Stress Your Way To Health

Every human experiences “stress” on a daily basis. Stress is often demonized, but it is a natural part of life and human bodies need it for optimal function. Memory, immunity, and the mechanisms that go into growth and repair of our bodies are all enhanced with stress. The question is: does YOUR use of stress help or hinder you?

There are many internal chemicals that are part of the stress response, but I will primarily focus on two important ones: cortisol and adrenaline. For clarification, adrenaline and epinephrine are the same neuromodulator but released in different parts of the body. Epinephrine is released from neurons in the brain, and adrenaline is released from the adrenals located just above the kidneys. Epinephrine and adrenaline are identical, and if you think about it, it must be very important to our bodies because it is released in two very different locations.

As you move through the 24-hour period of a day, you are guaranteed to experience periods of cortisol and adrenaline release. This is a given no matter how calm or stressed you are. By timing how you choose to release them and preparing for how you react to stressful stimuli, you can create conditions that favor homeostatic balance.

I use three specific tools with my clients to ramp up cortisol and adrenaline spikes in the morning after waking up. This is best done before adding food calories and other chemical-activating substances like caffeine. As a result, bodies learn to naturally use internal processes efficiently, unmanipulated by exogenous substances. Additionally, the release of cortisol and adrenaline increases alertness for concentration and focus. This is useful if used naturally, because coffee drinkers can save their caffeine jolt for later in the morning to avoid the postprandial dip of fatigue that many people notice after eating lunch.

Tool one: Get up at the same time daily. This is one of the best things you can do for your health, and it is often the first behavior I address with sleep clients to obtain sleep success. Scientific research has traced circadian timing to the cellular level - in other words, every cell in your body is encoded to operate in the natural 24-hour cycle of the day. Every organ and process we experience from digestion, to growth and repair, to learning, to our senses are primed to work best if we follow predictable patterns based on sunlight and darkness. With repetition, the cortisol/adrenaline systems of the human body will naturally time releases in conjunction to a consistent wake-up time, and there is a correlative link to consistent wake-ups and longevity.

Tool two: Light exposure after waking up is a great way to fast-track a natural adrenaline and cortisol spike. The best light is natural light in the eastern sky before the sun is too intense. Obviously, looking straight into the sun is not recommended, but getting indirect morning light exposure is such a great gift to your nervous system. A good goal is to get eastern light exposure within 30 minutes or less after you awaken. Looking east through a window takes up to 50 times longer to get the same lux energy to activate your system, in comparison to going outside. Spending 5-10 minutes without sunglasses is excellent. When you view light, your suprachiasmatic nucleus, the time-keeper of your brain and body, senses the light exposure and triggers a dynamic reaction where corticotropin releasing hormone activates the pituitary to release ACTH, cascading to the adrenals to release cortisol and adrenaline. This release causes the human body to want to move, not rest, and hunger is suppressed. This is great, because it fits well with my next suggestion.

Tool three: Exercise is essentially “controlled stress.” Through exercise, your heart rate increases, blood circulates faster, respirations increase, and your body’s internal temperature rises, similar to what might happen if you encountered a lion on a jungle trail. Exercise has a profound impact on adrenaline and cortisol, which aids in the transition from being asleep to awake, improves focus, energy levels, and learning throughout the day. Additionally, it decreases the likelihood of late-day surges in cortisol which is a signature feature of mental health disorders including major depression, anxiety, and insomnia.

Now that your day is off to a good start, you are chemically prepared to experience inevitable stressors. An irritable child or spouse, frustration with technology, traffic jams, financial concerns, preparing for a presentation, or seeing a disturbing story on the news - these will cause increases in cortisol and adrenaline. This can and should be expected as a natural part of life. During these stressful times, cortisol and adrenaline flood your body and bind to receptors in the brain like the amygdala, and other areas connected to learning, memory, and neuroplasticity. We are designed to be this way neurologically, because we need alertness, and ability to act to potentially respond to danger. This is also a great opportunity to reframe and learn to react to stimuli in a desirable manner. Start with recognizing your common internal and external stressors, and the patterns that are characteristic of these events. The secret is to prepare your real-life reaction so that you are not in a state of chronic cortisol or adrenaline elevation. I have so many tools available for times like these, and I would love to share more if you are interested.

Finally, as you are ending your day and preparing for sleep, you need to continue to be cognizant of adrenaline and cortisol. On a chemical level, your body does not distinguish the difference between reacting to a facebook post and that lion on the jungle trail. Late night use of technology, exposure to bright lights after the sun has set, stressful work projects, or even ruminating thoughts while in bed before sleep will all have a corresponding impact on your sleep and also your overall health. Preparing a sleep hygiene routine that includes light awareness, cut-offs on technology and social media, and ways to manage stressful thoughts is an excellent strategy.

I love connecting with people on ways to improve health and wellness. If you find inspiration from this, are concerned about your stress levels, or have any questions, please consider reaching out for a complimentary meeting.

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Simple Sleep Assessment

By Ben Mooney • August 9, 2023

Having trouble sleeping? Please consider taking 2-3 minutes to answer the following seven questions. This assessment is from Bastien et al. Insomnia Severity Index, Copyright 2001. Rate the current SEVERITY of any sleep issues, based on your last two weeks of sleep. None Mild Moderate Severe Very 1. Difficulty falling asleep 0 1 2 3 4 2. Difficulty staying asleep 0 1 2 3 4 3. Problem waking up too early 0 1 2 3 4 4. How satisfied/dissatisfied are you with your current sleep patterns? Very Satisfied Very Dissatisfied 0 1 2 3 4 5. To what extent do you consider any potential sleep problems to INTERFERE with your daily functioning (e.g. daytime fatigue, ability to function at work/daily chores, concentration, memory, mood, etc.). Not at all A little Somewhat Much Very Much 0 1 2 3 4 6. How NOTICEABLE to others do you think any potential sleeping issues are in terms of impairing your quality of life? Not at all A little Somewhat Much Very Much 0 1 2 3 4

The Physiological Sigh

By Ben Mooney • August 9, 2023

I have grown to love The Huberman Lab Podcast and Breathwork. I had such profound experiences with breathwork that I decided to take the training to become a breathwork facilitator. I believe breath is such a powerful tool to regulate our nervous systems; perhaps one of the most powerful ones we possess. The Physiological Sigh is something that everyone can use in real time. It works, and there is a great biological explanation. Andrew Huberman PhD. talks extensively about the Physiological Sigh in The Huberman Lab, and I am so excited to share this information! If you are stressed, it’s great to get a massage, soak in hot springs, go for a run, or go to yoga, but in reality, you often experience emotional turmoil in the moment. Which is why it's so important to have a tool for that moment. It is very hard to control your mind when you are in intense states of stress. Good luck being intentional or channeling inner wisdom of mindfulness at the exact moment something is driving you crazy. What do you do? Perhaps you have just enough mental capacity to temporarily think about your response before you react. You need a real time tool. I will try not to get too geeky, but there is a great biological component to this. First, a simple explanation: If you want to slow down your heart, lengthen your exhales in relation to the inhales. Calming your nervous system can happen quickly through a long exhale. Priming the exhale with an oxygenated inhale will help deliver oxygen to your blood and eliminate carbon dioxide. Finally, using the skeletal muscles of the diaphragm is a tool to fast-track this process. If this information is good enough, feel free to skip the next three paragraphs, and jump ahead to learn how to incorporate the Physiological Sigh as a reaction to in-the-moment stress. Breath controls heart rate through reactions between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. When you inhale, your diaphragm moves down as your lungs and heart temporarily expand. As a result, the blood in your heart is at a lower volume than prior to your inhale (in relation to the space in the heart), and your heart moves more slowly. The SA (sinoatrial) node in your heart registers the rate of blood flow, and acts as the pacemaker for your heartbeat. The SA node is constantly trying to achieve a balance of pressure and optimal oxygen distribution of blood throughout your body. A longer inhale causes the SA node to send a signal to your brain that blood is moving more slowly to your heart. The brain sends a return signal to the heart to speed up the heart rate to produce more oxygenated blood flow to muscles throughout your body. Therefore, if you want your heart to beat faster, inhale more vigorously than your exhales. Additionally, if inhales are completed over longer time periods than your exhales, you speed up heart rate. This creates a sympathetic activation response and is a great tool if you need to increase your attention or if you are tired (Journal of General Physiology, 9/13/10 136(3) 237-241, H. Peter Larson). The opposite is also true. If you want to slow down your heart rate and calm yourself, capitalize on the relationship between heart rate, diaphragm, and brain. When you exhale, the diaphragm moves up and gets smaller. The blood volume of the heart is flowing faster through the heart, and the SA node recognizes the faster flow of blood. The SA node sends a message to the brain to slow the heart rate. The parasympathetic nervous system is activated in your brain, via the vagus nerve and baroreceptors in the arteries as well as its relational connection to the diaphragm, and it sends a return signal to slow your heart down. Take a long exhale to calm yourself. Now, let's focus on your lungs for a moment. Think about how you breathe when you experience stress - often it is shallow. You have tiny sacks in your lungs called alveoli. The job of alveoli is to expand and contract as oxygen is inhaled and circulated into your blood. When you are stressed, the alveoli tend to collapse and are not as efficient. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide builds up in your bloodstream, increasing agitation. Your body will want to replenish the blood with rich oxygen and clear out the carbon dioxide at this time. Finally, the diaphragm is unique because it has the ability to be subconsciously controlled through natural processes similar to your spleen, pancreas, intestines, or stomach, AND as mentioned earlier, you can also voluntarily expand and contract your diaphragm with skeletal muscle control. You don't need to think about breathing, but you have the choice to override and manipulate your breath. As a result, you can do double or triple inhales and control the timing of your breathing for speed, capacity, and duration. Through a double inhale, you can efficiently re-inflate the alveoli, and cue your nervous system to focus on intentionally moving out of the shallow breathing pattern. The Physiological Sigh: Double inhale - first for one second, with your second inhale shortly after for ½ to ¾ of a second - to sneak in more air. Hold for several seconds, then perform a long exhale. Through my breathwork training, I learned if you combine your long exhale with a hum or audible sound, and you recruit the superpowers of the vagus nerve (your 10th cranial nerve and the longest and most complex of all cranial nerves) for a deeper calming effect - but this may not be appropriate in the middle of a staff meeting. Repeat this 1-3 times, or more until you gain your desired result or at least enough to find mental clarity to calm your reaction. The double inhale reinflates the alveoli fully in your lungs and the long exhale rids your body of the carbon dioxide, modulating your stress response through slowing your heart rate and calming your nervous system. This is a fast, hard-wired way to lower your internal reaction to stress the moment you experience it. I would recommend practicing it so it becomes immediate. Think of moments where you find yourself to be stressed and imagine using your physiological sigh as you proceed through that moment. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse so it becomes more instinctual. This can be applied during weight lifting, at times of the day when you intentionally want to relax, as part of a calming routine before sleep, and certainly if you are triggered in the moment of a life stressor.