The body is always working for you— Importance of Neurological Safety
My first experience seeing the role the nervous system had in wellness was in 2010 when I had adrenal fatigue.
I blamed it on work stress and food sensitivities and years of corticosteroids use. I thought if I could remove the stress, eat clean, and take adrenal supplements I would feel better.
I didn’t realize that the nervous system responded better to not “taking away” stress but adding more opportunities and experience to feel safe. That is how it checks the sympathetic stress pattern, that is how we build resilience and flexibility of the ANS.
Looking back now, a lot of what actually was leading to the adrenal fatigue was restricted eating.
Then the next 10yrs I had even more stress and trauma- a lot of loss and grief. As the stress increased the weight increased.
Over time my nervous system equated high stress with restricted eating. So in the last few years, at the slightest increase in stress my body would almost instantly gain weight. As if, it was like oh hey we know this pattern, so we are preparing to be starved so let’s store fat.
That is actually amazing. That is how intelligent the body is. It sees a pattern that is directly related to survival and it adapts to protect you. For example at the beginning of the pandemic I gained 20lbs in 1 month despite only eating about 1400cals/day on average.
That’s when I really realized I was missing something. The most fundamental piece of creating safety and survival for the nervous system= eating enough calories (and protein). That’s when I looked for help and started working with @ashleykpardo.
I increased my calories and protein, and reacquainted myself with the messages from my body around hunger and fullness. I noticed how when stress increased, I naturally lost my appetite. But now, I know to keep eating. It was as if I could feel my nervous system take a deep breath and say thank you.
It’s been slow, all healing journeys are. But for the first time maybe ever I don’t feel like I am fighting with my body. And that is liberating.
Our body has a lot of wisdom and can heal itself. When we can recognize that, and work with it, that is when the magic happens.
My first experience seeing the role the nervous system had in wellness was in 2010 when I had adrenal fatigue.
I blamed it on work stress and food sensitivities and years of corticosteroids use. I thought if I could remove the stress, eat clean, and take adrenal supplements I would feel better.
I didn’t realize that the nervous system responded better to not “taking away” stress but adding more opportunities and experience to feel safe. That is how it checks the sympathetic stress pattern, that is how we build resilience and flexibility of the ANS.
Looking back now, a lot of what actually was leading to the adrenal fatigue was restricted eating.
Then the next 10yrs I had even more stress and trauma- a lot of loss and grief. As the stress increased the weight increased.
Over time my nervous system equated high stress with restricted eating. So in the last few years, at the slightest increase in stress my body would almost instantly gain weight. As if, it was like oh hey we know this pattern, so we are preparing to be starved so let’s store fat.
That is actually amazing. That is how intelligent the body is. It sees a pattern that is directly related to survival and it adapts to protect you. For example at the beginning of the pandemic I gained 20lbs in 1 month despite only eating about 1400cals/day on average.
That’s when I really realized I was missing something. The most fundamental piece of creating safety and survival for the nervous system= eating enough calories (and protein). That’s when I looked for help and started working with @ashleykpardo.
I increased my calories and protein, and reacquainted myself with the messages from my body around hunger and fullness. I noticed how when stress increased, I naturally lost my appetite. But now, I know to keep eating. It was as if I could feel my nervous system take a deep breath and say thank you.
It’s been slow, all healing journeys are. But for the first time maybe ever I don’t feel like I am fighting with my body. And that is liberating.
Our body has a lot of wisdom and can heal itself. When we can recognize that, and work with it, that is when the magic happens.
The whole story:
