gut, it
increases your gut permeability,it increases our chances of
(18:33):
leaky gut and then it slows downmotility and so that can alter
your gut microbiome the goodbugs and the bad bugs, the
balance of them, and itultimately declines in your
immune system.
You're not digesting your food,you're not absorbing your
nutrients.
How's your immune system goingto get any building blocks for
it?
And it's busy fighting allthese foreign invaders in your
(18:55):
bloodstream now and that's howyou start absorbing more toxins.
So it's just this vicious cycleof stress creating the problem.
But once again, there's a lotyou can do to help that, because
if you're dealing withdigestive issues or your gut is
a problem and you're eating junkfood and fast food, you're
(19:17):
making that problem worse,versus having the knowledge and
the discipline to say you knowwhat I deserve better than this.
I'm going to do better formyself and I'm going to eat
nourishing foods that help mybody cope with stress.
We crave sugar and fat and justjunk food when we're in these
positions, because it is asurvival mode.
It wouldn't be such a survivalmode if we had once again more
(19:41):
nourishing foods in our body inthe first place.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Yeah.
And I think to the end of foods, if we look at putting
ourselves in a situation wherewe are chronically stressed,
meaning it's longer than acouple of days, right, it's
longer than a week, right, it'syour whole life.
What does that do to us mentally?
(20:05):
Well, mentally, we'reprioritizing the stress, so
we're not going to beprioritizing health, sleep,
healthy food.
And this is where you start tosee this snowball effect.
Oh, I have this deadline.
At work or school, I don't havetime to cook a meal, so I'm
going to drive through wherever.
(20:26):
Or I'm going to pick somethingup, and it's not going to be
something that would have beenas good for you, as nourishing
as what you would have eaten athome, or you just take a break.
You know, I'll just take abreak this week.
I'm going to let myself off thehook.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
We have a way.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Yeah, yeah, but what we're doing is really punishing
ourselves.
It's like, oh yeah, let me kickyou while you're down.
But I think, too, this is wherepeople start to say so what's
the best diet for stress?
And I think this is where weget into.
Well, it depends on who you are, because because, like Elena
(21:05):
and I, we've been throughsimilar situations we have
interpreted stress similarly.
If we ate the same way, um, shewould die on my diet, I would
die on her diet.
No, I wouldn't die.
But.
But this is where knowing needsMm-hmm, knowing your body type,
(21:26):
knowing what your I think itcomes back to definitely
ancestral diets and genetics andwhat your body's adapted to
really helps to play a role informing a healing diet.
Whether you're somebody whoneeds to be more plant-based or
more paleo or meat, I think thatthis is where having
(21:50):
professional help is superimportant.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Right, because a lot of the time well, I shouldn't
say a lot of the time, butthere's oftentimes, I see,
people who are skipping mealsbecause they're stressed, and
that, for them, is so much worse.
They lose their appetitebecause they're stressed and
they're the ones who need to eatthree meals a day.
Then other people eat becausethey're stressed, and that's
(22:14):
when we have the conversation ofhey, maybe a little
intermittent fasting would be agood idea, but planning your
meals so you have a plan to besuccessful, so you don't find
yourself in that that rut ofquick, convenient food.
Like you about just goingthrough the drive-thru.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yeah, yeah, just doing what's easy, or using food
as emotional comfort.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah.
And I think we all do that tosome extent, for sure, it's just
being aware of it.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Let's eat, I'm happy.
Let's eat.
Let's celebrate, I'm bored,let's eat.
Food can be a love language,for sure, and we're definitely
guilty of that.
And I mean, I will say I'm thefirst person to go, I'm just so
distracted or I'm so busy, Ijust can't eat.
But then, three hours later,I'm like ready to gnaw my arm
(23:08):
off and then I'm walking aroundthe office going who has food?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
It's not ideal, you know, and food is just one
aspect of what we use to copewith stress, and it can be good
and bad.
There's good things we canchoose for food, kind of like we
talked about it.
You know, for some people it'seating the right foods, but
there's certain nutrients andherbs that can help, you know,
(23:36):
can help balance that cortisol,whether it's balancing it in the
morning or the evening,bringing it up, bringing it down
.
And it's not just going to getan adaptogenic herbal blend at
the health food store because itis not one size fits all.
We know what your needs are,because, just like a diet isn't
one size fits all and going tobe the same for everyone, the
(23:58):
supplementation isn't either.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
I think yeah, and I think this is a good point to
talk about.
Like, how do we deal withaltered cortisol patterns?
What we do is we do we preferurinary testing either Dutch
Complete or Humap, and it's twocompanies with essentially the
(24:22):
same tests yielding the sameinformation.
But what we want to see is notjust a moment in time, like if
you go to a blood lab, they'regoing to draw blood and measure
the cortisol in your serum andit gives you a point in time
Well, if that's your good pointin time, it doesn't tell you
(24:44):
really what's happening theother 23 hours of the day, so we
don't know what your pattern is, whereas with the urinary test,
they look at what is themetabolized cortisol, so we can
see are you making enough and isyour body burning it all up, or
(25:04):
are you not clearing it, so wecan see how to help.
Or are you low in the morningwhen you should be high?
And this is where havingprofessionals can help, because
we'll look at that rhythm andsay, okay, when you wake up, we
got to get your cortisol up.
So here's what we're going todo.
It's not just take this.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
It's not always supplements either, right.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Oh for sure.
I don't think it's ever beenmore true than with adrenal
stress, because there's no magicpill, it's not the same for
everybody and it's sometimesit's retraining that HPA axis,
it's tricking your brain intogoing, oh, everything's fine.
Look all of this.
You know these adaptogenicherbs or these nutrients, it's
all here.
So sometimes it's pushing,nudging your cortisol up at one
(25:57):
point of the day while urging itto calm down at another part of
the day, but all to give youthe best function throughout the
day.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
And, once again, not always supplements, because
sometimes there's lifestyleadjustments.
Maybe we need to be encouragingmovement and exercise at
certain parts of the day, orrest, repair, taking a moment to
breathe.
You know there's lifestyleaspects that come into it as
well.
And screens Can we go back toscreens for a second Screen time
?
Technology, preach, sister.
(26:28):
I mean that is one of thebiggest disruptors to every
natural function in our body andwe're glued to them.
I mean, I get it.
We're all on a computer rightnow as we do this.
That's the irony of it.
There's a time and a place forit.
But I think, even for me, Iknow better and I have to tell
myself in the evening when I'mtired and it's been a stressful
day I just want to sit on myphone or I just want to watch
(26:49):
something, but I know my sleepis going to be impaired and my
circadian rhythm is going to beinterrupted because I let
technology steal too much of mytime.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Right, and there are tweaks, there are ways to make
it better, like the amberglasses, the blue light blocking
glasses, but I think it's alsoimportant to point out that you
know there's one element orshade that you want to use
during the day, like the yellowtinted glasses.
They're really good forblocking blue light.
(27:21):
Now, some blue light is good.
Blue light stimulates yourbrain, which is really why it's
bad at bedtime, but in themorning that's what we get from
the sun and that's good.
However, as we go through theday, like after dinner around
sunset, you would want to moveto a more amber or orangey tint
(27:42):
of glasses, and there's evennighttime glasses that are red,
and one of our favoritecompanies is Viva Ray.
They don't support us, they'renot sponsoring anything, but
they do make a really goodproduct.
And I've I've said before I havethe evening glasses, mainly
because I don't stay up lateenough for it to be considered
night.
But I find that I have to bereal careful because if I study
(28:06):
on my computer for longer thanhalf an hour with those orange
glasses on, I will fall asleep.
That is how much it affects me,but I think that it's important
for people who maybe have ahard time.
Shutting it down at night, thatokay if you can't escape
working late.
If you can't get off yourcomputer, at least put on the
(28:29):
right kind of glasses so thatyour brain starts to make those
transitions night that okay ifyou can't escape working late if
you can't get off your computer, at least put on the right kind
of glasses so that your brainstarts to make those transitions
.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Yeah Well, and that's just one strategy you can use
that, I think, does apply tomost of us on some level,
because so many of us are on ascreen and it's not the ideal.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
No, tell us what the ideal is.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
I mean, well, the ideal is, let's get rid of the
computers, but then we wouldn'tbe able to do things like this
and reach so many of you.
Don't get drastic, no, no.
But what we can do, though, isjust having other practical
strategies in our life that willhelp us deal with the stress,
because we can't get rid oftraffic and screens and certain
(29:08):
family stressors and traumas anddramas.
You know, there's things likethat, but there's prayer and
meditation and just relaxingpractices, if you like to read
or journal or draw, walking,like we said, but pick your
style of walking Breathingexercises Breathing is a big
(29:28):
area that people forget about.
We get stressed, we tense up andhold our breath versus
remembering to just calm downinto the normal breathing
pattern.
We'll get more oxygen andtherefore have more energy, but
also limiting caffeine I knowthat's where a lot of us want to
go when we're tired andstressed, but for everyone,
(29:49):
that's not going to be the rightsolution, because that can
create more stress hormones.
So then you think well, what amI supposed to do?
But that goes back to breathing, eating the right foods, and I
love red light therapy not justthe glasses, but using red light
therapy in the evenings, likewhen I think, oh, I want to be
on my phone because I'm tiredand stressed, no, go, sit in
(30:10):
front of my red light, I'll turnon some meditation music.
Sometimes I read a book.
It's kind of hard to see, but,you know, just sit there and
relax in front of that red light.
It winds you down, it reallydoes.
And you can get differentvariations of that online.
You know, based on your budgetlevel, you can get tiny little
bulbs just to get the ambiancegoing, or just get the glasses
(30:31):
so everything looks red and thered light for me.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
I have it in my home gym and I have it posted.
It's like bolted to the walland I have my vibration platform
below it.
And I lived with my son-in-law,which is hysterical but what I
do is, while he's doing his set,I get on the vibration plate
and we keep the red light onthrough our whole workout
because we both found that wesweat a lot more.
(30:57):
So, yeah, it doesn't increasethe heat in the room necessarily
, but, man, the sweat does pourand it feels good and standing
on the vibration platform inclose proximity, that's good for
your skin.
It's good for your skin, it'sgood to feel wounds.
Yeah, ladies, anti-aging,that's important too.
(31:20):
But besides the red light, Ithink too setting yourself up
for good sleep hygiene andturning off overhead lights,
that's important, and justkeeping the warm lamps on fewer
lights is better in the evening.
And all of that's giving yourbrain signals that, hey, it's
time to shut down.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
And that's where, with the lamps, it's a good idea
to have the amber, warm lightbulbs versus the white light,
because that's giving you thatblue light effect of even the
screen is just it's bright andstimulating.
Because that's giving you thatblue light effect of even the
screen is just it's bright andstimulating and that's not going
to help you wind down even ifyou're just using your lamps.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Yeah for sure.
So let's um, let's move into,like, red flag moments.
But what, what do you hear?
Cause I feel like you probablyintercept.
You know more questions than Ido Just because of my schedule
(32:19):
Elena's here more than I am butred flags that cause you to tell
somebody you know we need totest your cortisol.
You need professional helpdealing with this.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Yeah, I find the biggest ones are people who are
expressing depression or anxiety, because you used to just hear
that sometime.
I feel like I hear that all thetime now and sometimes people
have a hard time putting it towords.
So you know that's where wehave a conversation.
Just, you know, tell me howyou're feeling.
How are you reacting to X, Yand Z and then an increase in
(32:54):
digestive issues?
I know we've always seen a lotof that because this is a modern
day country where everyone'sbusy and eating bad food, as
we've kind of talked about Right.
But I think the red flags arewhen people are spinning all
their wheels and sometimes theirtime, money and energy.
You know they're just trying sohard and they're desperate.
(33:16):
It's like, ok, let's move awayfrom desperation or fear or
worry and even anxiety.
You can't always just turn itoff, but you know I hear people
start expressing that it's likeOK, let's give you some support
so you have the stamina to makethe right choices.
That's what I see more thananything.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Yeah, I think that's really good, and one of my
questions to people who mentionstress is how long have you been
dealing with this?
Because if what you're doingisn't working, it's time to try
something different, andsometimes we just need an
outside perspective.
That's why, you know, that'swhy doctors have doctors, that's
(33:59):
why therapists go to therapy.
You know we work on each other,not on ourselves, because we
need somebody else to take careof us.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
And to point out things that we just become
immune to.
I mean, like you said, we dothis for each other.
You and I just kind of questionhey, do you really think that's
helping you?
Maybe you should try this.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Yeah, yeah, it's those Holy Spirit moments where
we get to be the Holy Spirit foreach other.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Yeah, very good.
I think a misconception peoplehave, though when we're working
on a chronic problem, be it skin, cardiovascular digestion,
people think they can get onesupplement and be fixed.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
They think a digestive enzyme.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Okay, you said that'll help my digestion.
My gut will be great.
Or I'm drinking bone broth, mygut's going to heal, skin's
going to heal, everything'sgoing to be great.
It takes time, you know.
You didn't get to where you arein a day or a week or a month
and we have to have patience andgive ourselves the space and
(35:06):
the tools.
But just remember, it takestime.
With adrenals it really does.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
Yeah, and I think part of the problem with
adrenals.
I just thought of this and I'vehad this happen several times
through the years.
There's a big event thathappens nationally and women
will get together and they dothis big multi-day event and
it's a lot of walking and I'vehad several women come and say I
don't.
(35:33):
I did that, it was fun, but Ididn't sleep.
We weren't really eating well,I got dehydrated and a week
later they just crashed andburned.
But it's a crash and burn of awhole new level of low.
And I think it's not just stufflike that, because I think part
(35:56):
of that could be chalked up towell, you weren't trained right,
you didn't prepare, your bodywas not prepared for that.
But I think that can happen,even with divorce and death and
things where I know we've had afew traumatic family deaths, and
your adrenaline gets youthrough it and then sometimes
(36:17):
you have to keep going becausewhatever the situation demands,
but then at some point it's likeI can't move, your body will
get you through.
Right.
You outrun that bear in thewoods and now your body's saying
now sit down, it is time for atimeout.
We will tell you when you canget up again.
(36:39):
But that can go awry and Ithink you know that can happen
to the best of situations.
It just that's part of life.
But knowing that, oh, wow, yeah, this is, this is big, my
body's not functioning, Um,whether it's from a death or or
(37:01):
you know, an event whatever,there's not usually going to be
like you're talking about theone supplement like, oh sure,
Just take ashwagandha, You'llfeel great.
That's not good.
And what if you take it at thewrong time of day?
Oh my gosh, yeah, you know.
Or what if it's the wrong thingfor you at that time, If it's
(37:23):
calming you down when what youactually need is some
stimulation?
You know, using the wrongproduct is just as bad as trying
to just use one thing, Right,Right.
So that can be a problem.
But so there you know, againhaving somebody else look at you
.
(37:44):
But I think the things thatpeople can do for themselves,
you know, should be dailypractice.
So breathing, you know, for me,stand on my vibration platform,
and I'm doing that because Idon't want osteoporosis, because
it feels good after I've powerlifted and it happens to be
right in front of my red light.
So I do that.
(38:05):
But that's all good for mynervous system too, so I do that
.
But that's all good for mynervous system too.
But I make myself do some deepbreathing, and lifting makes me
breathe.
But I think becoming awaresometimes people don't realize
they hold their breath and so ifyou ask people, do you sigh a
lot?
Invariably nine out of 10people will go yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
What were they go?
Speaker 1 (38:48):
No, no, oh wait, maybe I do.
People still work remote.
Every time you get on a phonecall, stand up.
Take the phone call standing up, not because you need to get
your heart rate up, but becauseyou need to give your body an
outlet because as we sit and donothing, we store stress.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
Yeah, you don't feel like you need as much oxygen.
You move around.
Your body will force you to getthat oxygen.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Yeah.
Or if you're just a go, go, go,go, go and there's no slow part
of your life, maybe, maybeyou're that person who needs the
stroll, Maybe you need to quitwalking a 13 minute mile and you
need to walk a 20 minute mile.
You know, walk with a toddler,they will slow you down.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
And amuse you.
That's good for the soul andamuse you.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Laughter is good for everything, for sure, but I
think it's important to justtake time to slow down.
We live at such a busy, fastpace.
We can cram so many things intoone day.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
And it's to our own detriment.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
What we all have to do, because so many of us you
know you feel like you don'thave time, you don't have enough
time and you don't feel likeyou have the time to slow down,
but you never get the time back.
So, what you do with the timeand how you choose to say hey, I
am going to take that strollbecause it's going to relax my
(40:15):
nervous system and make me moreproductive later, or I'm going
to stop and do some deepbreathing.
I am going to stop and just hey,find a rose and go smell it.
Stop and smell the roses.
When you slow down to make thattime, you create more time in
your day.
I mean not literally, but howyou use it is a lot more
effective and efficient.
And then you feel better aboutyour time and you create more
time in your day.
I mean not literally, but howyou use it is a lot more
effective and efficient.
(40:36):
And then you feel better aboutyour time and you won't be as
stressed later on in the day orthe next day.
It's important to take thattime.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Yeah.
So to address adrenal stress,you do have to look at diet.
If you're eating the standardAmerican diet, I do not feel
like you need a professional totell you you need to change your
diet, because the standardAmerican diet does not create
health period, it just doesn't.
(41:06):
So dietary changes that wouldinvolve including more
anti-inflammatory foods andanti-inflammatory foods
generally.
I mean it could mean differentthings for different people, but
it's going to be whole food.
I think we can start with thatright.
(41:27):
It's not going to be somethingprocessed.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
It is going to be a variety of colors.
Eat the rainbow.
I don't mean Fruit Loops.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Yeah, what Fruits and veggies, yeah, and Andrew
should really usually eat morevegetables than fruits, because
with adrenal stress, blood sugaroften gets out of control and
that's something we haven'treally touched on.
But people who get stressed andyou get these big cortisol
(41:57):
releases, you often see thatmetabolically, and when I say
metabolically, it's your energycreation and energy burning.
So thyroid, adrenal, pancreas,anything creating hormones is
going to suffer.
So not eating sugar would bereally important.
Maybe you're a person who needsa lot more animal protein and
(42:19):
maybe you're a person who doesreally well with keto, but
there's still good keto and badketo right, or dirty and clean
right.
But generally you need morewhole foods.
And if you don't know what yourdiet is, I just encourage
people don't intersperse healthyfood in your junk.
(42:41):
Devote three days.
That's not how it works Really.
Devote some time to exploring adifferent diet, because
sometimes you just have to tryit to know hey, hey, how do I
feel?
I think it's a good question tosay too how do I feel after I
eat meat.
Try a meal of just meat and seehow you feel.
(43:02):
How long did you stay full?
Did you get tired after you ate?
Did your liver hurt?
Did you have reflux?
Were you constipated?
Try a meal of vegetables.
How did you feel?
Were you full?
Were you gassy?
Did you get constipated?
Did you have undigested food inyour stool?
There's a lot of things you cando but use your body as a lab,
(43:26):
but definitely diet and stayingmore anti-inflammatory.
And then active relaxation,like we talked about.
Where you're, you know, walking, breathing exercises, just
giving yourself distractionsthroughout the day in a way that
helps you recenter yourself.
Speaker 2 (43:45):
Peaceful distractions and exercise, not, you know,
add type things.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
For sure the fidget, you know, the little fidget toys
, those I mean.
I just I feel like I want totake every adult that I see with
a fidget thing and say let's,let's talk about lifestyle,
let's talk about what you'reeating, because that is your
(44:13):
nervous systems on fire right.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
You're so ramped up.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
Yeah, yeah, there's so much better things we can do.
And then sleep adequate sleep,and you know what, elena?
One thing we didn't talk aboutthis just came to my mind is my
husband used to try to tell methis when we were first married
we got married when we weretoddlers, so we've been together
our entire lives.
(44:38):
I'm just kidding, but he usedto say I only need five or six
hours of sleep, I'm fine.
If I get too much sleep, I'mtired, and I was like there is
no way.
That is right, but our bodiesadapt and it still doesn't make
five, six hours Good.
Speaker 2 (44:55):
But what do we need?
What do you say?
Well, if you're going to getthe five hours of sleep, you
better make sure you're gettingthat sleep before midnight, but
don't you think.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
I mean I'd say seven to eight hours, no less than
seven.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
For most people, yeah , and I think people who think
they do okay on five hours justgot used to something that
they're calling normal versusYou're more prone to accidents.
Speaker 1 (45:20):
And disease.
Speaker 2 (45:23):
So you might think you're okay, but, yes, more
prone to having a car accidentor having all these health
issues that you just chalk up toage or I don't know, genetics.
Okay, well, what if you tookcare of this whole little
template, you got here a littlebit better and gave it rest.
Speaker 1 (45:40):
Yeah, rest is so important.
I always tell people I haveland and my dream is to build a
retreat center, and the firstretreat that I'm going to host
is going to be a sleep retreat,and I want it to be two weeks
and I want it to be.
People who have sleep issues um, of varying types.
(46:03):
The beautiful thing about thisland is you don't even get cell
phone reception.
It is in a it is in a it's notin a hole, but it's in a digital
hole, and I just think thatreprogramming our bodies to get
up with the sun, to go down withthe sun and to be grounded,
(46:26):
touching the ground, without thestimulation of EMFs around us,
it can do so much.
I think we're so out of touchwith our bodies and with the
land, but sleep's big.
And then the other thing.
So, yeah, active relaxation,exercise, food, but supplements.
And I think the supplementsthat I know I get asked the most
(46:47):
about B vitamins, for sure, butashwagandha, rhodiola and then
other things, ginseng, and sothis is a good time to kind of
go into ashwagandha and rhodiola.
They're considered adaptogenicherbs.
Right, they help you adapt, butashwagandha is very effective
(47:13):
at promoting relaxation orcalming stress and for anxious
people, but it's not going tomake you sleepy.
Now, rhodiola is better knownfor increasing your energy
levels, lifting your mood, sopeople who may be a little more
depressed, and it makes you alittle sharper mentally.
(47:37):
So I think you know if, ifyou're trying to pick yourself
up a little bit, you know like Ineed to be sharper, my memories
going or I just feel, you know,like a bump on a log feel like
a bump on a log, the rhodiolamay be the one for you, whereas
(47:58):
if you are wired and tired andjust anxious, the ashwagandha is
typically going to be better.
But those are just two.
They are two that get a lot ofattention.
So I just wanted to put thatout there.
But then we have other things.
We have like phosphatidylserineor phosphatidylcholine, we have
licorice root and ginseng andvitamin C and B complexes.
(48:19):
There are all of thesenutrients out there.
Homeopathic remedies we usehomeopathics, yeah, even flower
remedies.
Look up Bach flower remediesfor people who get stuck in an
emotional rut or they getfixated in a certain way.
(48:40):
Those can be very helpful justfor adjusting, just for giving
your body different informationto start working a little
differently.
But it's not any one of thosethings or all of them Sometimes,
or all of them, but I thinkthat you know, again, to working
(49:02):
with you know, like K6 WellnessCenter, it's getting somebody
to help you identify.
Hey, it appears you know thatyour, your stress is caused from
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And it seems that XYZ makes iteven worse.
However, you know, abc tends togive you pleasure, stress
(49:27):
release and I think sometimeshaving somebody objective from
the outside, speak into yoursituation, because I think we
overanalyze ourselves and weexcuse the things we don't want
to change and then sometimes wejust we just give up, yeah, yeah
and, and I think you know I didthat with my own health early
(49:50):
on when I didn't know what I wasdealing with.
I was in my 20s and I had youngchildren and I just thought I'm
a mother and this is just whatit's like and I'm tired, and
that shouldn't have been.
Speaker 2 (50:06):
No, no.
So really, the moral of thestory is get professional help,
you know, have someone who knowswhat to use and when to use it.
Come in and help you throughthat.
Otherwise you could keepyourself in a rut a lot longer
than you need to be.
Speaker 1 (50:30):
So you're our constant cheerleader, elena, you
tell me.
So, ending it up here, whatadvice would you give to someone
who's feeling totallyoverwhelmed by stress?
They're struggling to maintaintheir sanity, their job, their
family, their health, theirwellbeing?
What do you say?
Speaker 2 (50:52):
Something's got to give.
Is it going to be something youchoose or something life
chooses for you?
Yeah, it's every time.
You can keep trying to juggleeverything, but you're not going
to be able to keep it up.
And I don't say that in adefeatist kind of way, but it's
just.
The reality is you're not goingto be able to keep it up.
(51:14):
But look at what you cancontrol.
You can control what you areputting into your body, what you
are allowing to have an impacton your body and your
environment.
And when it goes beyond whatyou can control, get the help
through professionals, be it fornutrition or counseling, or
even someone to help you getstructure in your life.
(51:36):
If you need help figuring outhey, how do I plan meals just so
I can have a plan to eatsuccessfully and healthfully?
You know we we like to be thatcheerleader for you, not for
every aspect of it, but you know, as far as nutrition and food
goes, and just the rightsupplementation for the right
time, yeah.
Speaker 1 (51:57):
And I think for yeah, for those people out there who
are just wired and tired.
Right, you just keep burningthe candle at both ends.
Take the time to slow down now,while you can choose to do it,
choose what areas you're goingto do that in, so it can help
you to be more productive and itcan give you more time.
(52:21):
You know you want to live yourlife to the fullest.
Speaker 2 (52:26):
And I just want to mention real quick one of the
easiest things you can do whenyou're stressed.
What's that saying?
I'm not stressed, I'm blessed.
Speaker 1 (52:36):
Mine is I'm fine.
I'm fine, everything's fine.
Speaker 2 (52:40):
Finding things to be thankful for in your life will
help you step back, slow downand reevaluate everything.
Speaker 1 (52:47):
Yeah, absolutely, and get professional help.
I think we cannot say thatenough.
Yeah, having somebody else whoknows what to use and when to
use it, who has done thisforever, has seen it times
hundreds compared to what youhave, they can make a huge
(53:08):
difference in your recovery.
So, yeah, I think this is allgreat, it's so helpful, and so I
think this is a great place tokind of wrap it up on stress and
adrenals and our health.
But I do want to point out ourvirtual program is geared toward
brain fog and fatigue, whichalways has an adrenal component,
(53:34):
and so if you're looking evenif you don't live in the Dallas
area, if you're looking for helpwith this, we do this virtually
and we have a great program.
Um, lots of success with workingwith stress and healing your
hormones and helping withadrenal stress.
So I just encourage you to lookus up at k6wellnesscom.
(53:57):
But we hope that everybodyfound this information valuable.
We'd love to hear from you.
If you watch this episode onYouTube, please like and
subscribe to our channel and youcan also check us out on Rumble
Facebook and Instagram, and ifyou'd like more information
about how to manage your stresslevels, and you can also check
us out on Rumble, Facebook andInstagram, and if you'd like
(54:19):
more information about how tomanage your stress levels and
live your best life, visitk6wellnesscom to schedule an
appointment.
Until next time, take care ofyourself, because your health is
worth fighting for.
Welcome to the K6 Wellness Revolution podcast.
My name is Sharon and I'm theowner of K6 Wellness Center here
in Dallas, texas.
I'm going to be your hosttonight and we are going to
discuss all things health andwellness Today.
Specifically, elena and I willbe talking about stress and your
adrenals and how this allaffects your health.
(00:21):
Here at K6 Wellness, we doacknowledge the importance of
not just looking at the physicalbody for your health, but
looking at every aspect of yourlife, and that includes the food
you eat, your environment, yourpersonal care products and, yes
, the amount of stress that yourbody encounters every single
day.
So when we're looking at themind, body and spirit, you'd be
(00:45):
surprised to know how muchstress has an impact on your
overall health, and that's whywe're going to take a deep dive
today on how our bodies react tostress.
So let's dive right in.
Hey, hey, elena, hello.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
How are you?
I'm stressed, just thinkingabout stress.
Let's jump in.
It's stressful thinking aboutall the information we need to
talk about, yes, and how muchstress people are carrying
around with them all the time.
I get stressed for my clientssitting across from me every day
.
It's like there's things we cando, there's, there's practices
you can implement.
(01:19):
Doesn't have to be so stressful, because life will always be
stressful.
I actually saw a funny quotethat said you know, when people
say life is stressful, then thisperson said hey, I want to ask
compared to what, compared towhat I don't know, I feel like
death is probably less stressful.
I mean probably, but you know,it's life or death.
(01:39):
What's the alternative?
So let's learn, become friendswith the stress in our lives,
right, or yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
manage it better?
Yeah, for sure, but okay, andthat's I think this is.
It's funny and we make light ofit.
But stress means a lot ofdifferent things to different
people, right?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yeah Well, I think just to begin with we should
break down what is stress,because we all think we know
what it is.
But we think of it as aphysical thing, but it is also
an emotional response and it'swhat our body does in a
stressful situation to cope withit.
So we don't just crumple up anddie.
(02:25):
Give our bodies the stamina tosurvive stressful situations and
release that cortisol untilit's safe to rest.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, that's true.
I mean, I start every day witha healthy dose of stress, power
lifting, and I love it, but thatis stress and I think, just
like you know, school isstressful.
I think relationships, right,can be can be stressful, and and
(02:56):
I think that we can probablyeven classify stress into hey,
there's positive stress, likeexercise, building muscle right,
we're having to stress ourfibers and stress our bones and
then there's negative stress,right, which could be toxic
relationships or just hardrelationships, or things that
(03:17):
make us tired, even if they'regood things.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
How about traffic, oh ?
Speaker 1 (03:21):
yeah, I don't feel like we live in a triplex yeah,
and I'm not sure that traffic isever a positive.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
No, it's not a positive, but it's a stressor.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
It is.
Yeah, I think that's a goodpoint.
But how we deal with stress isreally based on our perception.
Just like you and I havedifferent ideas of what good
exercise is, because our bodiesneed different things, and we've
worked out together before andI was like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
I just want to die, Because then I hear of your
workouts.
I'm like that would kill me.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
So it's finding what each of us can handle, be it our
exercise or our environmentwhat each of us can handle, be
it our exercise or ourenvironment, yeah, and even
personalities and people, orwhatever.
Like graduate school ever goes.
Oh, I don't know how you'redoing it.
I'm like, well, I love it, Idon't hate it right now, I'm
just glad it's almost over.
But it's really, I think, moreabout a person's perception of
(04:25):
the stress.
Right, because it could besomething for my benefit, but if
I don't perceive it as leadingto a good end or having a good
outcome, it may as well be justa bad stress.
It's really your perception,just like I think we tell people
(04:45):
you need to walk every dayWalking.
When I hear that, I'm like, ohhow relaxing, because when I go
for a walk, I go for a stroll,right.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
But I go for a power walk.
That's, that's how I relax.
Is a power walk?
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
You don't know what a slow walk is.
You've been shopping with Elenaor walking around a mall in the
dark at 4.30 in the morning,you don't know what fast is.
Stressful Stress walk yeah, itcan be very relaxing to somebody
(05:20):
.
Again, it's just yourinterpretation of it.
But how you perceive it, howyour brain perceives it, really
gets the autonomic nervoussystem activated, right as far
as our stress response and justto review autonomic nervous
system, we've got sympathetic,parasympathetic.
We'll look as sympathetic asour gas pedal and our
(05:46):
parasympathetic is our brakes,so to speak.
If we were a car.
It's not that you need all ofone and none of the other, it's
using the right one at the righttime.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
And you can't do both at the same time.
I mean, think about drivingyour car.
You can't have the gas pedaland the brakes at the same time.
I know, when I was learning todrive I did that once and you
realize, don't ever do thatagain.
It kills the car.
So same thing would happen toour bodies.
We can't have both.
So our bodies will pick in asituation if we're going to
crash or if we're going to pedalto the metal and just keep
(06:22):
going until we eventually runinto something and crash.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yeah, and our sympathetic is known as our
fight or flight or fright.
Right, that's the bear chasingyou through the woods.
And then parasympathetic isoften referred to as rest and
digest, or feed and breed.
I call it vacation mode, andwe're supposed to spend 80% of
our lives in parasympathetic,with only 20% of the time being
(06:48):
totally stressed.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
And that's not the modern life.
That's not true.
I feel like everyone that Iwork with and even balancing it
in my own life.
There's no way there's an 80-20balance there.
There's no way.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
No, and really I think modern advancements in
technology have not set us up toadhere to that it takes.
I know, even just to go onvacation and unplug, it takes me
a whole week just to come downand then you have to go and then
I can settle into, yeah,pressing and relaxing, but but
we do need that mix and you wantto have enough resources
(07:27):
hormonally to be able to formthe proper response.
So, yeah, if you do get put ina situation where the bear is
chasing you through the woods,you want to know that you can
run, that your body is going tohelp you.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
So well, and and thinking about what's happening
to our body in a stressfulsituation, be it an acute trauma
or chronic stress, I think it'simportant to realize what kind
of health conditions areaffected or impacted by that.
I think everyone just thinks ofhearts and strokes, with stress
(08:05):
that is never checked orbrought down.
But you know, we see all kindsof stuff like digestive issues
and skin problems, weight issues, depression, anxiety, all these
things that tie into a chronicstressful environment, I feel
like.
And sleep I think sleep is oneof the biggest ones.
Well then, that's what'simpacted by stress so you're
(08:28):
stressed because you aren'tsleeping, and you aren't
sleeping because you're stressed, so somewhere you have to get
in there and interrupt thatvicious cycle.
Or that leads to even morethings, you know greater skin
issues, digestive issues, heartissues, and it's not just the
heart we have to worry about.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
No, it's whole body.
And I think if you look at ourstress hormone, cortisol, which
is produced by your adrenals, Imean cortisol does a lot of
different things and some ofit's good, but overall, when you
have too much cortisol over along period of time, but overall
, when you have too muchcortisol over a long period of
time, you're going to put onweight, and most Americans
(09:08):
aren't looking to put on weight.
So it is important to be ableto interrupt the system, like
you say, I think, especially asit relates to sleep, because
that's our body's rest andrepair time.
That's when all the magic hasto happen.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
And magic hours of the night, 10 to 2.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Yep, those are the hours we never want to cheat
ourselves out of the mostimportant hours of sleep.
But for our listeners out there, what time do you go to bed?
Because if you're not going tobed until midnight, we are
losing out on half of the mostimportant four hours of sleep
and I think that if we can justshift, it's hard to think about.
Hey, if you're going to cheatyourself, don't do it in that
window or get up early, go tobed early and get up early.
(09:58):
But nobody does that and Ithink it's because of light
electricity, yeah, but the sleepis so important.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
You can get away with a lot if you're sleeping.
I mean, looking at you and yourexperience through graduate
school, what do you always say?
Like you're a rock star atsleep and your sleep routine you
do not mess with my sleep Right.
I'm here to attest to that,because to see what you've been
able to work through and handleit's amazing.
It's impressive, but I knowyour sleep is never negotiated.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
It's not Much to my family's chagrin.
Yeah, I do tend to turn to apumpkin, but my eyes pop open at
anywhere from 4.30 to 5 in themorning, and that's when I feel
my best.
So that's when I get up and Iwork out and I'm ready to go.
So yeah, and for me works, butreally according to circadian
rhythm, right?
The way that our our adrenalpattern is is designed to
(10:54):
operate.
We're supposed to have thehighest level of cortisol about
two hours after we wake up everymorning, and then it steadily
decreases as we go through theday.
But I think when we've trainedour body to adapt to the
lifestyle we want, then we oftenfind ourselves getting that
second wind.
I think is what people call it.
(11:15):
You know where.
Maybe 8 pm they're like we'rein a go, let's go out.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
It could also be because so many people get that
crash in the afternoon.
Yeah, your cortisol shouldn'tbe crashing yet, it shouldn't be
tanking yet.
But what do people do?
They go reach for sweets andcaffeine to ride them through
the rest of the afternoon.
Then they get to the eveningand cortisol is thinking well,
okay, I guess we're going still.
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
So, with stress, we've talked about how it can be
, you know, a good force, badforce but I think it's important
to just acknowledge thatoccasional stress is normal and
it can be healthy.
Right, it's a way to grow, ithelps us survive, like if the
bear is chasing you through thewoods, just for that, yeah, yeah
(12:04):
, for sure.
And exercise, again, is a goodexample, whether you're doing
cardio or power lifting, highintensity workouts.
I think a lot of that, and whatwe've learned through genetics
especially, which has beendriven home recently, a lot of
what feeds you is is going to besomewhat dependent on your
genetic makeup.
(12:24):
Feeds you is is going to besomewhat dependent on your
genetic makeup.
And I'm I'm a high intensitypower person.
I will.
I've run a, I ran a halfmarathon once and I don't care
to do it again.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Well and that's an interesting point there though,
sharon like for for ourlisteners, it it can be really
really helpful to one know whatyour cortisol level is doing and
there's ways we can test thatbut also know what your genetic
predisposition is to yourfitness routine and your weight
routine, and then you cancombine those and we can test
for those too, and it can reallyhelp you feel less defeated
(12:58):
when you're in this, thispattern of maybe you're doing
what you think are all the rightthings, but it's not right for
you and it's actually creating alot more stress, and then you
feel like you're hitting yourhead against the wall and that's
, you know that's discouraging,yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Now, with with stress , with cortisol, like we get
stressed.
If you're going to take a test,we usually feel stressed, a
little anxious, right?
If somebody comes up to yourcar window and points a gun in
your face, you're going to feela little stressed.
If you have an evaluation atwork or school, that can induce
(13:36):
stress.
If you're facing a hardconversation with a loved one,
that could induce stress, Ithink facing any situation you
don't want to do can bring aboutstress.
But there are some positiveaspects to cortisol, our stress
hormone that gets released intimes of need.
(13:56):
Right, it will give you theenergy to fight.
You've heard about women likepicking up cars off their babies
or, you know, doing superhumanfeats.
That's cortisol, or adrenaline,if you will, but it helps to
increase your focus and it alsoincreases blood flow to your
(14:17):
muscles.
And think about it If you're ina physically demanding situation
that is not normal to yourdaily routine, that's going to
help you survive.
That's your survival instincts.
But outside of that, it's whathappens.
Well, in the long run well,even in the short run you're
going to have a decreased immuneresponse.
(14:38):
Why?
Because all of your resourcesare going to helping you survive
.
Right, your blood flow is goingto really be centered around,
like your, your vital organs.
It's.
It's going to be um, it's, andit's not going to be about
(14:58):
digesting lunch that gets put onthe back burner, so digestion
will suffer.
You're going to have usuallyincreased blood pressure and
you're going to have a decreasedsex hormone response.
But that makes sense if, inparasympathetic mode or you know
feed and breed, when we'rethinking about having sex and
procreating, when you're insympathetic state or fight or
(15:21):
flight or fright, procreation isnot at the forefront of your
mind.
So you got to think about thoseopposites.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
But I think also some people.
Well, we see a lot of peoplelow libido.
It's just a result of thestress we live in and people
think they just need morehormone support for that.
Now, sometimes hormone supportcan help with your stress
response, but that's not alwaysthe answer if we aren't helping
to resolve that constant stressresponse, chronic stress, while
(15:54):
it can have all these badeffects, right, because our body
is trying to keep us alive.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
We would link it to an old school idea of adrenal
fatigue.
But if you think of adrenalfatigue, it's well, your
adrenals are too tired to dotheir job and that's not
actually an accurate description, but it does make sense.
But really, what it's moreabout is an axis it's your
hypothalamus, which is yourregulation center of your brain,
(16:24):
your pituitary gland, which isthe stimulation center in your
brain, and your adrenals, andyour adrenals produce cortisol,
right.
So chronic stress can make youfeel tired, but it's not adrenal
fatigue, it could be justprolonged high cortisol response
(16:47):
and it keeps you in thatsympathetic state.
But you are going to startdepleting all of your reserves,
right?
You're going to run till youcan't run anymore and, like you
said earlier, you're going tohave the caffeine and the sugar.
And what do those things do?
Well, they alter yourmetabolism over time, and now
(17:10):
we're stressed and we have aweight problem.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Bonus yeah.
And then that creates morestress, because you don't like
where your weight is going, youdon't like where your energy is
going, you don't like where yourhealth is going yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah for sure.
And then, when you've got thisconstant dumping of cortisol
into your body, your immunesystem can take a hit.
And this is where you can.
I mean, everybody knowssomebody or maybe you're that
person that you go and go and goand go and then you get a
respiratory virus or bronchitisand it turns into pneumonia.
(17:47):
Or when you crash and get sick,or somebody else may have been
down two or three days, you'redown for two weeks and you're
non-functioning.
And there again, it's becauseof the constant stress, whether
it be mental, emotional,physical.
We've just depleted ourselves'ability to be resilient.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Well, let's talk about what happens to your gut,
to your digestive health.
Your gut is where your immunesystem is primarily at.
70% of our immune system is inour gut, and when you have a
constant dumping of highcortisol into your gut, it
increases your gut permeability,it increases our chances of
(18:33):
leaky gut and then it slows downmotility and so that can alter
your gut microbiome the goodbugs and the bad bugs, the
balance of them, and itultimately declines in your
immune system.
You're not digesting your food,you're not absorbing your
nutrients.
How's your immune system goingto get any building blocks for
it?
And it's busy fighting allthese foreign invaders in your
(18:55):
bloodstream now and that's howyou start absorbing more toxins.
So it's just this vicious cycleof stress creating the problem.
But once again, there's a lotyou can do to help that, because
if you're dealing withdigestive issues or your gut is
a problem and you're eating junkfood and fast food, you're
(19:17):
making that problem worse,versus having the knowledge and
the discipline to say you knowwhat I deserve better than this.
I'm going to do better formyself and I'm going to eat
nourishing foods that help mybody cope with stress.
We crave sugar and fat and justjunk food when we're in these
positions, because it is asurvival mode.
It wouldn't be such a survivalmode if we had once again more
(19:41):
nourishing foods in our body inthe first place.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Yeah.
And I think to the end of foods, if we look at putting
ourselves in a situation wherewe are chronically stressed,
meaning it's longer than acouple of days, right, it's
longer than a week, right, it'syour whole life.
What does that do to us mentally?
(20:05):
Well, mentally, we'reprioritizing the stress, so
we're not going to beprioritizing health, sleep,
healthy food.
And this is where you start tosee this snowball effect.
Oh, I have this deadline.
At work or school, I don't havetime to cook a meal, so I'm
going to drive through wherever.
(20:26):
Or I'm going to pick somethingup, and it's not going to be
something that would have beenas good for you, as nourishing
as what you would have eaten athome, or you just take a break.
You know, I'll just take abreak this week.
I'm going to let myself off thehook.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
We have a way.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Yeah, yeah, but what we're doing is really punishing
ourselves.
It's like, oh yeah, let me kickyou while you're down.
But I think, too, this is wherepeople start to say so what's
the best diet for stress?
And I think this is where weget into.
Well, it depends on who you are, because because, like Elena
(21:05):
and I, we've been throughsimilar situations we have
interpreted stress similarly.
If we ate the same way, um, shewould die on my diet, I would
die on her diet.
No, I wouldn't die.
But.
But this is where knowing needsMm-hmm, knowing your body type,
(21:26):
knowing what your I think itcomes back to definitely
ancestral diets and genetics andwhat your body's adapted to
really helps to play a role informing a healing diet.
Whether you're somebody whoneeds to be more plant-based or
more paleo or meat, I think thatthis is where having
(21:50):
professional help is superimportant.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Right, because a lot of the time well, I shouldn't
say a lot of the time, butthere's oftentimes, I see,
people who are skipping mealsbecause they're stressed, and
that, for them, is so much worse.
They lose their appetitebecause they're stressed and
they're the ones who need to eatthree meals a day.
Then other people eat becausethey're stressed, and that's
(22:14):
when we have the conversation ofhey, maybe a little
intermittent fasting would be agood idea, but planning your
meals so you have a plan to besuccessful, so you don't find
yourself in that that rut ofquick, convenient food.
Like you about just goingthrough the drive-thru.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yeah, yeah, just doing what's easy, or using food
as emotional comfort.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah.
And I think we all do that tosome extent, for sure, it's just
being aware of it.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Let's eat, I'm happy.
Let's eat.
Let's celebrate, I'm bored,let's eat.
Food can be a love language,for sure, and we're definitely
guilty of that.
And I mean, I will say I'm thefirst person to go, I'm just so
distracted or I'm so busy, Ijust can't eat.
But then, three hours later,I'm like ready to gnaw my arm
(23:08):
off and then I'm walking aroundthe office going who has food?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
It's not ideal, you know, and food is just one
aspect of what we use to copewith stress, and it can be good
and bad.
There's good things we canchoose for food, kind of like we
talked about it.
You know, for some people it'seating the right foods, but
there's certain nutrients andherbs that can help, you know,
(23:36):
can help balance that cortisol,whether it's balancing it in the
morning or the evening,bringing it up, bringing it down
.
And it's not just going to getan adaptogenic herbal blend at
the health food store because itis not one size fits all.
We know what your needs are,because, just like a diet isn't
one size fits all and going tobe the same for everyone, the
(23:58):
supplementation isn't either.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
I think yeah, and I think this is a good point to
talk about.
Like, how do we deal withaltered cortisol patterns?
What we do is we do we preferurinary testing either Dutch
Complete or Humap, and it's twocompanies with essentially the
(24:22):
same tests yielding the sameinformation.
But what we want to see is notjust a moment in time, like if
you go to a blood lab, they'regoing to draw blood and measure
the cortisol in your serum andit gives you a point in time
Well, if that's your good pointin time, it doesn't tell you
(24:44):
really what's happening theother 23 hours of the day, so we
don't know what your pattern is, whereas with the urinary test,
they look at what is themetabolized cortisol, so we can
see are you making enough and isyour body burning it all up, or
(25:04):
are you not clearing it, so wecan see how to help.
Or are you low in the morningwhen you should be high?
And this is where havingprofessionals can help, because
we'll look at that rhythm andsay, okay, when you wake up, we
got to get your cortisol up.
So here's what we're going todo.
It's not just take this.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
It's not always supplements either, right.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Oh for sure.
I don't think it's ever beenmore true than with adrenal
stress, because there's no magicpill, it's not the same for
everybody and it's sometimesit's retraining that HPA axis,
it's tricking your brain intogoing, oh, everything's fine.
Look all of this.
You know these adaptogenicherbs or these nutrients, it's
all here.
So sometimes it's pushing,nudging your cortisol up at one
(25:57):
point of the day while urging itto calm down at another part of
the day, but all to give youthe best function throughout the
day.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
And, once again, not always supplements, because
sometimes there's lifestyleadjustments.
Maybe we need to be encouragingmovement and exercise at
certain parts of the day, orrest, repair, taking a moment to
breathe.
You know there's lifestyleaspects that come into it as
well.
And screens Can we go back toscreens for a second Screen time
?
Technology, preach, sister.
(26:28):
I mean that is one of thebiggest disruptors to every
natural function in our body andwe're glued to them.
I mean, I get it.
We're all on a computer rightnow as we do this.
That's the irony of it.
There's a time and a place forit.
But I think, even for me, Iknow better and I have to tell
myself in the evening when I'mtired and it's been a stressful
day I just want to sit on myphone or I just want to watch
(26:49):
something, but I know my sleepis going to be impaired and my
circadian rhythm is going to beinterrupted because I let
technology steal too much of mytime.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Right, and there are tweaks, there are ways to make
it better, like the amberglasses, the blue light blocking
glasses, but I think it's alsoimportant to point out that you
know there's one element orshade that you want to use
during the day, like the yellowtinted glasses.
They're really good forblocking blue light.
(27:21):
Now, some blue light is good.
Blue light stimulates yourbrain, which is really why it's
bad at bedtime, but in themorning that's what we get from
the sun and that's good.
However, as we go through theday, like after dinner around
sunset, you would want to moveto a more amber or orangey tint
(27:42):
of glasses, and there's evennighttime glasses that are red,
and one of our favoritecompanies is Viva Ray.
They don't support us, they'renot sponsoring anything, but
they do make a really goodproduct.
And I've I've said before I havethe evening glasses, mainly
because I don't stay up lateenough for it to be considered
night.
But I find that I have to bereal careful because if I study
(28:06):
on my computer for longer thanhalf an hour with those orange
glasses on, I will fall asleep.
That is how much it affects me,but I think that it's important
for people who maybe have ahard time.
Shutting it down at night, thatokay if you can't escape
working late.
If you can't get off yourcomputer, at least put on the
(28:29):
right kind of glasses so thatyour brain starts to make those
transitions night that okay ifyou can't escape working late if
you can't get off your computer, at least put on the right kind
of glasses so that your brainstarts to make those transitions
.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Yeah Well, and that's just one strategy you can use
that, I think, does apply tomost of us on some level,
because so many of us are on ascreen and it's not the ideal.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
No, tell us what the ideal is.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
I mean, well, the ideal is, let's get rid of the
computers, but then we wouldn'tbe able to do things like this
and reach so many of you.
Don't get drastic, no, no.
But what we can do, though, isjust having other practical
strategies in our life that willhelp us deal with the stress,
because we can't get rid oftraffic and screens and certain
(29:08):
family stressors and traumas anddramas.
You know, there's things likethat, but there's prayer and
meditation and just relaxingpractices, if you like to read
or journal or draw, walking,like we said, but pick your
style of walking Breathingexercises Breathing is a big
(29:28):
area that people forget about.
We get stressed, we tense up andhold our breath versus
remembering to just calm downinto the normal breathing
pattern.
We'll get more oxygen andtherefore have more energy, but
also limiting caffeine I knowthat's where a lot of us want to
go when we're tired andstressed, but for everyone,
(29:49):
that's not going to be the rightsolution, because that can
create more stress hormones.
So then you think well, what amI supposed to do?
But that goes back to breathing, eating the right foods, and I
love red light therapy not justthe glasses, but using red light
therapy in the evenings, likewhen I think, oh, I want to be
on my phone because I'm tiredand stressed, no, go, sit in
(30:10):
front of my red light, I'll turnon some meditation music.
Sometimes I read a book.
It's kind of hard to see, but,you know, just sit there and
relax in front of that red light.
It winds you down, it reallydoes.
And you can get differentvariations of that online.
You know, based on your budgetlevel, you can get tiny little
bulbs just to get the ambiancegoing, or just get the glasses
(30:31):
so everything looks red and thered light for me.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
I have it in my home gym and I have it posted.
It's like bolted to the walland I have my vibration platform
below it.
And I lived with my son-in-law,which is hysterical but what I
do is, while he's doing his set,I get on the vibration plate
and we keep the red light onthrough our whole workout
because we both found that wesweat a lot more.
(30:57):
So, yeah, it doesn't increasethe heat in the room necessarily
, but, man, the sweat does pourand it feels good and standing
on the vibration platform inclose proximity, that's good for
your skin.
It's good for your skin, it'sgood to feel wounds.
Yeah, ladies, anti-aging,that's important too.
(31:20):
But besides the red light, Ithink too setting yourself up
for good sleep hygiene andturning off overhead lights,
that's important, and justkeeping the warm lamps on fewer
lights is better in the evening.
And all of that's giving yourbrain signals that, hey, it's
time to shut down.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
And that's where, with the lamps, it's a good idea
to have the amber, warm lightbulbs versus the white light,
because that's giving you thatblue light effect of even the
screen is just it's bright andstimulating.
Because that's giving you thatblue light effect of even the
screen is just it's bright andstimulating and that's not going
to help you wind down even ifyou're just using your lamps.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Yeah for sure.
So let's um, let's move into,like, red flag moments.
But what, what do you hear?
Cause I feel like you probablyintercept.
You know more questions than Ido Just because of my schedule
(32:19):
Elena's here more than I am butred flags that cause you to tell
somebody you know we need totest your cortisol.
You need professional helpdealing with this.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Yeah, I find the biggest ones are people who are
expressing depression or anxiety, because you used to just hear
that sometime.
I feel like I hear that all thetime now and sometimes people
have a hard time putting it towords.
So you know that's where wehave a conversation.
Just, you know, tell me howyou're feeling.
How are you reacting to X, Yand Z and then an increase in
(32:54):
digestive issues?
I know we've always seen a lotof that because this is a modern
day country where everyone'sbusy and eating bad food, as
we've kind of talked about Right.
But I think the red flags arewhen people are spinning all
their wheels and sometimes theirtime, money and energy.
You know they're just trying sohard and they're desperate.
(33:16):
It's like, ok, let's move awayfrom desperation or fear or
worry and even anxiety.
You can't always just turn itoff, but you know I hear people
start expressing that it's likeOK, let's give you some support
so you have the stamina to makethe right choices.
That's what I see more thananything.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Yeah, I think that's really good, and one of my
questions to people who mentionstress is how long have you been
dealing with this?
Because if what you're doingisn't working, it's time to try
something different, andsometimes we just need an
outside perspective.
That's why, you know, that'swhy doctors have doctors, that's
(33:59):
why therapists go to therapy.
You know we work on each other,not on ourselves, because we
need somebody else to take careof us.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
And to point out things that we just become
immune to.
I mean, like you said, we dothis for each other.
You and I just kind of questionhey, do you really think that's
helping you?
Maybe you should try this.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Yeah, yeah, it's those Holy Spirit moments where
we get to be the Holy Spirit foreach other.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Yeah, very good.
I think a misconception peoplehave, though when we're working
on a chronic problem, be it skin, cardiovascular digestion,
people think they can get onesupplement and be fixed.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
They think a digestive enzyme.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Okay, you said that'll help my digestion.
My gut will be great.
Or I'm drinking bone broth, mygut's going to heal, skin's
going to heal, everything'sgoing to be great.
It takes time, you know.
You didn't get to where you arein a day or a week or a month
and we have to have patience andgive ourselves the space and
(35:06):
the tools.
But just remember, it takestime.
With adrenals it really does.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
Yeah, and I think part of the problem with
adrenals.
I just thought of this and I'vehad this happen several times
through the years.
There's a big event thathappens nationally and women
will get together and they dothis big multi-day event and
it's a lot of walking and I'vehad several women come and say I
don't.
(35:33):
I did that, it was fun, but Ididn't sleep.
We weren't really eating well,I got dehydrated and a week
later they just crashed andburned.
But it's a crash and burn of awhole new level of low.
And I think it's not just stufflike that, because I think part
(35:56):
of that could be chalked up towell, you weren't trained right,
you didn't prepare, your bodywas not prepared for that.
But I think that can happen,even with divorce and death and
things where I know we've had afew traumatic family deaths, and
your adrenaline gets youthrough it and then sometimes
(36:17):
you have to keep going becausewhatever the situation demands,
but then at some point it's likeI can't move, your body will
get you through.
Right.
You outrun that bear in thewoods and now your body's saying
now sit down, it is time for atimeout.
We will tell you when you canget up again.
(36:39):
But that can go awry and Ithink you know that can happen
to the best of situations.
It just that's part of life.
But knowing that, oh, wow, yeah, this is, this is big, my
body's not functioning, Um,whether it's from a death or or
(37:01):
you know, an event whatever,there's not usually going to be
like you're talking about theone supplement like, oh sure,
Just take ashwagandha, You'llfeel great.
That's not good.
And what if you take it at thewrong time of day?
Oh my gosh, yeah, you know.
Or what if it's the wrong thingfor you at that time, If it's
(37:23):
calming you down when what youactually need is some
stimulation?
You know, using the wrongproduct is just as bad as trying
to just use one thing, Right,Right.
So that can be a problem.
But so there you know, againhaving somebody else look at you
.
(37:44):
But I think the things thatpeople can do for themselves,
you know, should be dailypractice.
So breathing, you know, for me,stand on my vibration platform,
and I'm doing that because Idon't want osteoporosis, because
it feels good after I've powerlifted and it happens to be
right in front of my red light.
So I do that.
(38:05):
But that's all good for mynervous system too, so I do that
.
But that's all good for mynervous system too.
But I make myself do some deepbreathing, and lifting makes me
breathe.
But I think becoming awaresometimes people don't realize
they hold their breath and so ifyou ask people, do you sigh a
lot?
Invariably nine out of 10people will go yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
What were they go?
Speaker 1 (38:48):
No, no, oh wait, maybe I do.
People still work remote.
Every time you get on a phonecall, stand up.
Take the phone call standing up, not because you need to get
your heart rate up, but becauseyou need to give your body an
outlet because as we sit and donothing, we store stress.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
Yeah, you don't feel like you need as much oxygen.
You move around.
Your body will force you to getthat oxygen.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Yeah.
Or if you're just a go, go, go,go, go and there's no slow part
of your life, maybe, maybeyou're that person who needs the
stroll, Maybe you need to quitwalking a 13 minute mile and you
need to walk a 20 minute mile.
You know, walk with a toddler,they will slow you down.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
And amuse you.
That's good for the soul andamuse you.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Laughter is good for everything, for sure, but I
think it's important to justtake time to slow down.
We live at such a busy, fastpace.
We can cram so many things intoone day.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
And it's to our own detriment.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
What we all have to do, because so many of us you
know you feel like you don'thave time, you don't have enough
time and you don't feel likeyou have the time to slow down,
but you never get the time back.
So, what you do with the timeand how you choose to say hey, I
am going to take that strollbecause it's going to relax my
(40:15):
nervous system and make me moreproductive later, or I'm going
to stop and do some deepbreathing.
I am going to stop and just hey,find a rose and go smell it.
Stop and smell the roses.
When you slow down to make thattime, you create more time in
your day.
I mean not literally, but howyou use it is a lot more
effective and efficient.
And then you feel better aboutyour time and you create more
time in your day.
I mean not literally, but howyou use it is a lot more
effective and efficient.
(40:36):
And then you feel better aboutyour time and you won't be as
stressed later on in the day orthe next day.
It's important to take thattime.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Yeah.
So to address adrenal stress,you do have to look at diet.
If you're eating the standardAmerican diet, I do not feel
like you need a professional totell you you need to change your
diet, because the standardAmerican diet does not create
health period, it just doesn't.
(41:06):
So dietary changes that wouldinvolve including more
anti-inflammatory foods andanti-inflammatory foods
generally.
I mean it could mean differentthings for different people, but
it's going to be whole food.
I think we can start with thatright.
(41:27):
It's not going to be somethingprocessed.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
It is going to be a variety of colors.
Eat the rainbow.
I don't mean Fruit Loops.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Yeah, what Fruits and veggies, yeah, and Andrew
should really usually eat morevegetables than fruits, because
with adrenal stress, blood sugaroften gets out of control and
that's something we haven'treally touched on.
But people who get stressed andyou get these big cortisol
(41:57):
releases, you often see thatmetabolically, and when I say
metabolically, it's your energycreation and energy burning.
So thyroid, adrenal, pancreas,anything creating hormones is
going to suffer.
So not eating sugar would bereally important.
Maybe you're a person who needsa lot more animal protein and
(42:19):
maybe you're a person who doesreally well with keto, but
there's still good keto and badketo right, or dirty and clean
right.
But generally you need morewhole foods.
And if you don't know what yourdiet is, I just encourage
people don't intersperse healthyfood in your junk.
(42:41):
Devote three days.
That's not how it works Really.
Devote some time to exploring adifferent diet, because
sometimes you just have to tryit to know hey, hey, how do I
feel?
I think it's a good question tosay too how do I feel after I
eat meat.
Try a meal of just meat and seehow you feel.
(43:02):
How long did you stay full?
Did you get tired after you ate?
Did your liver hurt?
Did you have reflux?
Were you constipated?
Try a meal of vegetables.
How did you feel?
Were you full?
Were you gassy?
Did you get constipated?
Did you have undigested food inyour stool?
There's a lot of things you cando but use your body as a lab,
(43:26):
but definitely diet and stayingmore anti-inflammatory.
And then active relaxation,like we talked about.
Where you're, you know, walking, breathing exercises, just
giving yourself distractionsthroughout the day in a way that
helps you recenter yourself.
Speaker 2 (43:45):
Peaceful distractions and exercise, not, you know,
add type things.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
For sure the fidget, you know, the little fidget toys
, those I mean.
I just I feel like I want totake every adult that I see with
a fidget thing and say let's,let's talk about lifestyle,
let's talk about what you'reeating, because that is your
(44:13):
nervous systems on fire right.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
You're so ramped up.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
Yeah, yeah, there's so much better things we can do.
And then sleep adequate sleep,and you know what, elena?
One thing we didn't talk aboutthis just came to my mind is my
husband used to try to tell methis when we were first married
we got married when we weretoddlers, so we've been together
our entire lives.
(44:38):
I'm just kidding, but he usedto say I only need five or six
hours of sleep, I'm fine.
If I get too much sleep, I'mtired, and I was like there is
no way.
That is right, but our bodiesadapt and it still doesn't make
five, six hours Good.
Speaker 2 (44:55):
But what do we need?
What do you say?
Well, if you're going to getthe five hours of sleep, you
better make sure you're gettingthat sleep before midnight, but
don't you think.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
I mean I'd say seven to eight hours, no less than
seven.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
For most people, yeah , and I think people who think
they do okay on five hours justgot used to something that
they're calling normal versusYou're more prone to accidents.
Speaker 1 (45:20):
And disease.
Speaker 2 (45:23):
So you might think you're okay, but, yes, more
prone to having a car accidentor having all these health
issues that you just chalk up toage or I don't know, genetics.
Okay, well, what if you tookcare of this whole little
template, you got here a littlebit better and gave it rest.
Speaker 1 (45:40):
Yeah, rest is so important.
I always tell people I haveland and my dream is to build a
retreat center, and the firstretreat that I'm going to host
is going to be a sleep retreat,and I want it to be two weeks
and I want it to be.
People who have sleep issues um, of varying types.
(46:03):
The beautiful thing about thisland is you don't even get cell
phone reception.
It is in a it is in a it's notin a hole, but it's in a digital
hole, and I just think thatreprogramming our bodies to get
up with the sun, to go down withthe sun and to be grounded,
(46:26):
touching the ground, without thestimulation of EMFs around us,
it can do so much.
I think we're so out of touchwith our bodies and with the
land, but sleep's big.
And then the other thing.
So, yeah, active relaxation,exercise, food, but supplements.
And I think the supplementsthat I know I get asked the most
(46:47):
about B vitamins, for sure, butashwagandha, rhodiola and then
other things, ginseng, and sothis is a good time to kind of
go into ashwagandha and rhodiola.
They're considered adaptogenicherbs.
Right, they help you adapt, butashwagandha is very effective
(47:13):
at promoting relaxation orcalming stress and for anxious
people, but it's not going tomake you sleepy.
Now, rhodiola is better knownfor increasing your energy
levels, lifting your mood, sopeople who may be a little more
depressed, and it makes you alittle sharper mentally.
(47:37):
So I think you know if, ifyou're trying to pick yourself
up a little bit, you know like Ineed to be sharper, my memories
going or I just feel, you know,like a bump on a log feel like
a bump on a log, the rhodiolamay be the one for you, whereas
(47:58):
if you are wired and tired andjust anxious, the ashwagandha is
typically going to be better.
But those are just two.
They are two that get a lot ofattention.
So I just wanted to put thatout there.
But then we have other things.
We have like phosphatidylserineor phosphatidylcholine, we have
licorice root and ginseng andvitamin C and B complexes.
(48:19):
There are all of thesenutrients out there.
Homeopathic remedies we usehomeopathics, yeah, even flower
remedies.
Look up Bach flower remediesfor people who get stuck in an
emotional rut or they getfixated in a certain way.
(48:40):
Those can be very helpful justfor adjusting, just for giving
your body different informationto start working a little
differently.
But it's not any one of thosethings or all of them Sometimes,
or all of them, but I thinkthat you know, again, to working
(49:02):
with you know, like K6 WellnessCenter, it's getting somebody
to help you identify.
Hey, it appears you know thatyour, your stress is caused from
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And it seems that XYZ makes iteven worse.
However, you know, abc tends togive you pleasure, stress
(49:27):
release and I think sometimeshaving somebody objective from
the outside, speak into yoursituation, because I think we
overanalyze ourselves and weexcuse the things we don't want
to change and then sometimes wejust we just give up, yeah, yeah
and, and I think you know I didthat with my own health early
(49:50):
on when I didn't know what I wasdealing with.
I was in my 20s and I had youngchildren and I just thought I'm
a mother and this is just whatit's like and I'm tired, and
that shouldn't have been.
Speaker 2 (50:06):
No, no.
So really, the moral of thestory is get professional help,
you know, have someone who knowswhat to use and when to use it.
Come in and help you throughthat.
Otherwise you could keepyourself in a rut a lot longer
than you need to be.
Speaker 1 (50:30):
So you're our constant cheerleader, elena, you
tell me.
So, ending it up here, whatadvice would you give to someone
who's feeling totallyoverwhelmed by stress?
They're struggling to maintaintheir sanity, their job, their
family, their health, theirwellbeing?
What do you say?
Speaker 2 (50:52):
Something's got to give.
Is it going to be something youchoose or something life
chooses for you?
Yeah, it's every time.
You can keep trying to juggleeverything, but you're not going
to be able to keep it up.
And I don't say that in adefeatist kind of way, but it's
just.
The reality is you're not goingto be able to keep it up.
(51:14):
But look at what you cancontrol.
You can control what you areputting into your body, what you
are allowing to have an impacton your body and your
environment.
And when it goes beyond whatyou can control, get the help
through professionals, be it fornutrition or counseling, or
even someone to help you getstructure in your life.
(51:36):
If you need help figuring outhey, how do I plan meals just so
I can have a plan to eatsuccessfully and healthfully?
You know we we like to be thatcheerleader for you, not for
every aspect of it, but you know, as far as nutrition and food
goes, and just the rightsupplementation for the right
time, yeah.
Speaker 1 (51:57):
And I think for yeah, for those people out there who
are just wired and tired.
Right, you just keep burningthe candle at both ends.
Take the time to slow down now,while you can choose to do it,
choose what areas you're goingto do that in, so it can help
you to be more productive and itcan give you more time.
(52:21):
You know you want to live yourlife to the fullest.
Speaker 2 (52:26):
And I just want to mention real quick one of the
easiest things you can do whenyou're stressed.
What's that saying?
I'm not stressed, I'm blessed.
Speaker 1 (52:36):
Mine is I'm fine.
I'm fine, everything's fine.
Speaker 2 (52:40):
Finding things to be thankful for in your life will
help you step back, slow downand reevaluate everything.
Speaker 1 (52:47):
Yeah, absolutely, and get professional help.
I think we cannot say thatenough.
Yeah, having somebody else whoknows what to use and when to
use it, who has done thisforever, has seen it times
hundreds compared to what youhave, they can make a huge
(53:08):
difference in your recovery.
So, yeah, I think this is allgreat, it's so helpful, and so I
think this is a great place tokind of wrap it up on stress and
adrenals and our health.
But I do want to point out ourvirtual program is geared toward
brain fog and fatigue, whichalways has an adrenal component,
(53:34):
and so if you're looking evenif you don't live in the Dallas
area, if you're looking for helpwith this, we do this virtually
and we have a great program.
Um, lots of success with workingwith stress and healing your
hormones and helping withadrenal stress.
So I just encourage you to lookus up at k6wellnesscom.
(53:57):
But we hope that everybodyfound this information valuable.
We'd love to hear from you.
If you watch this episode onYouTube, please like and
subscribe to our channel and youcan also check us out on Rumble
Facebook and Instagram, and ifyou'd like more information
about how to manage your stresslevels, and you can also check
us out on Rumble, Facebook andInstagram, and if you'd like
(54:19):
more information about how tomanage your stress levels and
live your best life, visitk6wellnesscom to schedule an
appointment.
Until next time, take care ofyourself, because your health is
worth fighting for.
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