Afraid of being afraid....

Uncategorized Apr 05, 2020

Pandemonium is upon us. The Coronavirus pandemic has its tentacles wrapped around everyone on the planet.

The experience we share currently is creating a global culture of unease. The last time I felt this way was when I watched the Twilight Zone as a kid. Intuitively, something feels very wrong.

The energy and consciousness of the planet is different and life is unlikely to ever be the same as it was a month ago.

We’ve been snatched up by fear and because of it, we’re literally emotionally paralyzed.

FDR’s proclamation that “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” highlights a threat much greater than the threat of a virus.

The most alarming monster in the closet is the current emotional pandemic. If fear, doubt, worry and shame are the driving herd emotions right now…then we need to check ourselves before we wreck ourselves.

The internet and the media are driven by a unique currency - that of information. Information itself is undeniably enriching. It’s when the conversion of information into fear occurs that we should start to raise an eyebrow. This conversion creates an investment which pays huge dividends because, well…fear is very easy to sell.

There are three possible responses to fear. These include FIGHT, FLIGHT and FREEZE. I’m definitely a fleer and a freezer, I’m definitely like a rabbit.

Fear and stress stimulate the fight of flight part of the nervous system (sympathetics). Legitimate sympathetic nervous system responses are sometimes necessary. Sometimes they’re even life saving…think of running into a bear in the woods or reacting quickly to avoid a car accident on the highway.

The moment we have fear, we flip the switch into fight, flight or flee, which flips the switch in our physiology.

Our pupils dilate so we can take in as much information through our vision. Our heart speeds up and our blood pressure goes up so we can move an enormous amount of blood from our digestion to our extremities to create more strength to flee or fight (this is how moms have been known to lift vehicles off of crushed children). Not having blood in our gut of course means that our digestion is now compromised but it doesn’t matter because in a true fight or flight situation, it would never occur to us to pause for a snack.

When we’re afraid and stressed, our adrenal glands produce a steroid hormone called cortisol, which serves as a fuel for the stress response.

Although this stress and fear response is life preserving and necessary, it’s NEVER EVER meant to be upheld long term.

This is why long term stress causes high blood pressure, digestive problems and because of cortisol - high blood sugar and high cholesterol. Before Covid, our lifestyles and our environment were already killing 80% us from chronic disease. This is according to the scientists who study the effect or our lifestyles and our environment on the expression of our genes.

In essence it’s undeniable that fear and stress perpetuate illness.

Our emotions are created by our thoughts. We have 70,000 thoughts per day, 80% are negative in nature…and this is when life is “normal”. According to Toni Robbins, our default emotional state is negative in nature.

This means we have to check ourselves because if we don’t, we risk creating a herd mentality which is so much more dangerous than the virus ever will be.

With every great crisis though is a great opportunity. If we don’t like living in fear and we believe that we’re meant for more, then the question becomes WHAT IS THE OPPORTUNITY?

Fear requires a stimulus…and the internet and media are effectively wired to get the job done.

Intuitively speaking, does it feel healthy to hide, be scared, and be angry at those who invade our new 36 square foot personal bubble?

We’re working hard on cleaning out our closets and cupboards without considering that maybe we should be cleaning our health so that we have an extra layer of protections the next time this happens. Otherwise, what the hell are we going to do next time. Isolate sooner? Watch each other like hawks even more? Wear full head masks?

Maybe I’m just feeling a bit pissed because I was turned around from surfing today because even the ocean is off limits. THE OCEAN!

This time, we should limit our exposure to keep our families safe. We should protect ourselves.

What if we redefine the meaning of protecting ourselves - for next time?

The truth is that we’re born to adapt and we’re built for survival. Our bodies have a propensity toward thriving and toward survival, it’s how we’re made.

Right now, we’re feeling like victims of a dangerous, unpredictable environment. Does this honestly feel and seem sustainable?

What if we learn to create an unwavering confidence in our body’s ability to adapt to an ever changing environment? What if instead of teaching our kids that they are victims of their environment, we lead them into becoming the healthiest tribe in history?

At the moment, we’re playing defense…but what if immediately start putting a lot more effort into training our offense?

The other truth is that HEALTHY PEOPLE DON’T DIE OF DISEASE! Seemingly healthy people might, but a healthy body adapts, it doesn’t die of disease. Even Louis Pasteur knew this.

So, what can we do right now?

Proper rest - 7 to 10 hour of sleep per night

Stress management: Deep breathing exercises, meditation and daily times of unplugging from anything electronic especially from the news and social media

Proper nutrition: Eliminating processed foods which are high in sugar, harmful oils and preservatives. This is great time to get re-acquainted with the art of cooking.

This is also a great time to implement fermented foods like kimchi, slowly fermented, sprouted grain sourdough breads and fermented vegetables. Look into nourishing bone broths and good fats like those found in olive oil, coconut oil, ghee and butter.(Below is a list of my favorite recipe blogs, books and recipe websites)

Hydration - Drinking 1/2 of one’s body weight in ounces of filtered water every day.

Exercise - Daily walks outside, gentle stretching, kitchen dance parties and I’ve been using the highly effective “scientific 7 minute workout” which can easily be found online. Exercise is a genetic requirement. Not exercising moves us away from what we genetically require, which results in illness.

Proper supplementation - Multivitamin, Vitamin D, Vitamin C (liposomal), Zinc acetate, a probiotic, greens like Chlorella and Spirulina and echinacea.

(see comment section for specific recommendations)

Finally…we can look to the science of neuroimmunology. The spine and nervous systems are the foundation of health and life for the body. Chiropractic care for the whole family isn’t just a modality or something to do when we have low back pain, it’s the science, art and philosophy of overall well being. Where traditional medicine focuses on what causes us to be sick, the study of chiropractic focuses on what causes us to be healthy.

Books:

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon

Boundless by Ben Greenfield

The Paleo Cardiologist by Jack Wolfson

Recipe websites and blogs and podcasts

breadtopia.com (for the fermented sourdough bread)

eatingwell.com