Movement and exercise have been shown to have a plethora of benefits but I’ve found it to be incredible for boosting my energy, mood and motivation. Too many people come into my office saying they once were runners then they stopped because of life, kids, work demands and injuries then their health started to decline and now they do not exercise at all. If they could just run again they know they would get that endorphin hit and feel better but they are too tired to exercise. Why do I see this over and over again? Exercise keeps our stress in check by keeping our heart rate variability high and allowing us to respond better and adapt faster to stressful situations. If we adapt better we will have better moods, more energy and be able to socialize better. Sedentary lifestyles and lack of social connection lower our ability to adapt to stress. In this episode Doc J tells her own story of how she stopped thinking of exercise as a weight loss tool and turned exercise into a daily social event to help her manage stress, maintain her motivation to workout, and boost her energy all while keeping her HRV in check.
What You’ll Learn In Today’s Episode:
The strength of your vagus nerve determines how you react to pain how you recover from stress, and workouts in addition to how well you are able to balance your mood. Your vagus nerve is in control of your heart rate and it's variability. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a great body check in tool that lets you know how well you are managing stress. Your ability to keep your HRV stable is associated with improved mood, increased desire for social interaction and focused thinking. The lower your HRV is the harder it is for you to adapt to stressors in your environment, making you more likely to develop mood disorders, isolate yourself socially, be more fatigued, and have chronic pain. Becoming more in tune with your body’s signals is a great way to monitor your health. When you are more in tune with your body’s stress triggers you are able to make interventions to improve well being. In this episode Doc J breaks down how paying attention to your HRV is a great systems check in tool to help your get to know your body’s signals better so that you can keep your pain, mood and mental sharpness dialed in for life.
What You’ll Learn In Today’s Episode:
The strength of your vagus nerve can determine how intensely stress affects you. Ever wondered how and why stress can make you physically sick in many ways? There is a strong connection between gut inflammation and anxiety related to stress and it starts with the vagus nerve’s involvement in the neuro-immune system. The vagus nerve is a nerve that comes directly from the brain and has connections to and from the heart, lungs, ear, tongue, throat, esophagus, stomach, intestines, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, kidney, ureters, spleen, female reproductive organs. With all those connections it’s no wonder that the effects of stress on the body are vast. In this episode Doc J breaks down the connection between chronic inflammation, stress and how they combine to cause an overactive neuro-immune system.
What You’ll Learn In Today’s Episode:
Is it the full moon, the weather or does everyone cycle through anxious, depressed pissed off hot mess states? Have you ever been so worked up that everything seemed spinning out of control? Ever noticed that there seems to be a rhythm and cyclical pattern to the ebb and flow of feeling ok and out of control? In this episode Doc J breaks down reasons for why we cycle in and out of control and how to get off the crazy train.
What You’ll Learn In Today’s Episode: