The relationship between stress and illness is complex and how it affects individuals vary based on many factors including genetics, mental and emotional states, support system and even how our parents dealt with stress. While in a stressed out state, aka as survival, we assess the seriousness and then determine if we have the resources to resolve the problem. If we don't feel like we have the resources for "survival", that is when problems can ensue, from numbing the thoughts, engaging in unhealthy behaviors or retreating from life. Initially, stress can be positive and helps us to perform at optimal levels. One result is our brain becomes sharper as we engage beta brain waves to help us problem-solve. It can also improve performance in the athletic arena. But, when we are in a chronic state of fight or flight, it can cause decreased immune function, poor blood flow to GI tract & reproductive areas and can even be responsible for things like osteoporosis! Meditation is considered one of the optimal ways to reduce stress. The problem for many is the inability to "turn the brain/thoughts off", leading to frustration and giving up. There are many meditation styles that are very effective and it just might mean trying them until you find the one that resonates with you. For me, I was a "meditator" for years...at least I thought I was. I would sit for at least 20 minutes 4 to 5 times per week but never fully able to let go of my thoughts. I would get bored and stop. Maybe if I had "sat" longer, I would have gotten "there". The only time I felt I was able to go deep and let go of my monkey brain was after a very long and difficult yoga practice. This is one of the reasons I truly love working with brainwave entrainment. I learned through the Stress Response Evaluation in 2012, that my brain was overengaging "beta", even while I was trying to meditate. There was a physical reason to my barrier to meditate deeply. After using the brainwave entrainment device for about a month, I was able to easily let go of my thoughts and meditate. This helped me immediately reduce my levels of stress and even sleep deeper. About a year after using this for the first time, I redid my Stress Response Evaluation and sure enough, my beta levels were lower while trying to relax with my eyes closed and my alpha (meditative brainwaves) were higher when they were supposed to be! The image above reflects the changes in an individual's brain after just one session with the brainwave entrainment device I use! This is not unusual and I see these responses all the time. It truly is life changing. Reference: Life Event, Stress and Illness
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You've probably been seeing a lot of information about how the ketogenic diet is the best for a healthier body. Being in ketosis is the result of sticking with a ketogenic diet and using intermittent fasting. You can either go strict keto or modified but either way, you will start noticing many health changes. They include:
Being in ketosis has also been shown to decrease seizures because of the decrease of inflammation. There are many researchers who also believe that being in ketosis could also help neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Check out books by Dr. David Perlmutter, who has done his own research as to how eating healthy fats and avoiding carbs could help improve heart health and memory.
Going keto takes a specific mind-set to get started. Eating snacks and meals with healthy fats will diminish sugar cravings. To have a quick guide to going keto, click here. Many people discover that supplementing with ketones help them to make that transition by decreasing sugar cravings and getting into ketosis immediately. To try supplementing with ketones, click here. Some good books to check out are: The Keto Diet: The Complete Guide to a High-Fat Diet, with More Than 125 Delectable Recipes and 5 Meal Plans to Shed Weight, Heal Your Body, and Regain Confidence The Ketogenic Bible: The Authoritative Guide to Ketosis (great book for going deep into the science) Do you have a complicated relationship with the holidays? I think many of us do. It can be such a magical time of year, spending time with family and friends surrounded by twinkling lights, good food, and thoughtful gifts. It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Putting decorations on Christmas trees, driving through neighborhoods full of carefully curated light displays, warm mugs of spiced beverages, long talks in front of fireplaces, Christmas concerts put on by kindergarteners, and time well spent with people we love. There is a kind of magic in the air this time of year. But along with all the best parts of the holidays, there is another side of the coin; one that may be affecting your brain health. Stress is ever-present for many people throughout the holiday season. We have come to accept holiday stress as normal, to the detriment of our wellness. The good news is that there are many things we can do to deactivate the body’s stress response. First, let’s look at where holiday stress most often comes from:
Here are five ways you can counteract stress and support your brain health this December:
Chronic stress (and pain) sufferers tend to have a faster heart and breathing rate and can feel that they have difficulty taking a deep breath. Some notice that their hands and feet are cold…even in the summer. Others might also have digestive issues or a racing mind. Or, if you’re like me, you had all of these problems. When we’re in “fight or flight”, our body tends to take shallow and short breaths. To change this, we can do deep, belly breathing. I have discovered that if you’ve been having shortness or breath for awhile, it can take some practice to do belly breathing. Start by lying on your back with a book on the lower part of your belly. As you breathe in, try to push the book towards the ceiling. When you’ve pushed the book out as far as you can, hold it for a few seconds then slowly exhale allowing the book to “fall” towards the floor. Ideally, you should be able to initially do this for a count of 4 breaths in, hold for 4, 8 breaths out then hold for 4. Using your thoughts to warm your hands and feet is another great "biofeedback" tool to help with stress. There are two ways you can do this. Either, picture yourself lying on the beach with the sun baking your hands and feet. Listen to the waves and the sounds of seagulls. For many people, this image will allow their hands to warm and they will suddenly feel relaxed. For others that aren't beach lovers, you might just want to envision yourself doing or feeling something that helps you with stress. Maybe it's a walk in the forest or on a mountain? Or if you love the river, maybe you love kayaking or sitting on the rocks on the riverbank listening to the birds sing to each other. Don't give up if you don't feel the changes instantly. It can take time at first but when it happens, you'll have learned how to de-stress no matter where you are! ~ Dr. Nancy It’s common knowledge that stress can cause health problem including sleep problems. According to a recent article, researchers are finding that poor sleep has been linked to “cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, obesity and poor mental health among other health problems.” Stress is also connected with chronic pain too. This article goes on to state that 8 hours of sleep is “non-negotiable” to stay healthy. How many people do you know get 8 hours of sleep per night? And how many people get into a deep, REM sleep (delta)? Would you like to learn how you can get a great night's sleep easily, without drugs with harmful side effects? Stress is related to difficulty sleeping or poor quality sleep because most people have an “overproduction” of the thinking (beta) brainwaves. We are in a frequent if not constant state of “fight or flight” and this causes us to be thinking about how to get out of stress more often than not, causing this increase of beta. Our brain needs a rest from the stress. When stress was not as constant as it is now, our brain would go through various brainwave states during the day including meditative (alpha) like when we sit quietly or go for a walk and theta, which is the creative and light sleep brainwaves. We need a healthy amount of theta to get into a deep, delta sleep. Over time, constant stress causes our brain to forget how to raise these other brainwave states keeping us “stuck” in beta (thinking). It becomes ingrained, like a bad habit. Unfortunately, just trying to raise those other brainwave states becomes harder – the longer we’ve experienced stress. When this happens, it's pretty impossible to get into a deep, delta sleep. Did you ever try to sit quietly and find it almost impossible to still your mind? When you go to sleep, do you find your head filled with thoughts, or wake up and have difficulty falling back to sleep? Do you find that you aren’t as creative as you used to be? Do you notice that maybe it’s harder to let go of something that’s troubling you? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then more than likely you are in a beta dominant mode and unable to raise the relaxation and light sleep brainwaves like previously. What’s the solution? Balancing your brainwaves – using a “tool” that will elevate your theta and alpha brainwaves in just 20 minutes per day. I started using the BrainTap with the tracks almost 6 years ago. I had a 40 year history of insomnia that led me to try medications and alcohol to help me sleep. That just left me feeling groggy in the morning and difficulty with focus. The insomnia eventually led to depression and anxiety. I'm happy to report that within 6 weeks of using the BrainTap, my insomnia, depression and anxiety all were gone and have not returned! If you like to try the BrainTap app, I’m happy to give you the first month for free so you can check it out). This will provide over 700 guided visualization tracks for everything from Healthy Sleep Habits, Stress Reduction, Diabetes to PTSD, Behavior/Recovery, Pain Relief and Neuropathy. There are even tracks for Business and Wealth, Children and Learning. If you don't like the guided visualizations, there are also just musical journeys to get you into the deep, delta sleep. If you'd like to purchase the new BrainTap headset which will have the added benefit of raising theta (light sleep and creative brainwaves), earpieces that have LED lights to stimulate the ear acupuncture points. The BrainTap headset is about 4 times more powerful than the audio portion, however, you will still receive great benefit by using just the app. What can you expect by just listening to the tracks? A more relaxed state, being able to “calm” your brain, being able to take deeper, calming breaths. This app will also give you the opportunity to listen to them up to 3 times per day, so you can start your day with an AM Focus track and end your day with a PM Deep Sleep track. Plus, if you have a family member suffering from stress, they can also use it! If you’d like to try the BrainTap app for free for 30 days, reply by sending me a message. I will need to know what state you are living in, your first and last name, phone number, and email address you’d like associated with the app. I will create the account for you and then off you go! I will also send you a list of recommended tracks to get started. If you’d like to purchase the headset, for the next 7 days, I can give you a special discount of $57 off the retail price! Just send me a message with the best phone number to reach you and I will give you a call. BrainTap helped me resolve a 40 year history of insomnia in less than 6 weeks…I know it can help you too! |