What stresses you out?
How does your body respond to stress?
I can remember a period of two weeks when I had my final exam for my nutritional therapy certification one weekend in Texas, flew to be in a wedding the next weekend in New York, and the next weekend came home to a stressful situation with one of my girls (in Georgia:)! I didn’t feel that stressed emotionally, but my body said I was stressed: The week I came home I broke out in hives on the inside of both arms and got a urinary tract infection!
Did you know that our body’s response to stress can be cumulative?
Sometimes we experience a minor stressor and our body says: “That’s it. I’m done”.
We’re baffled that we are in such bad shape after just a minor stressor. But, the last minor stressor wasn’t the problem, but rather it was the last straw pushing us over the edge from the accumulation of all sorts of stressors!
When our health/weight starts to really be a struggle even when we aren’t in a stressful season. It’s accumulation.
The Three Categories of Stressors we focus on in our Workshop and Coaching Program are:
PHYSICAL STRESSORS – Focus of the Body
Physical stressors being at conception! In the womb, during delivery, post natal, and throughout our lives, our physical bodies are bombarded with all kinds of toxic stressors.
Beyond that, we all have physical demands that are placed on us throughout our lives that we carry in our bodies.
- Nutritional Deficiencies
- Allergies & Food Sensitivities
- Diseases – diagnosed health conditions
- Infections – Epstein Barr, Lyme, Bartonella, etc
- Inflammation – joint pain, skin conditions, etc
- Injuries – sports, falls, etc
- Environmental toxins – mold, heavy metals, etc
- Responsibilities – work & life physical demands on your time
PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESSORS – Focus of the Soul (Mind, Will, Emotions)
The inner pool of emotions, making decisions, ongoing thought patterns can either serve us or slay us! Processing real emotional trauma and loss, grinding through an intense degree, and settling on a life change decision can be great sources of stress both short-term and long-term stress.
- Loss – death, separation, divorce, natural disaster
- Relocation – moving communities
- Change of job – career or work transition
- Relationship strife – spouse, family member, friend
- Caregiving – child, friend, parent
- Financial pressures – money woes, hardship, bankruptcy
- Trauma – emotional abuse, crisis life circumstance, etc.
- Intellectual pressure – advanced degree, certification program etc.
SPIRITUAL STRESSORS – Focus of the Heart
Deep inside us our eternal hearts can harbor these stressors that eventually affect our health and even our weight loss if not turned to strength and resolved! Not every physical health or weight issue has a direct spiritual stressor, but don’t be too quick to rule that out.
A very complex topic, and one that not all belief systems agree on is how the physical body is affected by these spiritual stressors. Some have tried to link the two, for example:
Liver / Gallbladder / Detoxification System = Anger
Adrenal / Thyroid / Respiratory System = Fear
Heart / Circulatory System = Guilt
Small Intestine / Colon / Immune System = Bitterness
Pancreas / Stomach / Digestive System = Worry
- Anger – my rights have been violated
- Bitterness – can’t let go of past wrongs
- Guilt – remorse, feeling of being to blame
- Envy – current life is not enough
- Lust – wanting something that isn’t mine
- Greed – insatiable need for more
- Worry – what if thinking
- Fear – timidity in the face of opposition
- Anxiety – feeling of impending doom, panic
Turn Stress to Strength with the 5A Strategy:
AVOID: Can the stressor be removed?
ALTER: Can the stressor change?
ADJUST: Can I change?
ACCEPT: Can I stop fighting against and start working with?
APPRECIATE: Can I start seeing this stressor as a strength?
In our D.R.E.S.S. Workshop – Get Started Protocol & Coaching Program we teach specific mindset retraining techniques and stress mastery strategies for each of these 5 A’s for each of the Three Types of Stressors that matter most to our clients and are halting their progress in health and weight loss!
Stress to strength may just be your missing piece to success!!
In your Get Started Protocol we can focus on your main stressor that is keeping you stuck and provide mindset & practical lifestyle strategies to shift that from stress to strength!!
Here’s a quick intro video…
Check Out the Stress Video Here
Learn More: D.R.E.S.S. Foundations Workshop – Get Started Protocol