Week 11 Live Feed - Stress Management
We are coming up on the finish line in the Heart Butt Challenge! I have something very near and dear to my heart (wink, wink) to share with you this week. You might not think stress has a clear relationship with booty shaping, but you’d be surprised! So often we want to go hardcore with our diet and exercise and Blasting to get the fastest results we can, but reducing stress can actually supercharge all of these! We’ve heard that there are hormonal process involved in burning fat and building muscle, and stress directly impacts our biochemistry!
2 Types of Stress
- High-intensity, acute stress, like grief over the death of a loved one, a car accident, financial struggles, chronic illness, etc. This stress isn’t ongoing, but it is important to help return to balance after such stresses.
- Low-level, chronic stress, like the expectations we place on ourselves, keeping up a facade, feeling rushed all the time, etc. This keeps the fight-or-flight response on all the time, which leads to things like more wear and tear on the body, hormone imbalances, adrenal issues, etc
Why Should I Work on Controlling Stress During A Booty Challenge?
The changes in hormones affect lots of cellular processes, and your fascia is made up of cells! If you want healthy fascia and a beautiful heart butt, you need to consider that stress impacts all those tiny cells. Plus, managing stress can help you break free of the patterns that have stopped you in the past from really eating to nourish your body and keeping that body moving!
How Can I Manage Stress?
Rather than giving you a buffet table of little tips to manage stress (that you might pick at and then discard), I want to take you to the root. Things like breathing, cuddling, exercise, etc can be a vehicle to help you, but to learn to really live above stress we need to pull it together with the right point of view. I’m all about shifting the paradigm!
Do You Have Achievement Syndrome?
That’s what I’m calling a lifestyle where you live above your means, working like crazy to afford things you don’t have to have, spending your life in a job that lacks passion just to keep up. I’ve been there! A few years ago I had a whole list of goals, but as I’ve learned about reaching a higher level of consciousness, I’ve embraced and now crave a simpler life. Simplifying your life can help you address the work-life balance. I had the passion for my work, but traveling every 2-3 days, taking meetings across the globe, while raising a family...it just isn’t a feasible, long-term way to live. We aren’t intended to work that hard! Let’s curtail achievement syndrome and spread the message of a lifestyle more based around the Blue Zones principles for happier, more fulfilling lives!
*** Time in community is a good start! Get some socialization time with people who fill your cup!
*** Don’t just add this to your schedule; find somewhere in your life that you can simplify first!
I made a very hardcore choice a little over a year ago to drop out from the matrix and move to a country that’s very much about health. To say that I’ve learned a few things is an understatement! I have been working closely with a physician here in Costa Rica who is a total blend of all the different sciences. The more I learn, the more I feel it’s my place in the universe to take these big concepts and make them digestible. We’re going to protect reading from becoming a lost art - as well as the skills of reflective and deep thinking in this tech-scrolling age - because there’s just no shortcut for giving you the opportunity to have your own AHA MOMENTS. I’m going to share 4 books I love with you, and I really recommend you choose one that fits where you are in your personal journey. Take the time to pause and reflect as you read, think about your thinking, and take a good look at what you need to learn at this point in time.
Never Be Sick Again, Raymond Francis
This is a great starting place if you’re totally new to these ideas. If you are someone who may have chemical imbalances because of stress, this is a more simple, practical book that takes your approach to food and flips it on its head.
It’s less ethereal than the others below, and it will help you reduce stress biochemically.
Emotional Intelligence Self Awareness,
Harvard Business Review
Ready to start working on your mindset and perspective? This is a good place to start if you’ve never learned about things like self-awareness before. It’s a quick read, so go for it!
Ekhart Tolle
If you’re reasonably self-aware, you already work out, FasciaBlast, eliminated (or are eliminating) toxic relationships, this is how to change your approach to life to reduce your stress.
This is how to take it to the next level!
Eknath Easwaran
If you’ve read Ekhart Tolle, watched every Brene Brown Ted talk, then this is an advanced, life-changing read. Nothing stresses me out anymore, because I'm learning to live completely above my circumstances. I’m on the third time through this book, and I've marked up all over the pages. This is a pre-religion text based on ancient knowledge, and I’d call it a how-to-live book.
I know this is a heavier topic than usual, but I really encourage you to give yourself the gift of expanding your perspective to live above the stress. What happens to you doesn’t have to determine your attitude! Stress reduction is such a huge part of reaching true health, and it affects the rest of your lifestyle.
Watch the live feed here to learn about my personal journey with this topic! https://www.facebook.com/AshleyBlackGuru/videos/447300049216776/
Peace and love,
Ashley