So, we really think this topic needs a second part! You know why?
When you read this article today you will receive the single most important knowledge and insight into the foundation of health and all healing in your body. Without having this important aspect organised and balanced you will struggle to ever be healthy and kicking arse!
The intelligence that regulates, organises and governs all functions and healing in your body is your nervous system. Just think about it, what tells your heart to beat? What tells your gut to digest food? What tells your body to stand up straight, what informs your glands to produce hormones?
Yes, it’s your nervous system- your brain, the spinal cord and all the other associated nerves. The neural network is the supercomputer of your body, it conducts this self organising intelligence so that you can be alive, and well!
It is divided into three divisions:
1.Motor, this is the movement component ie motor networks activate muscle movement
- Sensory, this is sensations of touch, feel, smell, auditory, taste, sight.
And…… last but not least
- Autonomic, this is what regulates your physiology. What does this mean? Your heart beating, breathing, digestion, directing where blood goes in the body, hormones and other regulatory chemicals produced. This system is divided into the “fight/flight” Sympathetic division and the “rest/digest” Parasympathetic division.
This brings me to the whole point of this message to you today!
If your Autonomic nervous system is not functioning correctly, YOU are not functioning correctly. Our modern day lifestyles are hectic and vastly different to thousands of years ago. But, our bodies have not changed, they are still designed for hunter gatherer orgins. A 6yr old today is faced with the same number of decisions that a 60yr old was just 100 hundred years prior, no wonder our circuits are getting fried!
So, it doesn’t take a scientist to work out that something is gonna give here, and yes something is and it’s the Autonomic nervous system. We are being stressed into a dominance of the the “fight/flight” Sympathetic nervous system over and above the “rest/digest” Parasympathetic nervous system.
When we are in this state we are producing high levels of stress hormones on a regular basis that were actually designed for the short term burst in order to survive when a sabre tooth tiger jumped out in front of us! When we are in Sympathetic dominance our body does not repair or digest food because its primary goal in that moment is survival, thus the whole chemistry of the body turns to a catabolic state which means it mobilises all available resources to survive short term at the expense of long term.
Thus, if you are constantly going into this state your body doesn’t repair well and breaks down, your immune system suffers, you age quickly and your brain functions from reactivity rather than reason (i.e. punch first, think later). Because your gut will not digest well, it doesn’t matter how good your diet is either. So, get this part of your system sorted first before bothering with the other stuff!
I can personally vouch for the destruction that occurs from being in a sympathetic dominant state as I suffered chronic health issues that were rooted in this condition. I was unable to heal and suffered for years until I became aware of and sorted this out with my own body. I still have to work hard to keep my system in balance so I’m right here with you, I know what it’s like to be unwell and that’s part of what’s driven me on my journey to work out how we work
I could sit here and write a list a page long of the possible health issues and behavioural discrepancies that accompany having your nervous system in a sympathetic dominant state, but I won’t because the long and the short is simple
You don’t heal and repair when you are in fight/flight mode so therefore anything and everything may go wrong from that FOUNDATIONAL level of disorganisation in the nervous system.
What to do about this????? Re-read the last blogs as they are all about calming and repairing the body, you can see them HERE. Come see us in the practice and we will support you and facilitate you to shift your Autonomic nervous system back into balance and help you keep it that way.
It is not complicated, and knowing this you are now equipped with essential knowledge to maintain your health and wellbeing and that of your family.
Thanks for reading, if you have gotten this far then give yourself a pat on the back because it means you are making the effort to be better!
Here at Lifeforce Chiropractic we will continue to provide you with the most helpful and potent health tips and life hacks as your best friend in health!
Until next week…
Dr Adam Williams
Chiropractor