Who is the conductor of health in your body, how do they work?

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Justin

Throughout my life I have noticed how little guidance there is when it comes to maintaining the health of you and your family. This is what drives me, to guide my community in making important health decisions that will lead to better health and a better life for you and your family.

Picture of Justin

Justin

Throughout my life I have noticed how little guidance there is when it comes to maintaining the health of you and your family. This is what drives me, to guide my community in making important health decisions that will lead to better health and a better life for you and your family.

Read more about Justin

How do you, and your body, keep track of your surroundings? With your nervous system. Your nervous system is the master coordinator of your body. It functions like the conductor in an orchestra, making sure all the right notes (messages) are being played (sent) by the right instruments (specific cells, tissues and organs) at the right time. When this is done well you have a beautiful melody, and when it is done incorrectly it is painful to hear.

Today I want to highlight your conductor, and explain some specifics about what it is made up of and how it should function normally and how it functions when you are under chronic stress. 

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nervous system

First let’s look at how your conductor (nervous system) functions optimally. Well, rather let’s look at the part that is responsible for all the automatic functions of your body, your autonomic nervous system. Previously, it was thought and well understood that there are 2 parts of your autonomic nervous system. These were the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous systems. However this is incorrect. A little more than 10 years ago, a scientist by the name of Dr. Polges found the polyvagal theory, which speaks to a social system that overlays these 2, primarily occurring because humans have evolved to depend on a certain level on social interaction.

When you are at your absolute best you are functioning with the social part of your nervous system, and all 4 pillars of your health are supported. When you go through stress, the first system that is activated is the sympathetic which puts you into fight or flight mode. Once the stress is over you then enter the parasympathetic which balances you out and then back into social.

How do they work when you are under stress? When you are under chronic stress, like sitting at a computer for 20 to 40 hours a week or eating an unbalanced diet, your body kicks you out of the social aspect and keeps you in a state of sympathetic drive.

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The first thing to happen is the release of the stress hormones, which tend to set up a vicious cycle when they remain stimulated. They drive all your body’s functions into stress mode with higher blood pressure, higher heart and breathing rate and easier to fall into pain. Your body also causes you to crave foods higher in calories because it is burning through energy.

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Once you have been in this state chronically, your body moves into parasympathetic shock.  This is when your nervous system has spent all its energy, your adrenal glands are fatigued and your body needs to force you to rest. You will typically notice lower blood pressure, lower than normal breathing and heart rate and problems with your body’s ability to maintain proper temperature control.

With both of the above states you will see lower than normal concentration, lower immune function, and if this remains for years the start of all the lifestyle and degenerative diseases that are so common nowadays like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack, arthritis and alzheimers. 

How do you get your conductor coordinating your orchestra better again? Great question, this goes back to the 4 pillars of health we talk about. Getting the 4 pillars strong again is like resetting the stage so every musician in your orchestra (cell, tissue and organ in your body) can clearly see exactly what your conductor (nervous system) is asking for. Click here to see our previous blog post on the 4 pillars of your health, or book an appointment with us today, we can help you get your conductor back into shape. 

At The Right Chiro we understand that you are frustrated and disappointed with your current state of health, because we see the overwhelm in making the best choices for your health and a lack of trust in your body’s ability to heal. We offer family chiropractic care and health education, giving you clarity in making the Right choices and reconnecting you with your ability to heal. We want to help you unleash the best in you, because you deserve a life free of discomfort and uncertainty.

Book Right now with the Right Chiro!