We have talked a bit about stress so far but I wanted to go into the physiology of stress (PART 1) so we can really understand how it shows up in the body and how it snowballs into other health issues.

What we're really talking about is the concept of homeostasis which is a fancy word for saying - the body is always do these checks and balances to help each system function at the most optimal level.

What is the STRESS RESPONSE and how does it impact your chances of becoming pregnant?

The stress response is a cascade of hormones and neurotransmitters that connect your to your survival actions. so when we are feeling stressed, our body sends messages out to try and make us "ok" again. This is homeostasis in action.

The biggest hormones at play are

• Adrenaline

• Cortisol

Adrenaline

Adrenaline comes from the ADRENAL GLANDS which are the first output of the stress response. Adrenaline which makes your beat faster and your breathe more efficiently. It causes your blood vessels to send more to your brain and muscles, increases your blood pressure, makes your brain more alert, and raises blood sugar levels to give you energy.

Cortisol

CORTISOL is also activated by the adrenals. This hormone tells the liver to convert energy into sugars and rapidly pumps that energy through the blood to give muscles a boost so they can literally help you escape faster. Simultaneously, that reaction triggers insulin to be pumped out of the pancreas to regulate that extra blood sugar.

When it works, it works.

In a regular ole world, when these hormones are functioning well, Adrenaline and Cortisol totally regulate your body's ability to protect you from infection, as well as regulate your blood sugar, maintain fat storage, encourages mobilization to provide you with energy to escape danger, and drives your sexual desire, hormone cycles and levels, and ability to get pregnant and nourish babies.

So we NEED these beautiful hormones.

The problem is, everything is stressing us out and we’re not actually being chased by a real life tiger or bear.

We are constantly sending survival messages to our brain because of...

• being constantly on

• digital overwhelm

• the news / media

• the mental load / invisible labour

• lack of the village

• new technology or even pharma ceu ticals

Stay tuned because in Part 2 we are going to unpack what this does to the body when we're CONSTANTLY OVERWHELMED by stress and our body is in a constant state of response.

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