Adrenal Fatigue or Adrenal Exhaustion – whatever you’d like to call it.
It is still up in the air as to whether these terms warrant an actual disease label or not. But either way – our adrenal glands are a hugely important part of our endocrine (hormone) system that need to be nurtured, but are often forgotten and taken for granted!
The adrenal glands sit on our kidneys and are responsible for releasing various hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol. These are our fight and flight hormones. They are what our bodies release when we are in a stressed state.
Unfortunately for our bodies, life has sped up – fast. So we excrete cortisol and adrenaline all the time. Historically, these fight and flight hormones would have only been called upon if a lion was chasing us down, or we were physically in danger! These hormones, amongst other things, speed up our heart and divert our blood flow from our digestive system and brain to our muscles – to get us the hell out of there.
Majority of society now, live in a constant stressed state. Our lives are overly ‘busy’, chocked full of working, socialising, running kids here and there, and keeping up with the ‘jonses’’. Because we don’t rest and we are always ‘on’, physiologically our body interprets us as ‘being in danger’ – so gives out more ‘stress’ hormones to cope. This results in brain fog, tiredness upon waking, restlessness, procrastination and the list goes on! We aren’t listening to our bodies cry for rest, rejuvenation and recovery!
And I wasn’t! We have an active 14 month old. He doesn’t stop from when he wakes. Add to that, renovations, starting up a new business, trying to eat right, exercise, meditate, extreme pre and post-natal anxiety (more on that later), clutter-clutter-clutter, extended family commitments, slipping some friend time in there, time with Luke and lastly – myself. I felt ‘busy’ and overwhelmed.
Each day I felt like I was dragging a chain. My tolerance was low. Family members would breathe incorrectly and I’d wanted them to move to another postcode. I felt like I looked at food and passively put on fourteen kilos. I exercised. I ran 4k on a 35 degree day so I could ‘feel’ better – it didn’t work. I’d try to clean and de-clutter – but get myself in more of a mess than when I started. I couldn’t make a decision and I was completely overwhelmed! I was prioritising sleep – but waking like I’d been hit with severe hayfever. I was taking supplements that were meant to help – but I actually felt worse! Outside of my clinic (which was the only place I felt alive and my energy high! (a great sign that you’re doing what you’re here on this planet for!)), I had no energy to give, other than to Billy. But even then – I was only doing what I could. And I was in ‘over-control’ mode. I needed to control everything and anything around me, because inside – I was out of control.
Cue Kinesiology. Yep, the Kinesiologist has Kinesiology sessions – and bang ‘your adrenals are fucked’ (not my Kinesiologists words, my interpretation). They are exhausted. They’re tired. They’re yelling out to be nurtured. So I stopped. I stopped running and flogging myself – I started yoga and pilates. I stopped the ‘to do list’ and began cleaning my chakras through meditation – daily. And I surrendered the control. And wow – it has already made a difference. I focussed on the bigger picture – what mattered. I went with my gut intuition regarding supplements – and the results noticeable in a couple of days.
In a few short days following my Kinesiology session I’ve slowed and I’m more productive and calm. I’m doing the homework that has come up for me to help my adrenal glands recover from stress overload. And everyone will be different. Like personalities, our bodies need different things to help them recover! So if this is at all familiar to you – then don’t do it alone, seek some help and support (Kinesiologist, Naturopath, whatever your preferred modality) to start to rebuild your life to how you want it to be.