How stress affects the brain and body systems
- Education, Stress Reduction, Uncategorized
- May 12, 2021
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A daily headache, chronic muscle pain, digestive complaints, and a host of other issues are common complaints at the doctor’s office. A common culprit for these not-so-pleasant experiences? Stress.
With many contributing factors, stress may be affecting your body without you even knowing it. Stress can not only affect your body but also your mood and behavior. Relaxation techniques for an optimally balanced brain can help your brain be ready to combat stress and its effects on your body.
We all know how important it is to fuel your body with the right foods, water and supplements for optimal performance. Achieving your goals requires you to be functioning at your best in productivity, focus and clarity.
However, many Americans are overwhelmed and living with a high level of stress. Chronic stress is rampant and its effects are taking a toll—especially on the body and the brain.
The brain is your body’s control center, sending messages to and from your body systems via a network of nerves throughout your nervous system. What happens when your brain stops performing optimally? How does your body function if your brain is unbalanced?
An unbalanced or under-performing brain can limit the optimal function of all of the other systems of your body.
In case you’ve forgotten your ninth-grade anatomy course, the 10 main systems of the human body are:
The nervous system sends messages throughout your body telling the other systems how and when to work. For example, the brain sends your legs a message telling them to walk or run. For more information on how the brain works, check out this link.
In the nervous system, your body’s fight or flight response becomes activated and your endocrine system produces high levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. This response floods your brain with messages and tells your body to increase your heart rate and blood pressure. Stress can then impact your respiratory system by making you breathe harder, potentially causing you to hyperventilate or even have panic attacks.
Other effects of stress on the body can include digestive and gastrointestinal issues, reproductive problems, and more. The American Psychology Association offers a deeper look into how stress affects the body’s systems.
As with the human body, the brain functions similarly: if one part is working quite right, it leads to problems in other areas too.
For example, if you don’t get enough sleep, your cognition is affected causing brain fog and lack of clarity and focus. Similarly, if you are not fueling your body with high-quality nutrition, your physical output will be lacking. This could potentially result in muscle or bone problems, setting you back even further.
Other symptoms of stress include upset stomach, difficulty sleeping, losing interest in hobbies, feeling exhausted and drained, increased mental health conditions, worsened chronic health problems, change in appetite, procrastination and, ultimately, burnout.
There are many ways to ensure your brain is balanced and functioning well so that your body systems also perform optimally. Each area below must work together to further brain health, not hinder it:
We can see that a well-functioning brain is integral to the overall health of your body.
So, how can you relax your body enough to recharge and balance your brain for optimal performance? In addition to the recommendations given prior about how to combat stress in your life, relaxation is a form of healing. BrainTap provides various sessions that can help you overcome the harmful effects of chronic stress. You can feel more rejuvenated and refreshed to better enjoy what you love and accomplish your goals.
It can be tempting in this fast paced world to feel “unproductive” when you take time to rest. However, the more we learn about stress, the more we understand how crucial it is to take time to relax. Truly, prioritizing time to rest and care for yourself, such as through BrainTap, you will be more capable to live the life you want.
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