Stress and anxiety can cause digestion problems. You may not realise the impact stress is having on your body. Digestive problems such as
- indigestion heart burn,
- diarrhoea and
- constipation
The above are some of the more common physical symptoms of stress and anxiety.
Stress and anxiety can activate our innate fight or flight instinct. The fight or flight response kicked in when our ancestors needed to escape from some grizzly creature.
When this happens, our sympathetic nervous system sends a message to our body to prepare for action. Releasing cortisol to make the body alert and prepared to face a threat. Your body reacts by the heart beating faster, and you tense up, your pupils dilate, you become much more alert.
Going into fight or flight mode makes more energy available to your muscles to run faster or fight. Essential systems like digestion and immunity are given much lower priority.
But even a lower level of stress and anxiety can induce this.
How to Calm Stress and Anxiety.
If you’ve ever been so anxious that you had butterflies in your stomach? Then you know how stress can affect your digestive system.
It depends on the meaning the mind puts on the experience, e.g. speaking in public could be more terrifying than facing a bear! You see, it’s your mind’s job to protect you, and if the mind senses danger, the body will respond accordingly. So the digestive process may slow, and if this happens continuously, this can cause digestive issues.
And if you are continually thinking anxious thoughts, your body responds and slows the digestive process.
Remember, the mind is potent, so be careful what you think, as this can impact your health and wellbeing.
Stress and anxiety impact us in many different ways, but we do not need to live with them. It is like a cloak you wear every day. It is numbing the real you. So let’s arrange a call and see how we can throw away that old cloak today 🙂