Reaching your Allostatic Load Maximum is the Proverbial “Last Straw.”
Reaching your Allostatic Load Maximum is the proverbial “last straw.”
You know this moment. It’s when you’re functioning decently (and mostly kindly) and then… you spill the entire Costco-sized container of cinnamon two minutes before you have to leave for work, you remember that three out of four roads of your daily commute are currently closed, you realize you’ve forgotten a deadline and your kid/spouse/dog/roommate is whining.
This. Is. The. Final. Straw.
Dr. Hans Seyle’s “General Stress Adaptation Theory” suggests that your body’s resiliency and adaptability decline over time as it comes into contact with attention-grabbing input.
Throughout the day, your body naturally progresses from homeostasis (your ideal physiological and emotional baseline where everything is groovy and you feel like you are functioning well) to the exhaustion phase (your reserves are depleted, you’re ready to snap and your body may be susceptible to disease).
1️⃣Phase 1: Alarm
2️⃣Phase 2: Resistance
3️⃣Phase 3: Exhaustion Phase / Allostatic Load Maxed out
Reaching your “Allostatic Load Max” is not ideal, but it is a part of being alive and engaging in this world.
Yoga Therapeutics Techniques to Reduce Your Stress Load:
✨ Diaphragmatic Breathing: Fill your belly with each inhale through your nose. Empty your belly with each exhale. This stretches nerve receptors in the thoracic cavity and naturally lengthens your exhale, which coaxes the nervous system to downregulate.
✨ Neck Stretches: The cranial nerves here at the brainstem are important regulators of your “rest, digest and repair” nervous system response (parasympathetic system.) We tend to carry excess strain in our jaw, neck and shoulders. Don’t overthink it: just spend a red light stretching your neck instead of scrolling.
✨Heavy Weight: Deep pressure like weighted blankets and sandbags used in Restorative Yoga Poses send positive messages to your parasympathetic nerve receptors (like Pacinian corpuscles and Ruffini endings) that, “it’s ok to relax.”
Learn more:
➡️ Take an In-Person Class Abiding Yoga in Kansas City, Missouri
➡️ Subscribe to my At-Home Yoga Therapeutics Subscription Service
And Reduce your Stress Load today!