I ACTUALLY DID IT! I took a 5 minute timeout, rolled using the massage balls, filled up on deep oxygenated breaths, and shut my body and brain down -- instead of my normal reach for the dark chocolate filled with calming magnesium and blissful sugary escape.
I ACTUALLY PRACTICED A REAL BREAK. Cue the Parade!
It is laughable that I would attempt to give advice on this subject. So think of this like me lecturing myself and you're the person on the bus next to me overhearing the conversation. Take whatever suits you because I surely can't pretend to be an expert on resting.
As much as we'd love to live on caffeine and cortisol forever sprinting along at a manic, dopamine releasing pace, it's not good for us - & it's not sustainable.
I'm 32 and have stage 2 Adrenal Fatigue which in our Western Culture is almost a badge of type A honor: except it's really bad for us.
Whether we want to admit our need to break or not, our body's going to direct us to mindlessly troll Facebook, hop on words with friends, or justify an obsessively long trip to the bathroom mirror. The brain needs zone out time.
The brain needing a break gives us a choice: Mindlessly keep pulling the dopamine slot machine handle ignoring that we need a break, or actually cool our nervous system down, resetting our cortisol levels, and benefitting in our looks, energy, and focus?
Think of it like masturbation. If you fail to get massages, hug friends, and masturbate you're way more likely to end up going home with someone way below your punching weight because your body was desperate for release, desperate for touch, Denying ourselves basic truths sets us up for failure and inefficiency. We need breaks. We're designed for breaks. We're a sprint and then rest species.
So how the heck are we going to get off of this stimulation cycle that's ahem, well fun?? Fuck if I know... Here are some things that have been suggested to me by people that probably don't do it themselves either.
Meditation Challenge:
Set an alarm on GPS for the soul or on your phone to go off 3xs a day. stop and breath for 4 full minutes. Have you ever spent less than 4 minutes on facebook and felt satisfied? Didn't think so.
Take Social Media off of your phone.
Change the default setting. When you get bored, breathe and reset, revisit your to-do list, do some stretching, and set new goals around projects- don't fall down the rabbit hole of other people's PR campaigns. FaceBook is great in doses for event planning, awareness campaigns, and making people feel special on their birthday- skip the scan.
Schedule Massages & Pay for them upfront.
Prioritize your chiropractor, massage, and pedicure appointments over television, online anything, or signing up for new commitments.
Supplement support
Reset the Cortisol Curve.
Take your Adaptagenic Herbs & B Vitamins help support cortisol production and reset chronic high levels. This is the best dream team of inflammation & cortisol lowering supplements.
AVOID Sugar, Alcohol, Caffeine to avoid the cortisol spike if you fear your Stage 1, 2, or 3 Adrenal Fatigue (not just in need of regular breaks.
Here's to us attempting to shut it down together...
We DESERVE TO FEEL GOOD
2016 Update: Since this article, I've spent 2 years building a team and researching the subject of adrenal fatigue, inflammation, and stress hormone's effect on the body. Here is the result: Free the Fat, stress reducing slimming system available to the GetHSH community for $17.
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GETHSH is a wellness blog dedicated to researching the variables in the formula to feeling good. All suggestions should be reviewed with your licensed practitioner and taken on your own free will.