Broken Brain? or Just Give Me a Break?
Ring ring… “Dr. Alan, I have zero energy and brain fog thicker than sleepy hollow. I don’t know what to do, I’m just so bummed out and uninspired.”
Sound familiar?
Are you sick and tired of feeling sick & tired?
Read more about solving your hidden health problems.
Do suffer from bouts of insomnia, difficulty concentrating, moodiness, temperamental or just “feeling out of sorts” at times?
If so you may be suffering from adrenal fatigue, otherwise known as burn out time to take a serious vacation and revamp my entire lifestyle kinda burn out.
Overstimulation of the nervous system in animals causes illness and “abnormal” behaviour. We know that our modern high-tech world is causing overstimulation of human brains and nervous systems to the degree that scientists and clinicians are seeing some disturbing results.
Chronic pain, insomnia, mental illness, movement disorders may be partially related to excessive and chronic over stimulation of the human nervous system. When we’re constantly in fight or flight mode, we use up our bodies stores of adrenaline and we become addicted to our own stress hormones.
Nervous System 101
Sympathetic – Stimulates the fight or flight response. It doesn’t take much to stimulate this response, your mind is in the drivers seat. You choose if you get road rage and trigger the sympathetic nervous systems fight or flight response. When your nervous system is in this mode of operation your not digesting, your tissues aren’t rejuvenating, the blood isn’t flowing in a way that’s conducive to healing and productivity.
Parasympathetic- Stimulates the rest and digest response. We can train our brains to enter into this mode when we practice deep breathing, positive visualization and positive self-talk. The choice is ours and practice makes perfect.
And you thought addictions were allocated to drugs and alcohol. Think again. The connection between stress and disease is becoming increasingly apparent. Prominent researchers like Dr. Gabor Mate are bringing to light just how profoundly devastating chronic stress can be. This is a long talk, but well worth a listen if you want to shift your mindset.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlHIWXWDuF0
So its stress that’s causing your sluggish lethargic brain fog. What can you do about it? Well learning how to destress is easier said than done. Especially when that’s the narrative you’ve heard about what it means to be successful.
Lets break it down a little. Stress is not romantic. It’s nothing to be proud of. It makes us sick, it creates inflammation in the body, it affects our children, our relationships, our capacity to enjoy life.
The 3 Practices to Fix A Broken Brain
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Meditation
Don’t hate, meditate.
Meditation isn’t just for reclusive buddhist monks, nope, it’s for monkey minds like us too. And it’s incredibly useful for learning how to turn off that overthinking, questioning everything crazy mind.
Studies show meditation can help fend off signs of ageing. A normal brain begins its decline in a persons 20’s but when MRI scans were done on the brains of meditators researchers saw a marked difference in cognitive decline.
“Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets,” Tim Kreider wrote in The New York Times.”
2.Ditch the sugar and up the microbes
Adrenal fatigue is critically linked with diet, how many stimulants we’re taking in, how much sugar we’re eating- these are the big ones. Excavating the nasties from your diet will do wonders for that broken brain.
Sugar is massively detrimental to brain health studies have shown various implications between high blood sugar and depression, Alzheimers, impaired memory and learning skills. Other studies show dramatic improvements in depression and other mood disorders when people follow a ketogenic diet, meaning high in fat and protein and very low in sugar and carbohydrates (which turn into sugar).
Adding in more beneficial bacteria or probiotics will help to balance the hormones and particularly improve your mood.
3.Therapeutic movement
This isn’t the hustle and bustle type of movement, what you want to incorporate is slow, languid, relaxing movements that help strengthen the body without overly stimulating the nervous system.
Exercise is important for a myriad of things, in regards to brain and adrenal health it helps us to release those happy hormones. Intense exercise will actually release adrenaline, which is why in the beginning of healing broken brain syndrome its best to stick to less intense forms of activity.
Going for walks in nature, swimming, dancing, practicing yoga are all great ways to engage the muscles, turn off the monkey mind and begin on the path of focus and productivity.
The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working when you get up in the morning, and doesn’t stop until you get to the office.
Broken brain syndrome happens when your brain is screaming at you from the inside to take control! Stop the go go go and your mojo will start to flow like its meant to.
Stress is only useful in a survival situation. Otherwise, its useless, it does far more harm than good.
Only you can take control and bring back balance. Stress is the root cause of all illness. It is stealing your vibrancy, your quick wit, your motivation. You tell it where to go!