Stress Explained

Elisabeth Kristof, Founder of Brain Based Wellness and Co-Host of Illuminated, is back this week to discuss with me the dangers of stress and how it can ultimately lead to chronic illness and disease in the body. We constantly hear how dangerous stress is but what does that even mean. In today's episode, we unpack that and learn how we can take back our lives and move into a balanced, regulated nervous system and most importantly, stay away from disease in the body.

In this episode, I share:

[7:06] Current global situation moves our body response from acute stress to chronic stress
[9:25] Stress is a natural body reaction and can be positive
[10:11] How chronic stress happens and why it's dangerous
[13:25] The vagus nerve is the main connection between the brain and the body
[15:46] The two main parts of the Interoceptive System
[17:36] Our behaviors (binge eating, alcohol consumption) are manifesting because of our current state of neural functioning
[20:22] Stress has very tangible effects on behaviors that are harmful to our health
[22:34] Internal cues to look for
[25:07] The real indication of 'resilience'
[26:35] Chronic Stress - physical, emotional and behavioral
[28:58] Vagus nerve is what controls our inflammation
[32:08] Respiration and heart issues can come with vagus nerve damage
[32:40] Glucose levels can affect the heart and lead to diabetes
[35:24] Breathing to stimulate your vagus nerve
[37:37] What we can do in response to stress
[42:42] Elisabeth shares how stress affected her body
[47:50] Behaviors from limiting your beliefs can keep you in chronic stress
[49:29] Loneliness is very stressful to the nervous system
[51:40] Discussing how current global and local issues affect us
[53:27] Developing interoceptive skills
[54:04] Elisabeth explains the difference between interoceptive awareness and interoceptive accuracy
[55:17] The negative effects of screens before bedtime
[57:30] Calibrating accuracy in interpretation
[1:01:13] Types of Disassociation
[1:04:09] Sensory stimulus for skin trauma
[1:06:13] Find little ways to reduce stress that work for you
[1:08:59] Growth in consciousness can be challenging