A common complaint with Western medicine is that patients feel their doctors don’t believe them. “I tell them what hurts. They draw labs, do an X-ray or MRI, and tell me I’m fine.” Patients feel like it must be all in their heads, as if their “head” is not connected to the larger whole body or, in fact, as if the head is not the body's control center.
Our minds and bodies are powerful and interconnected systems. It is fascinating that we sometimes accept that what happens in the mind has a direct physiological effect on the body and other times deny this possibility entirely.
Consider this example: You are alone in your room with the lights off and hear a noise, even though you thought you were home alone. What might happen inside your body? Your attention turns to the source of the sound, your heart rate increases, your mind starts racing, and you begin to wonder, "Didn't I lock the door?" Your breath becomes rapid and shallow. Why? Because you have just become aware that you might be in danger, and your body is preparing to fight or run. Now, when you flip the light on and realize your cat has walked into the room and not a murderous villain, you begin to relax.
In this example, it’s easy to see that even though the threat turned out to be “all in your head,” your body had a very normal and physical reaction to what it perceived as a potential threat. That makes sense. What the mind believed to be true created a response in the body, and you had no conscious control over it.
Let's consider a different scenario. Imagine waking up every morning feeling like you didn't sleep a wink. You assume you did sleep because you were unconscious, but you feel exhausted as usual. You pour yourself a cup of coffee, struggle through a HITT workout to lose 5 lbs. of belly fat, and grab your Starbucks order before heading out. Even though you feel hungry, there's a knot in your stomach after eating. You routinely feel dyspeptic and have learned to live with constant, slight nausea, regardless of what you eat. Every night before bed, you take some Gaviscon and repeat the same routine the following day. Although you don't like how you feel, your doctor and the GI specialist have only diagnosed some acid reflux and said that otherwise, you are in excellent health. Could it just be your age?
This is an example of the negative impact of chronic stress. In the past, our bodies alternated between the sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) states, activating one or the other as needed. When facing a threat, the body would prioritize hypervigilance, sacrificing sleep to survive. Digestion would be deprioritized as blood flow redirected to the extremities for potential escape. In a life-threatening situation, the focus is not on the next meal, so the body stores excess fat for future use. Once again, regardless of the reality, the mind's perception of the situation profoundly affects the body's physiology.
In our modern society of "go, go, go," where we are expected to do more with less, and some people even judge those who choose not to participate, we have forgotten to ask an important question: just because we can do something, should we? Should we work 12-18 hours a day just because we can? Should we push ourselves harder? What about our need to rest and relax? What about finding balance in our lives? Anyone who dares to ask these questions might be considered weak or not a team player. So, perhaps you missed your child's game or a date night with your spouse to continue pushing through. Also, you start asking if you can take a pill to help with sleeping better, losing weight, and feeling less nauseous all the time.
Not really, but I can offer you other solutions that are less passive than taking a pill. I can help you work to reset your nervous system so you feel safe in your body. A simple place to start is by acknowledging where you are pushing too hard. For example, did you do a 24-hour shift but promise to do all your workouts still, no matter what? Let yourself sleep in and restart the next day. If you're having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, try taking 5 minutes before bed to sit quietly with the lights off. Inhale through your nose for a count of 3, and then exhale loudly for a count of 6. Once that feels comfortable, increase the inhale to a count of 4 and exhale through the mouth for a count of 8.
Just remember – your mind and body can work with each other or against each other. Which sounds better to you?
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Want personalized recommendations to help you reduce stress and live with more balance and ease? Schedule an integrative medicine consult with me today.
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