Stress and the Adrenals
Did you know that humans are designed to operate about 80% of the time in a parasympathetic state of the autonomic nervous system and 20% of the time utilizing the sympathetic state? This simply means that 80% of our time is designed to be doing things like relaxing, eating, digesting, having sex...things that involve no stress. The 20%, when the sympathetic system kicks in, is fight or flight... you know, running from tigers and wrestling alligators. How many of you are spending more than 20% of your time in high stress situations? Everyone, right?!
So what happens is that the adrenal glands get over worked pumping out adrenaline and cortisol and effectively creating imbalances in body systems. You may notice this when experiencing symptoms like bloating, poor digestion, insomnia, headaches, heart palpitations, belly fat build up and so on. When the adrenals are overworked other issues are created like high blood pressure, IBS, eczema...chronic issues which are a result of undernourished adrenals. Poor diet, caffeine and other factors also add to the despairing adrenals.
The key is to boost your adrenals by bringing them back into balance. And in doing so we must also learn to attempt to arrange our lifestyles so that the 80/20 is closer achieved. Learning to relax can be very difficult. Changing diet is also quite challenging. In an effort to guide you towards herbs that are conducive to nourishing the adrenals you can look to Vervain for 'letting go', which partners well with Milky Oat Tops for a healthy alternative to feeding the nervous system. Borage is an excellent herb for those that become exhausted because they 'can't say NO', Ashwaganda is an excellent adrenal tonic particularly for nervous/anxious types, Skullcap excellent choice for those that get 'hot and bothered' and irritable under pressure, and California Poppy for children and adults who cannot 'switch off'. Poppy brings out light-heartedness.
By remedying one body system we create a domino effect in the bodies healing process. If you would like to try any of these herbs to bring better balance into your life, seek out a good quality of fresh or dried herb. Ordering online is easy at mountainroseherbs.com or starwest-botanicals.com
*Credit to Clinical Herbalist, Pamela Spence