Stress & Creation Part II: 3 Scientific Reasons You and Stress Need to Break Up. Now.

Written by Stacy Berman

A question I always ask my clients is this: Are you a human being or a human doing?

Work. The commute. Kids. Family. Bills. Spouses. Deadlines. The news. Scrolling social media accounts purporting EVERYONE is doing life better than you and that you are basically trash. With all the relentless details that come with adulting, it is so easy to become attached to, surrounded by, and dependant on this mindset of “busy.”  Do something. Action above everything else.

But are we surviving or thriving? Moreover, do we even know the difference?

Our bodies do.

Stress might be the longest and most consistent relationship in your life, but I guarantee it is an abusive one. Dysfunctional and harmful, just because we know no other way to exist doesn’t mean stress is inevitable. It is not something we should simply accept as a prerequisite to a full adult life.

In my last article Stress - Survival or Creation I gave you the rundown of why stress is such a problem. Now let’s do a deeper dive.
 
Existing at a constant state of stress is not doing your body, your brain, or your life any favors. And I’m not discussing the woo-woo, self-love, “take-care-of-yourself” ideologies which most busy people swat away like an annoying mosquito. Self-care and sleep is for babies, right? But the more we learn about stress, the more we realize:  

a). Stress is doing serious damage on a biochemical and neurological level.
b). Our brains and bodies work better in a primarily stress-free environment.
c). Adulting in a primarily stress-free environment is NOT impossible.  Or at least our ability to bounce back from stress is not impossible. Seriously.  

So consider this an intervention. Stress sucks. Stress doesn’t care about you. You don’t need it. And regardless of its proliferation, its elimination from our lives should be priority right up there with diet and exercise.  

Why? So glad you asked!

Reason 1: The Biological Damage of Stress Explained

Okay, vocabulary word time!

I want to introduce you to your Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). Its function: “It supplies the internal organs, including the blood vessels, stomach, intestine, liver, kidneys, bladder, genitals, lungs, pupils, heart, and sweat, salivary, and digestive glands.” That’s a lot of important work. Think of it as a management position with tons of responsibility.  The ANS has two main divisions: Sympathetic and Parasympathetic.  (More vocab. Don’t worry, there’s no test at the end of this blog. But focus up, because I’m about to hit you with more!)

Think of stress in a car driving through these systems. The first stop is part of the parasympathetic nervous system called the ventral vagal complex (VVC). This part of the nervous system is termed the social engagement system and is one of the most recently developed parts of the human brain.  It is connected to the cranial nerves that mediate facial expressions and vocalizations. It helps us communicate our emotions both to ourselves and others. This is the first line of defense in stressful situations. For example: when you have an argument with your boss or a loved one what is one of the first things you want to do? Reach out to a coworker or best friend? Roll your eyes as your boss walks away? That is the ventral vagal complex in action.

If stress persists we go from VVC stimulation to what most people know as the stress response or the “fight or flight response” which is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system. It functions to mobilize energy to the limbs so that the organism can fight or flee. Blood rushes away from our vital organs to our muscles and cortisol and adrenaline are released into the bloodstream.  

If stress still has not been eliminated, (when/if we can’t fight or flee), the road trip continues  and we enter into our most primitive stress response known as “freeze” or “collapse.” This response is controlled by the Dorsal Vagal Complex (DVC).  It functions to immobilize the organism and is associated with metabolic conservation and shut down. Think when an animal “plays dead.” This is the part of the nervous system that is in charge.

Summed up: Stress follows this path through your nervous system: Social interaction, fight or flight, then finally playing dead.

Continual stress builds up cortical adrenal hormones in the body which are toxic over the long term and can cause or worsen dis-ease. If the stress becomes too overwhelming and our bodies don’t see a way out aka a way to fight or flight; our brains, then, are left with ONE choice: play dead. In other words: constant and overwhelming stress results in our brains reverting to the most primitive level of functionality: freeze. Conservation of metabolism. Shut down. This is when you get to “I just don’t care anymore.”

The more primitive the system we are functioning in, the more power it has to take over the overall functioning of the organism because it inhibits the more refined systems, such as social engagement and the executive functioning of the prefrontal cortex.  We become stressed out and/or numbed out which can lead to feelings of anxiety, depression, physical symptoms, helplessness and feelings of being stuck.

Which brings us to our next point:

Reason 2: Our Bodies and Brains Operate Better Without Stress.

If stress is simply a pretense to living, then why do our brains and bodies operate so much better without it?

Becoming resilient to stress does not mean we don’t experience it. It simply means we come back to center quicker and create practices and habits to release it so that it doesn’t build up in our bodies. I call this living creatively or in coherence.  

Everything good and useful that the brain does is dependent on its coherent functioning. Living creatively can create coherent brain wave patterns.  “Higher coherence, as measured in a number of scientific studies, is associated with more integrated and effective thinking and behavior, including greater intelligence, creativity, learning ability, emotional stability, ethical and moral reasoning, self-confidence and reduced anxiety. Higher coherence, as measured in a number of scientific studies, is associated with more integrated and effective thinking and behavior, including greater intelligence, creativity, learning ability, emotional stability, ethical and moral reasoning, self-confidence and reduced anxiety.

It is the same with our bodies. Back to our original statement of what the ANS does and how it’s basically management for internal organs: blood vessels, stomach, intestine, liver, kidneys, bladder, genitals, lungs, pupils, heart (yeah! Your heart! You kind of need that!), sweat, salivary, and digestive glands. With all of that responsibility, we want our ANS not only functional, but functioning well.

Have you ever had the misfortune of being at a restaurant or store when there was no management in the building? It’s usually chaos. Or not functioning at all. This is basically what we do to our bodies when we marinate our brains in a tub of stress and keep it there.

Ready to let stress go but don’t even know where to start? Start here.

Reason 3: The Break Up: You actually CAN Live Without Stress. Here is How.  

De-stressing techniques aren’t only for the the granola and yoga crowd. They are for all of us. Below are two simple ways to get out of stress  response and move your brain and body towards coherence/creativity:

If you are in “fight or flight” - sympathetic stress:

1. Signs you are in “Fight or Flight:” poor digestion, infrequent pooping, poor sleeping patterns. When you are in sympathetic mode all resources get redirected to the limbs so you can fight or flee. Your body isn’t interested in metabolizing food, digesting or eliminating. It’s interested in surviving. So if you don’t poop regularly that could be an indicator that your are in sympathetic mode. As cortical adrenal hormones in your body increase, melatonin -- the hormone that helps you sleep -- decreases. Which makes sense if you think about it. Your body wants to get away or fight when it perceives a threat not go to sleep.
2. How to combat this type of stress: Try box breathing. Inhale for a count of four, hold the inhale for a count of four, exhale for a count of four, hold the exhale for a count of four. Continue breathing in this way until you feel notice a shift in the sensations you associate with stress.
3. Why does it work: In a state of stress, the breathing becomes shallow and rapid. Practicing this breathing “tricks” your nervous system into thinking “I can’t be stressed because my breathing is deep and full.” Eventually, you turn on the parasympathetic nervous system aka rest and digest. This is where the body is able to rest, recover and heal.  

If you are in immobilization - DVC

1. Signs you are in Immobilization: constantly cold, especially in yours hands and toes. When you are in freeze mode your metabolism is literally slowing down so resources aren’t being sent to your limbs but instead are being redirected to the vital organs. Your limbs, not being vital organs, don’t get as much blood and nutrients and you experience this as cold hands.
2. How to combat this stress: One simple technique is what Dr. Peter Levine calls the tapping exercise. In this exercise you begin by gently tapping your left hand with the fingers of your right hand. Do this as many times as needed to get sense back to that part of the body. Continue this process of tapping on each body part and major muscle group until you can sense yourself again. This brings the focus and sensation back to the body.  
3. Why does it work: In the freeze or immobilization phase of stress, body dissociation or “numbing” is often a result. You may not even notice this if stress is your absolute baseline and your body doesn’t know any other method of being. You lose connection with your body. The tapping exercise re-establishes this connection and allows you to become aware of subtle sensations and feelings.

Building a stress-free life isn’t going to happen overnight. Like incorporating the gym and leafy greens into your life, it takes practice, repetition, diligence, and dedication. And it reaps the exact same benefits: feeling better, looking younger, living longer. Break up with stress today. Trust me, there are better relationships out there. The best one you will discover is with yourself.  
In the next article, we will cover the types of “body stress,” how they affect the way you think and feel and ways to detox so you can move toward creation.

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For over 20 years Stacy Berman has been teaching people how to get in shape, eat healthy and create balance. Her extensive training in Tae Kwon Doe, Capoeira, kickboxing and bootcamp drills have led her to a deep understanding of the body and its movements. As a student of the world, she has learned to combine an intense physical practice with movement meditation for an elevated state of health.

Soon after her creating Stacy's Boot Camp, the first boot camp in NYC, Stacy realized food was the foundation for creating a sound mind in a sound body. She threw herself into nutrition with a passion,  became a certified nutrition specialist and worked with thousands of busy New Yorkers to figure out what worked and what didn’t. With feet on the ground practice Stacy created The System by Stacy Berman to help herself, her clients, and the world at large achieve a higher, more meaningful level of health and fitness.

Since creating The System, Stacy has gone on to receive a PhD in Natural Medicine and is presently writing a book Love Yourself Naked: The Science of Self Perception, Spirituality and Weight Loss that combines over twenty years in the health and fitness industries with scientific research to reveal how our thoughts affect the way we feel. Stacy is truly a forerunner in the mind - body holistic health movement with tens of thousands of hours of real life experience.