Stressed? Digestion not feeling great? Or just plain exhausted….you may be sympathetic dominant
Sympathetic dominance is a fancy phrase used to describe your body secreting more cortisol (stress hormone) and adrenaline from the adrenal cortex than it should.
Let’s back up for a second and talk about the nervous system.
The nervous system is a connection of nerves, neurons and other receptors which allows our body to connect and sense with the internal and external world.
The nervous system can be broken up in two sections, the central (CNS) and peripheral nervous systems. The CNS is where we have the spinal cord and the brain neural networks.
When it comes to stress, the brain, particularly the parts called the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland located in the back of the brain play an important role. More specifically these along with the adrenal glands form what is called the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis or HPA axis.
This system is integral in the communication of when and how much of the hormones get secreted to support the body in a stressful situation.
Okay.. so what is a stressful situation? Well back in the stone age, it would be getting chased by a tiger, but nowadays it can look like getting stuck in traffic on the way to work, making a presentation in front of your teammates or trying to buy limited tickets to a Fred Again concert (if you know you know).
Our lives are currently BUSY. Hustle culture hopefully is fading out, but our dreams are still big and we need to work for them.
So, when we are in a constant state of stress or in fight or flight mode we stimulate the HPA-axis pathway, where then cortisol is secreted to help the body fight. When this happens, our body thinks it is not safe to conduct regular processes like sleep, digestion or even reproduction.
This can then be linked to getting an upset stomach, constant thoughts and worrying, struggling to get to sleep or irregular periods just to name a few.
So what can we do about this?
We need to find ways to RELAX. Or get our bodies in the rest and digest state aka parasympathetic state. This can look like going to the beach, reading a book, watching Netflix or simply listening to music.
If you are time poor, maybe listening to a 5 minute meditation is all you can manage for the day and that is okay. It’s about being still, relaxing and allowing your body to feel safe.
We can also support our bodies through nutrition, by adding proteins to help with the repair of cell and muscle damage or fats which can help healthy brain function and hormone secretion to improve your mood.
There is also a classification of herbs that are amazing called adaptogens. These herbs help your body adapt to stress, in turn you secrete less cortisol and adrenaline and may even feel cool as a cucumber. These can include Withania (Ashwagandha), Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) and Schisandra (Schisandra chinensis).
If you get one thing out of this, let it be; the world will always continue to move, but your health including your body and your mind are the most important thing to take care of. So get that extra hour of sleep, watch that Netflix show and do things which feel good for YOU.