Are your adrenals shot?? Well mine are. It’s been a long process of discovering that they are just overworked and the only thing that will bring them back is acupuncture, yoga and meditation. Why only those things? They are the only things that help bring your body to a relaxed state without causing any undo stress on the body.
I have been doing acupuncture for over a year now, but have not been able to get myself to commit to the yoga. We have yoga classes at my Fit Chick Express studio, but none of the times work with my schedule and trying to make them work, would cause more stress, which is what I want to try and avoid. Remember back when I was going to do 28 days of meditation? I think I made it like 3 days. That is how much I love sitting still or moving slowly. Ugh
Every time I meet with my acupuncturist and she says my adrenals are still not doing well, I make the comment that I don’t feel stressed! But she says its not always the stress on the outside, but what is going on inside that causes stress on them as well.
“What are adrenals and just what do they do?” —
Your adrenal glands are two tiny pyramid-shaped pieces of tissue situated right above each kidney. Their job is to produce and release, when appropriate, certain regulatory hormones and chemical messengers.
Adrenaline is manufactured in the interior of the adrenal gland, called the adrenal medulla. Cortisol, the other chemical from the adrenal gland, is made in the exterior portion of the gland, called the adrenal cortex. The cortex also secretes androgens, estrogens, and progestins. Cortisol, commonly called hydrocortisone, is the most abundant — and one of the most important — of many adrenal cortex hormones. Cortisol helps you handle longer-term stress situations.
In addition to helping you handle stress, these two primary adrenal hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, along with others similarly produced, help control body fluid balance, blood pressure, blood sugar, and other central metabolic functions.
In the heightened nervous state of adrenal burnout, the body overproduces adrenaline, cortisol and other stress hormones. Constant stress and poor nutrition can weaken the adrenal glands. Eventually, this causes the adrenal glands, the front line in the stress reaction, to show wear and tear and become depleted. This frequently leads to impairment in the thyroid gland, which can cause a further decline in energy level and mood and is one of the reasons why many people have thyroid glands that don?t work well.
When stress continues over prolonged periods of time, the adrenal glands can deplete the body’s hormonal and energy reserves, and the glands may either shrink in size or hypertrophy (enlarge). The overproduction of adrenal hormones caused by prolonged stress can weaken the immune system and inhibit the production of white blood cells that protect the body against foreign invaders (in particular lymphocytes and lymph node function). Adrenal dysfunction can disrupt the body’s blood sugar metabolism, causing weakness, fatigue, and a feeling of being run down. It can also interfere with normal sleep rhythms and produce a wakeful, unrelaxing sleep state, making a person feel worn out even after a full night’s sleep.
– See more at: http://www.gaiamtv.com/article/adrenal-fatigue#sthash.SrZYFAQx.dpuf
Here are some signs that your adrenals are stressed:
- Excessive sweating or perspiration from little activity
- Lower back pain and/or knee weakness or pain, especially on the side
- Dark circles under the eyes
- Dizziness
- Muscle twitches
- Low blood sugar
- Heart palpitations
- Sensitivity to light, or difficulty seeing at night
- A craving for salt
- Low stamina for stress, and easily irritated
- Excessive mood responses after eating carbohydrates such as pasta, breads and sugar
- Chronic infections (bacterial, viral, fungal, yeast)
- Low blood pressure
- Light-headedness on standing up
- Tired but wired feeling, poor sleep, difficulty getting out of bed in the morning
- Cravings for sweets and carbs, intolerance to alcohol
- Premature aging
- Dry, unhealthy skin with excess pigmentation
- Lack of libido
- Cystic breasts
- Tendency to startle easily
- Negative response to thyroid hormone
- Poor concentration and fuzzy thinking
reference: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-4911/How-to-Tell-If-Your-Adrenals-Are-Fatigued-Plus-7-Ways-To-Support-Them.html
So when I look at those, yes I agree, my adrenals are still under a lot of stress.
Fixing ones adrenals can be quite difficult for someone like myself who THRIVES off of tough workouts and cardio and who doesn’t like to sit still much. It actually feels more stressful to stop doing those things! So what I did was decide to find an accountability partner, who also is similar to myself and needs to repair her adrenals, that we will commit to at LEAST 2 yoga classes per week, to start. 😉
So today, instead of doing intervals, I did 15 minutes of yoga. Yes, just 15 minutes! I am starting myself off slow. I figure as it becomes more of a habit and I feel more comfortable slowing down, I can add more time to it.
And below is PROOF that I did it!! 🙂
I found an After Work Revitalizer that I did at doyogawithme.com. They have LOTS of free online yoga sessions and you can choose based on what type of yoga you need and how long, which I love!
Do you have a love/hate relationship with yoga? Tell us about it!!