5 Ways Stress Affects our System

So far the month of September has been pretty hectic. I had my regular classes, privets and yoga teacher training. Yes, I was stressed. 
When stress is triggered stress hormones are released in your body. The hormones trigger your fight or flight system. Fight or flight function is helpful when you are truly in a stressful situation (like if you in a life or death situation). When too many stress hormones are released all the time it can negatively affect how our whole system functions. Here are some ways stress affects your system. 


1. Stress Affects Your Mood
We all know this. Stress = bad mood. 
Stress can trigger everything from anxiety, inability to focus, sadness, irritability, and anger. When someone is stuck in stress it can make some mood disorders worse. Stress has a huge impact on our mood. 


2. Stress Affects Your Digestion
When I am stressed out my body feels constricted, and tight. That constriction affects digestion. Stress affects how food moves in and out of our body and can result in constipation or diarrhea. Stress affects what type of food we consume and how much we consume. When we are stressed we will likely reach for convenience food-food that overly processed, overly salted, and full of oils and fat. This food can be hard on our digestive system. Notice if you feel more bloated, gassier or having issues in the bathroom this might be related to stress. 


3. Stress Affects our energy levels 
When you are stressed your liver produces extra glucose to give your system a boost. Again, this is helpful in really stressful situations that may be life or death. When you are stressed your body is constantly having to produce these hormones that send you on a roller coaster of energy.


4. Stress Produces Lack of Clarity
When we are stressed out and our mind is racing around we may feel frazzled and disorganized. This can lead to headaches. If someone already suffers from headaches, stress can make them worse. This makes it imposable to have clarity on situations. 


5. Stress Affects our Sleep
Stress impacts our sleep. I hardly ever have issues sleeping but, when my day/week is thrown off so is my sleep. Stress impacts the quality and quantity of our sleep. Lack of sleep affects other areas of our life. We aren't as motivated to move our body, our metabolism slows down, our food cravings are different and so on. 

What ways has stressed impacted your system? 
Look out for my next blog post as I share ways to destress.