First for Women – August 26, 2019

News!

overproducing stress hormones like

cortisol in response to the constant

state of ‘fight or f light’ my brain had

become used to. Even if I faced a

mildly stressful situation, my body

reacted like I was fighting for my life.

“The doctor encouraged me to med-

itate and recite positive affirmations

daily to lower my stress, and it worked!

I became more relaxed and my sleep

improved. I was less reactive to situa-

tions and I gave up trying to control

everything. I also started a celery

juice detox, which my doctor said

would reduce internal stressors

so my body cou ld hea l better.

“I decided to go a l l-in on eat-

ing healthy, so I eliminated pro-

cessed and inf lammatory foods,

including those with gluten (like

pizza, my weakness!). I also started eat-

ing organic, avoiding foods with pes-

ticides and chemicals my doctor said

could make my symptoms f lare. And I

cut out nightshade veggies since I read

they could cause psoriasis breakouts.

These changes put my colitis in remis-

sion, and the psoriasis quieted. But I

noticed that whenever my stress levels

climbed, my symptoms returned.

“So I saw a psychotherapist to find

better strategies for dealing with the

stress behind my adrenal fatigue. She

helped me realize the root cause went

back years. I’d never let go of old

stress from my bad marriage, even

though I thought I’d dealt with it

and moved on. My past trauma

was keeping me in a constant state

of ‘ f ight or f light’! But my t hera-

pist taught me how to step back,

assess each situation and respond

appropriately. I told myself it wasn’t

important if someone didn’t wash

the dishes the same way I do. I was

only hurting myself getting upset

about the little things.

“I a lso ra mped up my yoga rou-

tine, practicing regularly and incor-

porating breath work, meditation

and journaling that brought it all

together to enhance my healing.

“The results are night and day!

I’m competing again in tennis and

platform tennis, and I have so much

energy, I can play two matches a

night! I’m also finishing a yoga

teacher training course and have

started a new business, Awakened

Soul Yoga, to help others deal with

trauma using some of the tech-

niques that helped me.

“My adrenals have healed! I’m

sleeping so much better, I’m in a

new, loving marriage and I have

a wonderful relationship with my

kids. I feel like I’m 25 again!”

—As told to Cynthia McVey

“Traumatic stress rewires the

brain’s alarm system, making it

hyper-sensitive,” says Bessel van

der Kolk, M.D., an expert on post-

traumatic stress and author of The

Body Keeps the Score. “The brain

starts to see stimuli as dangerous

when they’re not.” So even small

stressors trigger a flood of stress hor-

mones, leading to crushing fatigue,

body aches and more. This process is

called negative neuroplasticity, and it’s

common after distressing events like a

car accident or serious illness. Research

in the Journal of Traumatic Stress sug-

gests 90% of women are at risk.

Neurons that fire together wire

together, explains Daniel Amen, M.D.,

author of Change Your Brain, Change

Your Life, so the more your stress

response is activated, the more sensi-

tive it becomes. “Your body demands

so much cor tisol that the adrenal glands,

which produce the hormone, wear

out.” And while treating adrenal fatigue

can help, the neurons are still wired for

stress, so total relief is elusive.

There’s no test to assess whether

stress has rewired your brain. But

since most women are affected, the

following steps can help:

Yoga desensitizes your brain to

stress, says Dr. van der Kolk, who found

that people who did any type of yoga

had higher heart-rate variability (HRV), a

measure of how well your body handles

stress. “People who are hypersensitive

to stress tend to have low HRV.” Yoga

teaches you to slow your breathing and

synchronize it with your heart rate so

you feel more control over your body.

Mindfulness meditation can rewire

your brain for calm, says Dr. Amen.

It’s been shown to lower cortisol levels

by 50% and anxiety by 65%. Try the

Insight Timer app, which offers free

guided beginner meditations.

8/26/19 First for women 37

9 in 10 women are

“hardwired” for

exhaustion

Chocolate fights stress as well as meditation

There’s a reason we crave chocolate when we’re stressed: It changes brain

waves in the same way mindfulness meditation does, say scientists at Loma

Linda University in California. They gave study subjects 48 grams of dark choco-

late (about 1.5 squares) daily. The results? “The polyphenols and antioxidants in

cacao increased gamma brain waves, which are associated with thinking, and

enhanced brain neuroplasticity—its ability to reorganize itself and form new

neural connections,” explains study author Lee Berk, DrPH, adding that those

new connections can lower stress, improve memory and boost mood. Says

Berk, “The research indicates we should change the saying ‘An apple a day

MA keeps the doctor away‘ to ‘A dark chocolate bar a day keeps the doctor away.’”

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