Eumundi Voice - Issue 106, 14 November 2024

HEALTH

Stressed, anxious or have chronic pain?

There seems to be – from my experience – an increase in people struggling with stress and anxiety. Everyone will have their own story as to why, however living in a world that values busyness and pushing boundaries to achieve more, accompanied by a high proportion of negative bias stories in the media, this struggle is not entirely surprising.

Your nervous system controls a vast number of functions in your body. These range from those that are conscious, such as sight, hearing and movement, through to vital unconscious functions – breathing, hormone regulation and digestion. Your nervous system also bears the brunt of stressors, which is what it was designed for – to keep you safe.

The issue is when your nervous system gets caught in a “fight, flight or freeze” state and does not come back into “rest and digest” once the perceived threat is over. In this heightened state your nervous system has less resources to control the functions of your body that occur when your nervous system is relaxed, such as digestion, hormone regulation and quality sleep. This is a key reason why there are increased dietary issues, lower fertility rates and autoimmune disease in our population.

Through this busyness we become disconnected from listening to our bodies. You might think, “That pain in my neck will go away in a couple of days. I don’t have time to do anything about it. I have all these things I must get done.” Your

body compensates for the dysfunction which is causing the pain or discomfort and the compensation spiral continues. Once you reach your 50s, 60s or 70s you assume the pain is ‘just part of ageing’.

The great news is that in most cases you can do something to help your nervous system become agile, keeping you safe when it genuinely needs to, and then settling back down and efficiently performing its other vital functions when you are safe.

The key is interoception – a process of connecting with your body and being aware of what you are feeling. There are many ways to do this, from hands-on therapy like craniosacral therapy, massage therapy, or yoga, breath work, Qi Gong, nervous system modifying exercises, dancing and gentle exercise. I urge you to take the time and find what works for your nervous system to help it come back to its agile selfregulating state.