Welcome to Pedal to the metal syndrome™

  THE PHYSIOLOGY OF STRESS 

We all know what stress is and we wouldn't argue that we are all under a lot of it in this high paced, frenzied pressure cooker world we live in. But, what most of us don't know is how stress affects us. No one is immune. Modern day stress has catapulted us into the early stages of the worst epidemic of all time; “The Neurologic Epidemic”.  Medical experts are consistently saying that chronic stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system from chemical, physical, emotional and more lately, electromagnetic stress is the cause of Dysautonomia; the dysfunction of our autonomic nervous system. They go on to say unequivocally that this is the cause of all physical and emotional disease and disorders. In reality, all sickness, disease and behavioral problems begin with brain imbalance as a result of chronic stress. More than 2 billion people worldwide are now suffering from brain based health challenges such as; Parkinson`s, Alzheimer`s, Autism, insomnia, Lupus, MS, acid reflux, IBS, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia ,migraines, depression, ANXIETY and the list goes on and on. All forms of stress in reality are “brain stress”. Chronic repetitive brain stress causes an imbalance in our autonomic nervous system, creating a neurological cascade of events putting our body into hyper-overdrive.  I like to describe it like this: your autonomic nervous system, the part of the brain that runs the show in the background 24/7 has a gas pedal, which is called the sympathetic nervous system and a brake, which is called the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic (gas pedal) is our survival nervous system and is referred to as our “fight or flight” nervous system. The parasympathetic (the brake) is our “rest and digest” relaxation response part of the nervous system, where all healing takes place. When your body (the car) is running smoothly and optimally the gas pedal comes on when it need to speed up and the brake is applied when it needs to slow down. When the gas and brake are working in harmony we have optimal function, which is health. Anything less has the potential for disease. The problem occurs when the gas pedal (sympathetic nervous system) gets "stuck" because of chronic recurrent stress requiring the brain to respond as if every external stimulus in life was a threat. This becomes a habit and I call this "Pedal to the Metal Syndrome™". Your body innately or automatically responds by increasing your heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, respiration rate, sweat glands and your pupils dilate. Secretion of our “stress hormones”, cortisol, adrenaline and epinephrine are turned on and turned up. This response can be life saving for short periods of time, but, prolonged without the appropriate relaxation response will cause a weakening of the heart, shrinkage of the brain and chronic inflammation which prevents the formation of new neurons in your brain. As you could appreciate, driving at full speed for an indefinite period of time will have destructive effects on the internal structure of a car's engine, in the body we call this anxiety. Anxiety is a natural internal response to the external stimuli of stress that serves a purpose. Again good for short periods of time as it puts us in a heightened sense of awareness so we`re prepared for potential threats, but, bad if prolonged. Our goal is not to dismiss it entirely, just make it a healthy, manageable part of our lives. Researchers have repeatedly demonstrated that early life experiences are very important for the developing brain. Chronic stress and traumatic events, such as death, divorce, violence, sexual abuse, illness, etc, can significantly alter brain development leading to changes in the fear circuitry and put kids at risk for developing anxiety and depression that follows them into their adult life. As I mentioned previously never before have we lived in a time of so much chronic stress! Increase in STRESS, both mental/emotional, chemical, physical and electromagnetic cause an imbalance in the body`s stress response due to the stress load and inability of not only a developing brain to handle it, but, an adult brain as well. You have most likely observed the child, as well as teenagers and adults, that are on the computer w/ multiple tasks going at once. Maybe doing home work, or work, listening to music, messaging on FaceBook and texting on the cell phone all at the same time! It is estimated that we are now exposed to as much information, in just one day, as our great grandparents were exposed to in their entire life! One issue of the Sunday New York times contains more information than ALL the written material available to readers in the fifteenth century. We are living in information overload! The air we breathe, the water we drink and bath in and food we consume are chalked full of chemical toxins. In fact in a 2004 study researchers analyzed the umbilical cord blood of 10 newborn babies and found they tested positive for an average of 287 toxins. With these extreme amounts of stress is it any wonder, as a defence or survival mechanism the brain and nervous system go into “pedal to the metal syndrome™”. When our survival brain is in charge, we impulsively react with defensive behaviors such as aggression, fight, refuse to cooperate, withdraw, or even space-out. Anxiety can be a real barrier to learning, working memory, making it difficult to comprehend and retain information. Anxiety fluctuates between days and within days, which results in inconsistent performance thereby affecting our lives in all ways. Our brains crave movement and complex activation. Sitting in front of a screen for hours at a time with poor posture is not providing your brain with the complex stimuli that it needs to create neuroplastic changes. Performing thought provoking activities like reading, writing, and puzzles are important for brain development. Increased screen time neglects the circuits in the brain that control more traditional methods for learning in the frontal lobe that are typically used for reading, writing, and concentration. “Digital Dementia”, a term coined by top German neuroscientist Manfrid Spitzer in his book of the same name refers to the decline in brain function associated with slouched sedentary posture in front of a screen. Digital dementia is directly linked to cognitive decline, specifically memory loss, lack of concentration, lack of coordination, ADHD, depression anxiety and anger. The good news is that more has been learned about the brain and how to identify and strengthen weaknesses in its response to stress and overall function in the last 20 years than in all of history. We absolutely know that when the brain is out of balance, the body always follows. We call this sickness and disease. When we re-balance the brain, once again the body always follows; we call this healing and health.       

FROM THE INSIDEOUT

 It`s extremely hard to get off the treadmill of this pressure cooker world we live in, we call this life. The most practical thing we can do is strengthen are brain and body to deal with stress better. Of course we should try and tweak our lifestyle`s as well, but, that can be daunting to say the least.  

 GOOD NEWS there is a solution: PEDAL TO THE METAL SYNDROME™ Soulutions is a lifestyle that taps into the human body's innate ability to heal itself by focusing on four essential components: (The 4 M's): Me(self love through soul repair), Mind(brain health), Movement(stand up and breath), Meals(proper fuel for optimal gut & brain health)   By following PEDAL TO THE METAL SYNDROME™ Soulutions you and your loved ones will be able to make the most of every day on your life journey. 90 is the new 50. Seniors are rocking their golden years spending every day not just living, but, truly alive!   This is the SECRET WEAPON. It is a simple recipe for continued good health adding years to your life and life to your years!   Dr. Fryday offers the PEDAL TO THE METAL SYNDROME™ Soulutions training to individuals, small business or corporations. He is also available to speak on a variety of health and wellness related topics.  

THE ANSWER TO YOUR STRESS

These exercises are based on the principles of neuroplasticity, the ability of your brain to “rewire” itself to work more efficiently.  It was once thought that once you reached adulthood the brain could not change. We have learned over the past decade that this is simply not true.  One of the most exciting fields of neuroscience is how the brain changes itself and what consequences, good and bad, take place. As I said before all forms of stress in reality are ‘brain stress.’ Chronic repetitive brain stress causes an imbalance in our autonomic nervous system, creating a neurological cascade of events putting our body into hyper-overdrive. I describe the autonomic nervous system as the part of the brain that runs the show in the background and has a gas pedal, which is called the sympathetic nervous system, and a brake, which is called the parasympathetic nervous system. The gas pedal is our survival nervous system and is referred to as our ‘fight or flight’ nervous system. The brake is the ‘rest and digest’ relaxation response part of the nervous system, where all healing takes place. When your body (the car) is running smoothly and optimally, the gas pedal comes on when it needs to speed up and the brake is applied when it needs to slow down. When the gas and brake are working in harmony we have optimal function, which is health. Anything less has the potential for disease. The problem occurs when the gas pedal (sympathetic nervous system) gets ‘stuck’ because of chronic recurrent stress, requiring the brain to respond as if every external stimulus in life was a threat. This becomes a habit and I call this ‘Pedal to the Metal Syndrome™. 

These exercises are an extremely effective STRESS management tool