Stress and Digestion

How do you typically react to a stressful event? Think back to something recently that made you anxious, worried, overwhelmed, or stressed out. If you go back to this specific memory, did you notice your heart beating more quickly? Did you become hot, sweaty, or flushed? The situation was likely uncomfortable, so did you have urges to suppress or avoid your emotions? Even after the event, did you still have lingering stressful thoughts or reactions? 

Unless you’re an extremely zen, perfectly peaceful person who spends your days meditating, you’re likely under a high amount of stress right now. Even our zen, mindful people experience stress, especially with the constant uncertainty and confusion about the state of our world. Although stress is common and normal right now, we must take steps to respond to it, move through it, and heal ourselves. Unaddressed stress can wreak havoc on our bodies, especially our digestive system. 

When we experience a stressful situation, our adrenal glands release cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine. Cortisol makes our blood vessels function irregularly, adrenaline speeds up our heart beat and blood pressure, and bursts of norepinephrine are linked to panic attacks, hyperactivity, and increases in blood pressure. Problematic amounts of these three hormones can increase our chances of heart attack or stroke, while also affecting our digestion. You’ve likely heard about the brain-gut connection, which essentially is our understanding of how our brain communicates with a system of nerves that exist in the lining of our gut (our Enteric Nervous System or “second brain”). When our brain releases stress hormones, our digestion becomes disturbed, and we experience higher sensitivity to acid. Stress can also potentially cause digestive issues by altering the bacteria in our gut. This explains why we are more likely to experience heartburn, constipation, diarrhea, and nausea during stressful times.   

The good news is that we can be proactive about responding to stress. We can first observe how we’re feeling, what our mind is doing, and start to slow down our reactions. Once we acknowledge we are experiencing stress, we can take deep breaths and find ways to move through it. When we notice ourselves feeling stuck in worries, we can shift our focus toward something that will help us feel more calm and in control. 

Ideas for Reducing Stress

-Reconnecting with the body. Reconnecting with the body is a great way to get grounded and check-in with ourselves. This can be done through a body scan, gentle yoga movements, breathing practices, dancing, exercise, and other activities that help you get in touch with your physical presence. By focusing on the body, this often helps shift our attention away from ruminative thoughts. 

-Processing our emotions. Processing our emotions can also be a great place to start tackling stress. Sometimes, we need to take a few minutes to figure out what we’re thinking and feeling. This can be done through journaling, meditating, talking with a close friend/loved one/therapist, or whatever practices help you listen to your mind and soul with curiosity. 

We are here for you! Please reach out to any of our healers for specific ideas on tackling your stress. 

References

How Stress Changes the Brain and Body. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.mindful.org/how-stress-changes-the-brain-and-body/

Improving Sleep Through Food

When you think about ways to get better sleep, what comes to mind first? Taking melatonin supplements, limiting blue light from screens/devices, and establishing a consistent sleep routine are often some of the ways we try to intervene on our sleep patterns. We don’t often think of our diet as a place to promote better sleep, but there is interesting evidence that certain foods can help us tend to our sleep, without needing to take additional supplements or drastically change our habits. 

Imagine in your mind a traditional Thanksgiving meal. If yours included turkey, you also probably experienced sleepiness soon after the meal. While some of this tiredness is likely due to eating large meals at Thanksgiving, the consumption of turkey also had an impact on feeling sleepy. This is because turkey is a food containing high amounts of tryptophan, an amino acid that is prevalent in protein-rich foods. It is a precursor to the release of melatonin and serotonin, which both influence sleep. 

Research has shown that people with low levels of tryptophan often experience anxiety, worry thoughts, and tension, which can all lead to low moods and trouble falling asleep. By increasing tryptophan consumption via foods, we can encourage our pineal gland to naturally produce melatonin, which can help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. If you’re finding it difficult to get good sleep right now, or if anxiety is impacting your ability to fall and stay asleep, consider adding tryptophan-rich foods into your diet. 

Foods High In Tryptophan:

Eggs (especially the yolks)

Cheese

Pineapple

Tofu

Salmon

Spinach

Nuts and Seeds

Turkey

Chicken

In order to get the most benefit from eating tryptophan-rich foods, it is encouraged to pair these with healthy carbs. Carbs promote the release of insulin, which leads to amino acid absorption, allowing tryptophan (an amino acid) to remain in the bloodstream. Try to include brown rice, oatmeal, fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain foods with your meals to reap the benefits of eating foods high in tryptophan. By mindfully adding some of these foods into your diet, we hope you will start to notice positive changes in your sleep quality. 

References

How Tryptophan Boosts Your Sleep Quality and Mood. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/tryptophan#section7

7 Foods That Could Boost Your Serotonin: The Serotonin Diet. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sleep/foods-that-could-boost-your-serotonin#food-and-mood

RAIN Meditation

Are you finding it challenging to accept the present moment? As we drift deeper into this new normal, it’s quite difficult to not get stuck in judgments about our situation, others, and even ourselves. When we feel frustrated, anxious, uncertain, and disappointed about the realities we face, it can be tempting to turn inward and criticize our emotional responses and reactions. Being hard on ourselves is a common manifestation of experiencing painful emotions, but often gets us stuck in negative feelings. What would it mean to experience a painful reality while giving yourself compassion and acceptance? Loving ourselves, especially when we are truly upset about internal and external factors, is a challenging task. To help us explore ideas of acceptance and self-compassion, we can turn to Tara Brach’s RAIN meditation. 

RAIN stands for:

Recognize what is going on 

Allow the experience to be there, just as it is

Investigate with curiosity

Nurture with loving kindness

What follows is a basic guide for practicing RAIN meditation. This will give you an understanding of what to consider within each letter. Additionally, you may want to watch the video at the end of this blog post, in which Tara Brach leads the listener through the RAIN meditation. 

R: Think about and imagine a situation that brings up painful emotions, thoughts, and sensations. This could be a difficult conversation, an unfair reality you face, or something that’s making you feel stuck. Bring your attention to what’s coming up for you. Try to take a curious stance on your emotions, body sensations, thoughts, urges, etc. Just notice and describe your experience. 

A: Without trying to avoid, suppress, or change your experience, experiment with ways to let it be. This might be possible with a mantra like “It is what it is.”

I: Investigate your experience with the purpose of digging deeper into the meaning that exists. Ask yourself questions like “What about this is most painful?” “Which emotions am I experiencing?” “Does this situation remind me of something from the past/bring up similar experiences?” “What sensations are arising in me?” and “What about this makes me feel most vulnerable?”

N: What message do you need to hear most right now? Amidst this challenging situation, you are doing your best. Visualize giving yourself a hug or comforting yourself with genuine care and compassion. Imagine love encompassing you. 

References

Practice the RAIN Meditation with Tara Brach (2019). Retrieved from https://www.mindful.org/investigate-anxiety-with-tara-brachs-rain-practice/