Full Transcript Introduction to Stress and Trauma 0:01 Hi, I'm Lisa Broyles with Way Too Health MD and this is my second video titled 0:06 yes stress can kill us a review of the book biology of trauma by Dr. Aimie 0:10 Apigian. So, how do we tell what state we are in? Are we in calm alive state, 0:16 activation, or have we crossed that critical line into overwhelm? 0:21 I love a quote that Dr. Aimie uses by John Newton. It says, "We can easily 0:26 manage if we will only take each day the burden appointed to it, but the load 0:32 will be too heavy for us if we carry yesterday's burden over again today and 0:38 then add the burden of the morrow before we are required to bear it." Now, I also
Neuroception and Capacity 0:43 want to add here one of my favorite scriptures which is Matthew 11:28-30. 0:48 "Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. 0:54 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and 1:00 you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." 1:06 It's one of my favorite quotes directly from Jesus. 1:09 Have you ever been in a stressful situation? 1:13 Dug in your heels, maybe drank an extra cup of coffee, 1:17 taken an extra B12 lozenge, decided to just push through, gotten a few less 1:21 hours of sleep? This is a normal human response and healthy if it's only done 1:27 short-term like studying for a big test or a big uh presentation for work. The 1:32 problem is that many of us force our bodies to get not enough sleep, not 1:36 enough healthy food, not enough exercise and we do it over and over again with no 1:42 recovery time. Dr. Aimie discusses something called 1:46 neuroception. This is important. This is your body's 1:50 internal radar. Neuroception is your body's perception of safety. It's 1:55 constantly assessing internal external threats, 1:59 measuring your capacity for current danger. So, if your body determines that 2:04 your danger is too great, then the trauma response kicks in and 2:10 you move into overwhelm. If you notice, the keyword here is 2:16 perception. Your body can perceive a danger as 2:21 greater than it truly is based on prior trauma or long-held beliefs, even some 2:27 since early childhood. The other important definition from this
Faith, Burdens, and Finding Rest 2:33 book is capacity. Capacity is your well. Think of this 2:38 like a bank account filled with deposits, deposits that are emotional, 2:43 mental, physical, psychological, and these deposits enlarge your capacity to 2:49 handle stressful situations. Your capacity determines how well you can 2:54 meet life's joys, its demands, its dangers. 2:58 If you perceive your capacity to be large, then you will feel strong enough 3:03 to tackle whatever life brings. This capacity is emotional, spiritual, 3:09 psychological, and physical. And this is where I'm going to be 3:14 completely honest and open with you. I have been a Christian all my life, but 3:20 only in the past 6 months have I really understood what it means to give God my 3:28 burdens and stop worrying. I was struggling with anxiety, 3:33 especially as I am approaching menopause. I'm 48. 3:38 We all want to do it ourselves, try to handle life ourselves, our stressors, 3:42 manage our own problems, feel internally strong. 3:46 Well, from a Christian perspective, Jesus Christ died for us and me because 3:52 he knew that I could never be strong enough to carry all of my own burdens. 3:58 My own capacity is never big enough. When I truly understand this basic fact
Overwhelm, Low Power Mode, and Illness 4:04 and I started casting my cares upon Jesus and really trusting him to be my 4:09 provision, my protector, and take care of me. For the first time in my life, I 4:15 have a peace that transcends all understanding as Paul describes in 4:20 Philippians chapter 4 verses 6 and 7, one of my favorite books. 4:26 My neuroception understands that I am loved and cared for by an infinitely 4:31 powerful being that is much better at taking care of me than I am. 4:36 And I can rest in this truth. I know that my capacity is endless because it 4:42 is his. Dr. Aimée says that the problem is 4:46 either too much too fast or too little for too long. 4:51 Even a small rock held overhead for a long period of time will eventually 4:57 become too heavy. When we move into overwhelm, we 5:03 internalize our stress. Our bodies move into low power mode, energy 5:09 conservation, the yellow light is on. If you feel shut down, it's because 5:14 physically you are, emotionally you are. Whether or not we move into overwhelm 5:20 depends on how you perceive your body's capacity to deal with the threat you are 5:26 facing. Let's take the example of a virus. 5:30 Two people can be exposed to the same virus. 5:34 One person will barely have any symptoms, will recover within a couple 5:38 days. The other person will get extremely 5:42 sick, fever, headaches, pouring snot, body aches, laid out in bed, miss a week 5:48 of work. What was the difference between these two people? Same virus, same 5:54 stressor. The difference was their capacity before the stress happened. How 5:59 strong was the immune system prior to exposure to the virus? Also, how early
How Capacity Affects Recovery 6:05 did they take the right strategies to keep that virus from replicating itself? 6:10 For example, at the initial onset of an upper respiratory infection or viral 6:15 symptoms, I personally take vitamin C, zinc, elderberry syrup, which I made, 6:20 several times a day. The earlier I start, the better I feel. Viruses use 6:27 your cells to replicate themselves. They literally hijack your cells and force 6:32 them to produce more viral cells, which then make you sicker 6:37 for longer. In the same way, our neuroception can perceive a danger as 6:43 too great and our capacity too small and throw us 6:48 into prolonged states of chronic disease. 6:52 In the next video, I will discuss how overwhelm affects us on a cellular 6:59 level.
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