Many of our patients hear the staff in the office always talking about the importance of homeostasis. But what is it?
"The tendency of a system, especially the physiological system of higher animals, to maintain internal stability, owing to the coordinated response of its parts to any situation or stimulus that would tend to disturb its normal condition or function."
(dictionary.com)
It is a "state of balance and harmony or a state of healthy cell function. If all of your cells are in a state of health they are not under any form of chronic stress and they are free to express their potential for health and vitality."
(Dr. James Chestnut, The Wellness and Prevention Paradigm)
"A stressor, most accurately defined, is a stimulus that elicits a state of adaptation, that elicits a move away from homeostasis and toward a state of adaptive physiology."
(Dr. James Chestnut, The Wellness and Prevention Paradigm)
Our bodies are naturally very intelligent. They are designed to thrive and survive, always trying to reestablish homeostasis from within. However, our bodies deal with an onslaught of various stressors. They can include poor nutrition, lack of exercise, environmental pollution, emotional stress, negative thoughts, and damaging habits (such as smoking). Every stressor pulls our bodies away from health and homeostasis, to a state of sickness or a lack of homeostasis. Sickness is a lack of optimum health. More specifically, sickness is when your body is adapting to the effects of a stressor (or many). Although you may not feel 'sick', your body is trying to restore itself to health and homeostasis through a series of complex and intelligent responses.
Unbeknownst to us, our bodies are constantly adapting to all of the external stressors we encounter or introduce. We may 'feel fine', but imagine what your body has dealt with since you were born. Do you think it has dealt with any kind of stress? What kind of stressors is it dealing with right now?
Because we can't feel or know exactly what is going on in inside our bodies, relying on our pain receptors to gauge our state of health is problematic. Health and homeostasis are more than just a lack of pain, or status quo. Homeostasis is our body's optimum potential. Wouldn't you like to feel what true health could really be? I assure you, it is not an unobtainable goal!
Three choices you can make will put you on a path towards health and homeostasis:
- eating well
- moving well
- thinking well
Your body can only do and take on so much before it becomes fatigued from adapting to the various stressors. Each and every decision you make in regards to eating better, exercising, and positive thinking will make a difference.
EACH AND EVERY DECISION REALLY DOES MATTER!
