Gut Issues? Find Out If Your Nervous System Is The Cause!

Image Source

Quiz Questions

1.
How are you feeling most days?
- A.
  I feel anxiety, overwhelm, and/or hypervigilance most days
- B.
  I feel depressed, hopeless, and/or apathetic most days
- C.
  I feel both anxiety and depression throughout the day
- D.
  I feel calm, grounded, present most days. If I feel stressed or anxious I am able to come back to a calm state.
2.
How is your daily toilet time?
- A.
  I struggle with constipation/incomplete stools
- B.
  I struggle with diarrhea/loose stools
- C.
  I tend to go between constipation and diarrhea
- D.
  My bowel movements feel complete, and I go 1 or more times a day
3.
What best describes your energy levels in your day to day?
- A.
  I tend to feel like I’m always “on” and needing to stay busy throughout the day
- B.
  I tend to feel tired and struggle to have energy most days
- C.
  I often collapse into complete exhaustion after being “on” all day, or I’m tired all day and wired at night
- D.
  I feel that my energy is stable throughout the day - I can meet demands yet find time to relax
4.
Do you experience any of these GI symptoms?
- A.
  I experience heartburn or acid reflux often
- B.
  I experience nausea or vomiting often
- C.
  I experience multiple of the above symptoms
- D.
  I don’t experience any of these digestive symptoms
5.
Which best describes how your body feels most days?
- A.
  My body feels tense most of the time. I tend to have tight neck and shoulders or other pains.
- B.
  My body feels weak most of the time
- C.
  Sometimes I feel strong, but after exercising or a busy day, my body feels weak
- D.
  I feel strong, comfortable, and/or relaxed in my body
6.
Which of these mental states do you experience the most?
- A.
  I have obsessive thinking, monkey-mind, worry, or racing thoughts often.
- B.
  I experience brain fog or find it difficult to stay focused or concentrated.
- C.
  I seem to either have racing thoughts or brain fog/difficulty focusing.
- D.
  I feel able to focus when needed and keep my mind in the present often. I feel curious and open.
7.
Tummy trouble? Which of these digestive symptoms do you experience most?
- A.
  I notice undigested food in my stool often and/or fullness & bloating after meals.
- B.
  I experience abdominal pain or cramps often.
- C.
  I experience many of the above symptoms.
- D.
  I don’t experience any of these digestive symptoms.
8.
Honest check-in: How do you feel about the connections in your life?
- A.
  I feel that I get easily triggered, irritated, frustrated, or defensive with people in my life.
- B.
  I feel lonely or disconnected from others or myself.
- C.
  Sometimes I feel connected and close to people in my life, and other times I feel lonely or distant.
- D.
  I have healthy, positive connections with myself and others that feel nourishing.
9.
It's the middle of the day and you are looking at your to-do list. How do you feel?
- A.
  I feel that there is never enough time to get the things done I need to.
- B.
  I just can’t seem to find motivation. I feel that I am unable to go after what I want.
- C.
  I intend to go after things/accomplish my tasks for the day but then get overwhelmed and exhausted.
- D.
  I am able to do the most important tasks in a day within my capacity for that day.

Quiz Outcomes

1.
Sympathetic
Image Source
FIGHT OR FLIGHTTime to take action! Get things done! This is our autonomic state of mobilization. It gets our body ready to take action. We utilize this in many positive ways: Sports, athletic pursuits, sex, to pursue goals and desires, give an important speech, meet a deadline, set healthy boundaries, stand up for ourselves, or perform.We naturally engage in our sympathetic state throughout different times in the day to meet the needs of our environment.Our sympathetic state is a very important state for survival. The job of our autonomic nervous system is to constantly scan our internal and external environment for threats (or stressors). When faced with a threat, we will engage our ventral vagal state to utilize our social/communication skills. If that doesn't work, then we activate into our SNS, and turn to fight or flight.Our SNS state allows us to fight back or run away from a threat (real or percieved). This is a beneifical aspect of this state! What can happen, however, is that we can become over-activated in this state - leading to hyperarousal.This is when our nervous system is unable to regulate back to a grounded, presence, relaxed space of the parasympathetic (ventral vagal & parts of the dorsal vagal).Most often this is due to chronic stress (too long) and/or traumatic stress (trauma we experienced in the nervous system). Unfortunately, our modern world lives in a chronic sympathetically stressed state - so many of us feel this way!Here is what you may experience in sympathetic overactivation:Mental & EmotionalAnxiety, overwhelm, panic, worry, or hypervigilence On edge, unable to relax, or fidgetyNeed to "do", go-go-go, accomplish, be busyObsessive thinking, monkey-mind, or racing thoughtsIrritability, frustration, anger, or ragePerfectionism, need to do be in control/do things a certain wayPhysicalHeart rate increasesBreathing gets shallowEnergy in arms, legs, or musclesDigestiveSNS slows down motility which = constipationSNS reduces secretions such as stomach acid, bile, and pancreatic enzymes. This can lead to a HOST of GI issues. Some of the most common we will see here is:Low stomach acid: heartburn, acid reflux, burping, bloating, gas, fullness while eatingLow bile or pancreatic enzymes: fatty stools, undigested food in the stool, bloating, gas, naseau.If you have SIBO, dysbiosis, candida overgrowth, or leaky gut - those things likely come from low stomach acid, bile, or pancreatic enzyme production. With the root cause being SNS overaction aka chronic stress!This is great to know because this is likely the main culprit and true root cause of your chronic digestive and mental stress symptoms.SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?*Before you begin any of these exercises, please identify something in your environment that can be a regulating resource. That may be a pet, trees/flowers outside, a cozy blanket, your favorite song, a friend you can call, tapping on your heart, or a mantra you like. If you feel overwhelmed at any time, utilize this resource.*1. SNS is a mobilization, meaning it's energy that wants to move! Have you ever been feeling super anxious or overwhelmed and told yourself to just calm down? Maybe you tried to meditate or lie down. Did that help? If not, it's because the fight or flight energy wants to move through you! So next time you feel overactivated in this state, find a way to move in through you that feels good!For fight (frustration, irritability, anger) you may like to:Put on some angry music and head bang or dance aroundLift some heavy weightsPunch pillowsPush against a wallScream/cry into a pillow, in your car, or somewhere safe to do soCall a friend to rant to For flight (anxiety, busy mind, overwhelm) you may like to:Go for a walk, run, or bike ridePut on music and dance!Get on your yoga mat and let yourself free flowShake! Use fidgets *If you cannot physical move in that moment or place you are in, you can use imagined movement. 2. Once you've let the energy move through you, allow your system to settle and see if any thing wants to emerge, such as an emotion. Scan your body and notice if there are any sensations. Be with any sensation you discover and see what happens. If at anytime things feel like too much, turn all of your attention to your resource. 3. If you have moved things through and want to bring yourself back into a state of calm and groundness (ventral vagal) then you may like to:Move your face - open and stretch your mouth, scrunch your face up and then expand, open and close your eyesRoll your lips & make soundMake a big sigh with sound, and allow any other sound that wants to come out do soYou may even like to sing, chant, or humRoll your neck and stretch it from side to sideWhat all these exercsises are doing is engaging your vagus nerve and specifically the ventral vagal state, which will help you deactivate out of the SNS overwhelm.4. When you are in SNS overwhelm you may notice that your breathing gets very shallow. After doing the above steps, you may like to engage in some deep belly breathing. You can sit, stand, or lie down and place your hands on your bellyTake a big breath into your belly for the count of 5Hold for 5Release for a count of 8It can't be extra nourishing to make sound on the exhale5. For digestion, it's really important that we are in a rest and digest state of the parasympathetic. Doing exercises like the above in your day to day, and anytime you feel overwhelmed, will begin to help bring more regulation to your system. This is essential to do BEFORE we eat a meal. If we are in a state of SNS while we are eating, we will begin to see a lot of symptoms of indigestion. And hey, I know, we live busy lives and it's not possible to do all the above before we eat. Here is what you can do:Take 5 deep belly breathes before you eatSit down while eating your mealSmell your food before you take your first bitePut down the utensil between each bite and focus on chewingNow there is a lot more to regulating our nervous system and supporting our gut-brain symptoms from the damage done by chronic and traumatic stress, of course! These are some great ways to begin to shift things and to keep in your back pocket whenever you feel that SNS begin to creep in.To understand if you DO have low stomach acid, low enzyme or bile production, SIBO, dysbiosis, inflammation, or candida overgrowth - it is essential to test!
2.
Dorsal Vagal
Image Source
IMMOBILIZATION Hypoarousal Here is what you may experience in dorsal vagal shutdown:Mental & EmotionalDepression, apathy, hopelessness, helplessDissociated, spaced-out, numb, unrealLack of focus, brain fog, or difficulty concentrating Lack of motivation, nothing matters, "I can't"Disconnected, lonely, feel differentFeeling stuck, trapped, or frozen "Nothing is ever going to change"Procrastination PhysicalLow energy/fatigueShallow breathingDifficult to moveDigestiveDVC speeds up motility which = diarrhea/loose stoolsDVC can lead to feeling nausous or cause vomiting
3.
Cycling
4.
Ventral Vagal
Image Source
Perfect for gym trips, weekend expeditions, and even office commutes, a duffel is a great way to transport everything you need on your next excursion.Meant to be well loaded and then slung over a shoulder or across your body, a duffel will never let you down!The mighty duffel has come a long way since your dad’s gym bag, and in a world where everyone pulls double duty in some way, you can’t expect less from your bag – so we added a special reinforced and padded compartment for all your more fragile gadgets.Our duffel bags are like Indiana Jones’ satchel on steroids!So you can Raid The Lost Ark, Doom the Temple, and finally find the Holy Grail with this sturdy AF line of bags – and still be stylish enough to hit the office after you’re done.You can even get wheeled options if you know you’re going to need to haul it over longer distances![CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR DREAM DUFFEL BAG]What To Look For In Your Perfect Bag1. DurabilityAny good time can be ruined by a bag malfunction.And when you’re out and about, the last thing you want to deal with is a broken strap or inconveniently placed tear.When your bag fails, you’re left with an awful mess – all your belongings spread out like a yard sale, some broken, all embarrassing, and your good mood in shambles.What to do? Choose durable materials that are tear resistant like the new polyester Dyneema blends, and straps that are reinforced with extra stitching like our upcycled seatbelt straps – and your bag will be able to keep up with you, no matter where you go!2. Size Does MatterYou don’t want to haul around a duffel on a night out, or cram everything into a day pack for a week long holiday, so carefully assess your needs before choosing your bag.While you want to keep your options open (duh! Who doesn’t?) sometimes too much space means you load up with too much stuff. If you aren’t careful, you’ll struggle under the weight of shoes you won’t even wear once while on vacation.Be realistic about what you can handle, and carefully consider how much you’ll be expected to actually lug your bag around, then choose wisely.3. Functionally FashionableWho remembers the oversized purse trend from the early 2000s?Celebs carted around designer monstrosities and stuffed everything from bottles of chardonnay to pedigreed purebred Pomeranians around in them.But you don’t need to splash Louis Vs all over your bags to look chic AND be functional. A mix of versatile function, classy but timeless style, and a palette of subtle fabrics will have you looking and performing your best, no matter where your journey takes you.<<Shop Your Perfect Bag>>And don’t forget to check your inbox for 10% off your first order!