When was the last time that you were driving and someone cut you off at the last second at a light, or you were walking on the sidewalk and a biker whizzed by you, interrupting your peaceful walk and just pissed you right off to the point of being off about it for the rest of the day, or for even longer? I think I can speak for all of us shit happens, and when it does, how do you respond? Have you noticed that things bother you more now, little things that you once wouldn’t have noticed, pile on top of worries, concerns, thoughts and stresses? I’ve witnessed it in others, noticed it in myself and seen it in my clients. With all that we have been through over the past two years, the uncertainty, mistrust on so many levels, our resiliency has waned towards failure and what’s commonly called burn out. I hear the word tired a lot and know that many are struggling at different times with feeling tired from overwhelm of life, emotions, thoughts, balancing the family budget, and all the daily stresses. When you think about overall how much you’re dealing and coping with, it’s not so inspiring to whip up a healthy green salad with grated carrots, beets, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, an egg on the side and making a homemade dressing to enjoying that calmly. No that’s a time for comfort foods in an effort to feel better. Sadly those typical processed foods; cookies, brownie or whatever your go to is, isn’t helping in the longerterm although that moment on your lips or in your mouth could help for 30 seconds to a minute. In a discussion with my daughter who suffers with anxiety and depression, I had a breakthrough in figuring out a few physiological things that are going on for her, and I realized just how little resilience she has at the moment, and likely hasn’t for a while now. That got me thinking about how to support this idea of resilience, for her, for me and for you. As I record this we are heading towards the holiday season, it’s winter in Toronto, colds and flus and who knows what else are flying around and even immunity needs us to be resilient, so that prompted this. So today on EAT THIS with Lianne, how to build resilience for your body, your mind, immunity and what life throws at you with diet, tools, supplements and your activities.
What is the meaning of being resilient? I looked it up, and Oxford Dictionary said that it’s the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. Hmmm, they lost me at toughness.
A psychiatrist based website said that resilience is what gives people the psychological strength to cope with stress and hardship. It is the mental reservoir of strength that people are able to call on in times of need to carry them through without falling apart.
My favourite is resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands. I think that sums it up about right. While the mental aspect does need help with a skilled therapist, even one who deals with trauma and somatic therapy, talking helps. Journaling helps get all those thoughts out of your head and I can’t recommend that enough. What I want to talk about though is how to support your whole self. First recognizing that you are where you are is key. That the heaviness, the anxiety, depression, feeling blah, blue or blech is happening, no matter the reason. Then move onto what you can do about it.
We have dug into burnout in episode 72, and Dr Davis Brockenshire shared about the vagus nerve as the integral part of the parasympathetic nervous system that we need to support to the best of our ability in episode 86 and 87 vagus nerve part 1 and 2. You have more foundation in those episodes about how human resilience comes down to the nervous system, that are driven by our thoughts and reaction to stress.
Resilience is about how you cope with stress and just how close to the edge you are. Think about your reaction to your kids, to work, to an election, politician or issue. If you’re at risk losing it every time something happens, you’re on the edge. And hopefully this isn’t something that happens every day, but it comes up and eases, comes up and eases.
Let’s talk quickly about how you got here. Trauma – concussion, whiplash is what Dr B mentioned in episode 86. He also talked about the monthly stress of ovulation for women. Then there’s what I’ve heard called big T trauma and little T trauma. Abuse, neglect, abandonment, being cheated on, a loved one dying, a divorce or any other life stress or uncertainty that has left a mark. If you have them, think about your kids and school. In school, out of school, strike, no strike, it all adds up to the uncertainty that we have lived over the past years has rocked our nervous system and some of us are still reeling from it.
What can you do to stimulate your vagus nerve and help with nervous system regulation?
- Breathwork – episode 121
- Mindfulness – meditation, BrainTap Brain tap and what Dr B shared about theta brain wave support.
- Hot/ cold – create stress for the body so it can adapt. Put that cold on your neck, front and back.
- Exercise – there’s a fine balance here.
- Minerals and adaptogens – ashwagandha, rhodiola HPA Axis
- A new Physica homeopathic remedy called Solace that I still have to put up on sproutright.com
- Magnesium
- Vitamins B5 and all the B’s
- Food – A literature review examined the role of nutrition on heart rate variability (HRV, an indirect way to measure vagal tone) and found the following associated with increased vagal tone [7]:
- Omega-3 fatty acids
- Mediterranean diet
- Enriched yogurt
- Pistachios
- Probiotic foods/supplements
- Polyphenol-rich red wine, but not spirits or beer
- Adequate vitamin B12
- High-choline foods
- Eggs
- Sunflower seeds
- Organ meats
- Beef
- Chicken
- Fish
- Red potatoes
- Kidney beans
- Quinoa
Avoid processed foods, high-fat foods, fast food, fried foods, processed baked goods, non-dairy coffee creamer, microwave popcorn, etc.