Adaptogens Rebalance Energy When Everyone is On Your Last Nerve
Ten-year old me once famously stormed through the kitchen and up the stairs to my room, yelling, “I hate everyone in this house!” What kind of stress does a 10-year old have? Plenty if you asked me then, and my own fifth-grader would agree if I asked now. Life is stressful enough in our daily lives (without a pandemic, military strife, and economic instability on top of it).
We're going to talk about what stress does to us, its effects, its signs and signals, and herbal stress relief. Most importantly, you're going to uncover some vital natural approaches to stress relief so that you can regain balance, feel more at ease, and improve your energy levels and outlook.
Stress is the body's natural physiological response to moments and situations that trigger the fight or flight response. In stressing circumstances, the body's pituitary and adrenal glands signal for the release of stress hormones like cortisol, the body's main stress hormone, and responding hormones such as adrenaline (epinephrine) and noradrenaline (norepinephrine). While all of these hormones are natural and necessary for health, when they are produced in excess, the risk of long-term health imbalance is a real concern. Excess cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline, resulting from a constant state of high stress, puts too much burden on the body. Adrenaline fatigue is a common consequence of being stressed out.
The reality is that stress prompts us to seek out comfort and care, but equally real is that the foods and behaviors we turn to for relief can worsen rather than relieve stress. The foods and drinks we take comfort in, the TV shows and movies we zone out to, the comfort of staying home and "cocooning," over time will do more harm than good. A long, rough day at school or at work might leave us craving a quick, easy meal, washed down with soda while watching something, anything on a screen. Totally understandable, because that's an easy way for seemingly fast relief. In all actuality, we don't really feel all the better for it.
That tired, burnt-out, rundown feeling keeps sticking around. We stop feeling like we can think clearly or have the energy to contend with anything requiring any mental effort. Essentially, everything and everyone is on our last nerve.
This deep sense of depletion can be months in the making. Everyday is a version of waking up feeling drained and going to sleep completely exhausted. Everything we conventionally try doesn't seem to restore that loss of energy and mental clarity either.
Lifestyle Causes of Stress
Wellness and feeling energized are a reflection of the extent we are nourishing and supporting our vital force. With the right internal and external environmental conditions within our body, our vital force thrives, giving us a strong steady supply of energy. Interestingly, traditional healers worked across a few lines of effort to help the body regain balanced health, naturally. These approaches, which emphasized how we maintain the body's internal environment, shared a few key principles of traditional healing that focused on the diet, elimination channels, activity and rest, and social and spiritual connection.
Our internal environment is a reflection of our habits of consumption—nutritionally, mentally, and emotionally/spiritually— and of elimination. When we drink pure water, eat clean (organic) fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, and legumes along with whole food supplements, we provide our body with the best sources of nutrients that it requires to thrive. Avoiding foods such as animal products (meat, dairy, eggs, etc.), fried foods, and refined starches and sugars reduces the digestive burden on our body, meaning it is not overtaxed with breaking down and processing these foods. Moreover, we should be breathing in pure fresh air, practicing stress reduction through loving self-care, positive thinking, and spiritual and emotional health through relationships and activities that do us good and help us burn off or minimize stress. We also cannot neglect the importance of detoxing and fasting to rejuvenate and prime our cells for a healthy reset such as with a 3-day juice fast.
Natural Stress Relief
When left unchecked, by only dealing with the signs and symptoms of stress and not fully addressing the causes, we are left wholly depleted. Moreover, in the absence of sound wellness habits, the body develops systemic imbalances as a result, witnessed through the symptoms associated with all kinds of illnesses. Fortunately, by targeting diet, elimination, exercise, and stress reduction to restore balance to our system, health can be regained. Invigorating, stress-busting aerobic exercise is very important to include as well. Also quite important are the positive and enjoyable connections we keep, both socially and spiritually to nourish the heart and soul.
In addition to the recommendations mentioned earlier, there are a few herbs that can be incorporated into a healthy diet to normalize strong and steady energy levels. Considering imbalances like adrenal fatigue, herbalists traditionally have used herbs that fall into the categories of nervines, alteratives, and glandulars. Nervines like scullcap and lobelia are understood to support and nourish nerve health; alteratives like chickweed cleanse excess stress hormones from the body, and glandulars like mullein leaf provide nourishing support to the glands. Herbs that provide rich sources of vitamins and minerals such as dandelion root, alfalfa, and kelp should be included along with stimulating herbs such as ginger or cayenne and adaptogenic herbs such as licorice root, schizandra berry, Siberian ginseng, or ashwagandha.
From Hippocrates to Galen to the known and unnamed healers across traditional cultures around the globe, including those of Western, African diaspora, and Unani-Tibb traditions, natural healing approaches are a powerfully effective way to address stress and regain adrenal balance. By learning to recognize the body's signals and cravings, it is possible to craft nourishing rather than depleting responses to restore or achieve wellness. The 6 Keys of Natural Wellness: diet and elimination; activity and rest; and social and spiritual connection form the pillars of a long-standing framework for natural health.
To learn more about ways to jumpstart your healing and how Eclectic Islamic Herbalism can improve your personal health journey, contact Rihla Wellness.