Stress Lowers Immunity; 5 ways to look after your mental well-being

Our mental health matters always matter, but now we must make our mental health a priority and our responsibility. Especially now, during

this time of Covid-19, cabin fever, living with our families 24/7 who, let’s face it, we don’t usually see as much as we do now.

So, we all have our story, our own pain, our background reasons to punish ourselves, stories that we believe set us apart all others. We carry this pain and often fall prey to using those closest to us, in our life to express ‘How Hard It’s Been’, ‘How We Were Abandoned’, ‘How Much Pain We Carry From Being Mis-understood’, ‘How Lonely We Are’.

But, it’s our choice, as to when we choose to own our pain 100% and stop dumping it on others. This ownership takes great bravery, clarity, responsibility, and dare say commitment.

There’s a lot going on in our world at present, and we humans, do like to compare ourselves to others. So why not right now, just compare yourself with those who are far worse off. We all have a lot of reasons to be happy!

And it’s true that helping yourself and helping others are never mutually exclusive, however, we do need to prioritise taking ownership over our mental health before we are able to be there for those we love and care for. Like they say in the aeroplanes, put your own safety equipment on before you help to save others. Forming healthy habitual patterns to focus us during this testing-time is certainly a priority of mine.

Being organised, by diarising in time for meditation, the Emotional Freedom Technique (Tapping), getting sunlight in the early hours of the day, PSYCH-K, running, yoga, periodic cleansing, cooking meals from scratch and eating a meal with the family at least once a day, as well as housework, are all part of my Wellness-Strategy.

I don’t mind saying, my wellness journey started with a series of emotional, physical, biochemical and spiritual – car wrecks. The detail within these stories is no longer relevant, but I like to think I survived, in order to help others. In a future post, I plan to share with you my daily routine and exactly how I start each day. Because I notice, that when I skip these ritualised commitments, the day can end up being .. just be another car-wreck. And we don’t want or need additional stress during this time.

Brace yourself, face yourself and have a sense of humour. Facing ourselves can be super challenging for some people, but I promise you it’s worth it. Because once you have the right tools at your fingertips, you can get into a routine to suit you. You’ll feel empowered, enthused and different, hopefully in a good way!

Stress and our Immune System

Every Chronic Complex Health condition involves the collapse of our immune system. And, it’s hardly ever one factor that causes the immune system to collapse. It’s always going to be multiple factors. The collapse of our immune system is because it can’t handle what it’s carrying or can’t handle what it’s trying to contain, anymore. So whether it’s a virus, or a parasite, or a heavy metal, or chemicals, it just can’t carry on anymore, and so it collapses, causing what we call Chronic Disease.

When our immune system collapses, then retroviruses, which are viruses that stick in our system and have embedded in our DNA, all of a sudden (sometimes many years after contraction) emerge causing a range of chronic health symptoms. Retroviruses belong to a category of viruses that we have caught (usually by being shot into our system!), and which evade our immune system. They hide away and start replicating and colonising. Herpes, EBV, HIV, Hep C all fall within this category. They don’t always cause symptoms at the time you contract them, but 20, 30, 40 years later, when our immune system becomes overwhelmed by stressors – Bamm! That’s when they come out of hiding and wreak havoc.

Within previous posts, I have touched upon stressors in the form of exogenous toxicants (from our environment), as well as endogenous toxins (produced from within our bodies), but stress in the form of PTSD, as well as perpetual emotional trauma, can also have the same effect, shutting down our immune system. This is why, it’s really important to be aware of this mechanism, to protect ourselves and our children during this potentially protracted COVID-19 Lockdown time.

We all have retroviruses, embedded in us, that has become a part of our human genome, but most of us are not aware of this due to our body’s infinite wisdom and ability to adapt to stress. It’s when your immune system collapses that they surface, so right now, you should do everything in your power to protect your immune system. That’s sensible, right?

Clinically, I work closely with those who have Chronic Health Conditions, this has been the case for more than 8 years. Therefore I work with those who typically have collapsed immune systems, who typically no longer have the ability to detoxify, who typically carry pathogenic loading; expressing retroviral reactivation and co-infections. It’s my firm belief that we need to protect our longterm health, not just from COVID-19, but also from the re-emergence of retroviruses which can cause longer-term, more sustained health issues. Therefore, it is paramount that we take ownership of our mental health, meaning our anxiety levels and our stress at this critical time.

Ways To Tackle Mental Health Issues During Lockdown & Reduce Anxiety

Professional Counseling

As a Nutritional and Functional Lifestyle Therapist, I make sure that I also get the support I need. I believe that there are multiple entry points to health, and let’s be honest—being human isn’t always easy, no matter what your circumstances are. It’s my firm believe that therapy is not just for facing specific challenges or major life events.

However, there has been an unprecedented rise in depression since Lockdown reporting on average a spike of 37% in depression and anxiety.

Esther Rantzen, founder of Childline spoke out last week on the national news about the importance of letting your children know that Childline exists. Children are often trying to keep the family together by hiding their anxiety, especially when they feel ‘mum’ is anxious, so it’s important to keep the conversations going. Make sure that you have your main meals together, to give you all an opportunity to talk. Ask your children to talk about what they are feeling. Or even to contact Childline for a sympathetic ear.

Other resources

Samaritans.org: https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help-you/contact-us
YourLifeCounts.org: https://yourlifecounts.org/find-help/

EFT / Tapping: A Simple Technique for Breaking through Mental Blocks

I trained in The Emotional Freedom Technique some 10 years ago. But really it was through Nick and Jessica Ortner’s work, who both co-founded The Tapping Solution that I learned everything I really know today about how to use this incredible technique for daily stress reduction. I’ve been reaping the benefits of EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique, aka “Tapping”) for many years. And it’s one practice, that has made the biggest difference to my mental health and wellbeing. During the process of EFT we tap on specific acupressure points (your body’s meridian points) on the face and body. We do this whilst focusing on ‘silently or saying out loud’ composed statements, affirmations, stored anger – mental chatter stuck on repeat, narratives. Verbalising these thought-forms whilst focusing on the particular negative emotion and event, that comes up. The rule of thumb being, we can only Tap-In a positive emotion and Tap-Out a negative emotion. It just doesn’t work the other way around, so you can never get this process Wrong! Tapping has been shown to help treat depression, anxiety, PTSD, pain and more.

If you’re intrigued and want to try it out, I recommend Nick Ortner’s book The Tapping Solution, and his online courses. He also has an App, which I haven’t personally tried, but everything Nick creates is brilliant and comprehensive, so it’s bound to be worth checking out. Nick’s work focuses on ‘freeing you from fear’ and ‘anxiety’, ‘reducing stress’, but he also addresses so many other mental health issues.

The Tapping Solution app for iPhone here and Android here

That said, there is truly no substitute for Tapping with an EFT practitioner. Processing fear and distress can be very uncomfortable so some. An experienced practitioner will help you to formulate your words, spot resistance when it arises, elucidate self-sabotage patterns, and hold your hand through empathy whilst taking you through the process.

CONTACT@DETOXNUTRITION.COM to schedule in sessions for emotional resilience. Sessions combine EFT with the Emotion Code

Louise Hay, the Queen of Affirmations, confessed in one warming interview with Nick Ortner, before she passed away, that affirmations could only take you so far. BUT, when combined with The Emotional Freedom Technique, affirmations take on a new dimension.

Affirmations are self-empowering statements that you repeat to yourself (similar to a mantra). When repeated on a regular (enough) basis it has the power to reprogram or override limiting beliefs. When used consistently affirmations can be incredibly powerful. They help us to re-focus and keep our eye on the goals we want for ourselves.

Thinkup is an easy-to-use app giving you access to a whole library of affirmations for channelling self-confidence and gratitude, dealing with anxiety and depression, and so much more. When you find an affirmation that resonates with you (or want to write your own), you can save it to your favourites and organise them into categories.

ThinkUp App for Android

ThinkUp App for iPhone

Meditation

My mother introduced my brother and me to regular twice-daily meditation from the age of 4 years. It became a staple part of my diet right up until today.

Meditation is certainly not a one-bullet wonder, however, since you simply cannot meditate yourself out of trauma. My vehicle (body) is living proof of that. As a self-professed ‘expert meditator’ with 1000’s of hours of meditation in my hypothetical repertoire I feel the importance to set a clear expectation around what meditation can do for you.

Consistent meditation can help you to stay centred amidst the chaos in this world.
Consistent meditation can help you to reach altered states of consciousness, releasing oxytocin, and lengthen telomeres, ultimately life-span.
Consistent meditation can be used to clean your energy circuitry, and achieve greater states of health.

Headspace is one of the most popular meditation apps for good reason. They have come up with some great meditations to help their users cope with COVID-19. But that doesn’t mean it’s the perfect fit for everyone. We all have different needs and preferences.

Meditation does not provide somatic relief when trauma has set into our biology. On the contrary, at this time, meditation may actually encourage us to disassociate, and not somatically re-integrate. At this time, meditation may push us further into a state of ‘not feeling the pain’ that we have experienced. Instead of gravitating us to a more comfortable dis-associated state of being. A fractured self.

Mindfulness is not the same as meditation. Mindfulness allows us to stay present in all situations. I encourage practising this at all times.

There are mindfulness Apps like Sanvello that help you connect with your senses and check in with your body. Quoted by the CEO of Sanvello, “Sanvello gives you clinically validated techniques to help you manage your moods and thoughts, so you can understand what works for you to feel better.” That’s done through features like daily mood-tracking, community discussion, guided journeys to address your specific challenges.

Sanvello for iPhone here and Android here

PSYCH-K®

PSYCH-K® has got to be one of my favourite tools. It may even be my most favourite tool right now because it is so good at helping us to process severe stress lodged in the human system.

PSYCH-K® is a process that uses Brain-Gym and Kinesiology to create a whole-brain state whilst experiencing or remembering a stressful situation.

We know that stress affects biology and lowers our immune response to viruses and other pathogenic activity. Severe stress also forces our thinking processes to fracture, disassociate and comparementalise. When this happens we no longer ‘process’ the experience. Instead, we shunt it into our biology, where it fundamentally alters our biology, altering our digestion, altering our gut bacteria, permanently, until the severe stress is either somatically released, or we re-enter the experience and integrate it ‘whole-brained’. Which can be achieved with PSYCH-K®

When using PSYCH-K® results can be felt immediately, but the real changes are felt and experienced in the days and months to follow. You will literally be shifted on a new trajectory. This is Quantum Healing.

PSYCH-K® can be used to build resilience. Resilienc within emotional situations and also to electrical WIFI influencers.
PSYCH-K® can be used re-write over old negative self-talk and stored belief systems.
PSYCH-K® can be used to release us from stored fear, imprinted from birth or even inherited from our parents/grandparents in the form of familial or intergenerational traumas.

Stress gets lodged in our system both electrical and biological, which translates then into a disease.

Here are some examples of how trauma can perpetuate disease:

TRAUMA GETS US STUCK IN THE FIGHT AND FLIGHT OR FREEZE RESPONSE
EMOTIONAL TRAUMA PUTS US IN A SYMPATHETIC DOMINANT STATE. SUBSEQUENTLY PREVENTING DETOXIFICATION
TRAUMA THAT OCCURS WHEN WE ARE VERY YOUNG, UNDER THE AGE OF 4 YEARS IT STILL IMPACTING YOUR BRAIN AND NEUROLOGICAL BEHAVIOUR TODAY, THE BODY REMEMBERS, EVEN WHEN WE DON’T REMEMBER
TIME DOESN’T HEAL, IT CONCEALS AND THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE!
EMOTIONAL TRAUMA IS AN EVENT THAT OVERWHELMS US. UNABLE TO BE DEALT WITH, IT IS SHUNTED INTO THE UNCONSCIOUS AND USUALLY GETS TRANSLATED INTO THE BIOLOGY. INTO OUR NERVOUS SYSTEM
TRAUMA CHANGES THE BEHAVIOUR OF OUR HPS AXIS. IT ALSO CHANGES OUR GUT BACTERIA, PERMANENTLY

You can find out about and book PSYCH-K® Skype sessions here

You can find out about and book Emotion Code Skype sessions here

Wim Hoff: Get Centered with the Power of Your Breath

Your breath literally has the power to change your health. When we breathe correctly, engaging the diaphragm, breathing out twice as long as we breathe in, then our nervous system shifts into a parasympathetic dominant state. On the flip side, when we breathe erratically, not engaging our diaphragm, we remain stuck in Sympathetic dominance breathing.What’s the difference? Parasympathetic dominant breathing engages rest, digest and regenerate. Sympathetic dominant breathing engages fight, flight and zero detoxification.

Luckily, we have the power to influence our health with daily breathwork. Something I admittedly discovered to its fullest potential only recently through Wim Hoff’s work.

Some great things about breathwork:

Breathwork improves with practice
It’s something we can always control
It’s shown to activate our Vagus Nerve, which effectively triggers a relaxation response in your body (source).

There are two Apps I can recommend:

Wim Hoff Breathing Bubble for iPhone here

Wim Hoff Breathing Bubble for Android here

iBreathe for iPhone here

Stress Lowers Immunity; 5 ways to look after your mental well-being

Stress and our Immune System

Ways To Tackle Mental Health Issues During Lockdown & Reduce Anxiety

Professional Counseling

Other resources

EFT / Tapping: A Simple Technique for Breaking through Mental Blocks

Meditation

PSYCH-K®

Stress gets lodged in our system both electrical and biological, which translates then into a disease.

Here are some examples of how trauma can perpetuate disease:

Wim Hoff: Get Centered with the Power of Your Breath

Some great things about breathwork:

There are two Apps I can recommend:

Some Positives

Anna Haynes NT BA(Hons)

PRIVACY POLICY GDPR COMPLIANT

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Stress Lowers Immunity; 5 ways to look after your mental well-being

Stress and our Immune System

Ways To Tackle Mental Health Issues During Lockdown & Reduce Anxiety

Professional Counseling

Other resources

EFT / Tapping: A Simple Technique for Breaking through Mental Blocks

Meditation

PSYCH-K®

Stress gets lodged in our system both electrical and biological, which translates then into a disease.

Here are some examples of how trauma can perpetuate disease:

Wim Hoff: Get Centered with the Power of Your Breath

Some great things about breathwork:

There are two Apps I can recommend:

Some Positives

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Anna Haynes NT BA(Hons)

PRIVACY POLICY GDPR COMPLIANT

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