How Adrenal Fatigue Changed My Life

My struggle with adrenal fatigue was a big wake up call for me, one that I needed so desperately. Adrenal fatigue saved me from the mediocre and unconscious life I was living. By saying this, I don’t mean to undermine the struggle that you are going through right now; because, I get it. It sucks! I remember the sleepless nights, the debilitating exhaustion, the fear that I wouldn’t get better, the digestion issues, the food sensitivities, the mood swings, the dry skin, not being able to eat anything but vegetables, having to pee every 20 minutes…

But I also know my suffering was a true awakening for me. Without this illness I would not have gotten so low and hit rock bottom. It was hitting rock bottom that really made it clear that I had two choices; I could let this condition take over my body and my life or I could choose to keep fighting and believe in my healing.

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApRsP8F19g0

I didn’t exactly like life I was leading before adrenal fatigue or the person I was becoming.

Let me give you a glimpse of my old life. Ever since I can remember I loved getting things done. I loved accomplishing things and as a result I learned at an early age to never slowed down. I started working when I was 14 and never stopped. I was putting myself through college working 2 jobs with a full load of classes. When I wasn’t working or going to school I was filling my time with working out, trying to finish my to-do list, trying to do everything and be everywhere. This incessant doing followed me into adulthood and I continued this same pattern. I would never take time out for lunch breaks, self-care and always chose to fill my free time with busy-ness.

I know now that me, my A-type personality and addiction to incessant doing is what got me sick in the first place. And all the things I was doing to be “happy” wasn’t making me happy at all infact, I was miserable. Even when I was doing something I should “enjoy”, I was constantly focused on the next thing really missing out on being in the moment and being “in joy”. I didn’t want to keep living that existence.

So once I was diagnosed with adrenal fatigue, it all started to make sense. The root cause of my condition was my chronic stress and addictive to incessant doing. It made me really stop and think about the choices I had made. I realized that if I kept on living like this, I would miss out on my life completely. Does this sound familiar? If so, I want to give you a great tool that helped me break the vicious cycle of busyness so I could finally LIVE more and heal my adrenals for good.

I didn’t get this realization overnight, but it was a process.

I started to work with a spiritual mentor. With her guidance, I started incorporating a simple gratitude exercise which little did I know at the time was going to transform my life.

Every night before bed I would write down 3 things I was grateful for from the day. It didn’t take long for me to recognize that this simple practice was not only changing my perspective, but had a positive impact on my body’s ability to heal as well. This practice quickly started to trickle into more of my day. I started to think about gratitude more often, not just at night.

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I began to recognize in the moment when something magical happened, even something really small and felt grateful. Also, with this shift in perspective, I started to notice I had more energy throughout the day. I started to look at life through a more positive and healthy lens.

So for me it was such an important lesson in life, that my health crisis was an opportunity for me to make a have more awareness, fill my life with gratitude and that all I needed to do was choose healing and happiness. I chose to believe in my healing and trust my process and my body.

So now you know my story and how adrenal fatigue changes my life -  for the better.

Now we'd love to hear from you in the comments below. How has your struggle with adrenal fatigue shaped your life? What are the biggest lessons you have learned? You are part of our healing community and your comments could be just what someone else needs to hear. So take a moment to drop us a line below.

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Treating Adrenal Fatigue Naturally with Meditation

What if I told you there was something you could do for just a few minutes every day that is proven to decrease your stress and anxiety, reduce pain, cure insomnia and boost your energy. Would you do it? I’m talking about meditation. And in this blog, I'm going to tell you exactly how meditation works for treating adrenal fatigue naturally. Why is only 8% of the population meditating despite all the great research of its health benefits?

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gPLrnnEaEc 

When I mention meditation to my clients they say “I can’t meditate, I have a hard time sitting still” And to be honest, I felt the same way and for years I was trying to meditate like a monk. Then I realized I was doing it all “wrong”. Mediation is fairly new to the western world so no wonder there is some misconceptions out there. Well, I want to help set the record straight because these myths are causing most people to give up after the first try.

We are going to debunk 4 myths about meditation and give you 5 easy steps to start meditating right away, even if you’re never meditated before.

Now let me explain how meditation is effective in treating adrenal fatigue naturally.

#1 Meditation Decreases Stress and Anxiety

When we are anxious our minds constantly race. Most often we are lamenting about experiences of the past or fearfully anticipating the future. As a result, we become prisoners to these thoughts and feelings. And we replay them over and over in our minds. Meditation, on the other hand, teaches us how to slow down our “monkey” mind and connect to the present moment. When we focus on the present moment we have less time to be anxious. Also, through meditation, we learn how to observe what is happening in the moment rather than judging ourselves, others or fearing everyone or everything.

#2 Meditation Reduces Pain

It is important we first make the distinction between physical pain and emotional pain, known as suffering. A new study from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center discovered 2 fascinating effects of meditation. Meditation allows us to 1) activate higher-order brain regions associated with attention control and enhanced cognitive control and 2) deactivate the thalamus, which acts as the gatekeeper for pain to enter the brain. So when we meditate we learn how to feel less pain and suffering.  How does it get any better?

#3 Meditation Cures Insomnia

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Research shows that an overly stimulated sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response) is a major contributing factor in chronic insomnia. A fast-paced and overstimulating lifestyles can be part to blame: staying up late, the overuse of TVs and computers, especially before bed, along with our dietary vices of too many stimulants, coffee, sweets, etc.  or maybe it’s more so that your current life situations are stressing you out and keeping you up at night. Although meditation can’t directly change the issues you are having at work or troubles in your relationships, or having to take care of a sick relative, meditation CAN definitely help you change how you react to these various stressors. Meditation gives us the time and space in our busy lives to get a fresh perspective on tough situations and allow us to have new insights to solve these issues.

#4 Meditation Boosts Energy

Many of us want more energy to get through the day. Unfortunately, we turn to stimulants that give us quick energy which then leads to an energy crash. Calming and focusing the mind with meditation is a highly effective way to increase energy and with no negative side effects.

Also, it’s important to realize that when it comes to energy, our reaction to stress can drain us much faster than even an intense workout. It less about how much you do in a day and more about HOW you do it.

And chemically, DHEA a steroid hormone made by the adrenals in charge of energy levels. If you suffer from adrenal fatigue you might have low levels of DHEA. If so, it feels like you’re operating from rock bottom each day. Meditation luckily is a very healthy and natural way to stimulates the production of DHEA.

Now we’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Have you tried meditation? What was your experience? And what was most helpful piece of information shared here? We are a healing community and your comments could be just what someone else needs to hear. So take a moment to drop us a line below.