We are entering into an unusual summer season, with unexpected factors to keep in mind. The otherwise vibrant, vacation filled summer months are now likely to be a little more low key and closer to home while we tend to ourselves, our families, and keep our communities in mind. This summer, our health needs may be a little different, but the essentials are always the same: Drink plenty of water, get your daily exercise, and eat seasonally from fresh, colorful fruits and vegetables. As we collectively navigate a pandemic summer season, here are a few more summer health tips to keep in mind:

• Nurture connection with the subtle things around you. Although we are not physically able to connect with friends and loved ones in the same way, as humans we are still deeply reliant on that connection for our mental and spiritual health. This summer, notice all of the other subtle things around you that merit attention. The tree in your yard; the flowers you bring home from the market; the bird that visits your porch every morning; the spider that weaves a web in your garden bush each night. There are so many things we don’t notice when we’re busy not noticing. And most of those unnoticed things are so beautiful. We are connected to each other through nature, and there is nothing better than to be in nature. Nature helps us remember who we are and our true connection to something greater than ourselves.

Read More: Reconnect to Nature by Getting Grounded

• Enjoy the color of food. Every day, do your best to consume 5 different colors of fresh fruits and vegetables. Summer is the time of culinary abundance, and these colors are packed full of vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and antioxidants. Support your local farmers market, or indulge in your own garden this year!

Read More: How Colorful Foods Support Detoxification Pathways

• Disconnect from the Wi-Fi. You have been information-overloaded this year. We all have, and it’s exhausting. There is a necessity to stay informed, and there is equal necessity to spend time away from the unending stream of news. Turn off or get away from the internet for one day a week, and spend time at home making crafts/arts, spending time in nature, reading an indulgent book, gardening, or just resting. Internet connection is addicting, and our psyche is full of distressing news this year. We are responsible for our mental health and having appropriate boundaries for our psyche; no one else. We have a purpose and one that is not about causing more inflammation to ourselves and our community. When we can disconnect, our nervous system has a chance to unwind, and our mind has a chance to pause and center.

Read More: 6 Tips for Maintaining Health in an Artificial World

• Focus on your mental health. Be gentle with yourself this season (and this year). It’s easy to become overwhelmed, distressed, anxious, and even guilty with yourself for not staying on top of everything in your life. Allow yourself the compassion and tenderness you deserve to take this season a little more slowly and give yourself permission to seek counseling if you need more support. We cannot be useful instruments without rest and support.

Read More: The Naturopathic Approach to Mental Health 

• Stay cool with herbs and foods to balance excess heat. Making an iced tea with peppermint, spearmint, lemon balm or mountain mint (and a bit of honey) is a delicious way to easily and inexpensively stay hydrated and cooled down when the weather is especially hot and humid. You can also add a bit of fresh cilantro or coconut flakes to foods that are too spicy or warming for this season (like curries or even barbeque). Cilantro and coconut are both cooling foods, that help balance the excess heat of hot spices so that we don’t over-tax our digestive system.

Read More: Tips for Creating Wellness Habits with Children

How are you feeling as we enter into the summer? Are there areas in your health and well being that could use some additional support? We’re here to help. Request an appointment with one of our Naturopathic Doctors, or call our office at (804) 977-2634. Remember, you don’t always need to have something “wrong” to get support for your life. Wellbeing visits are essential for your health, and our team would love to support you.

What is the Nervous System?

Actually, we have several. The three parts of our nervous system worth noting include:

1. The Central Nervous System (CNS) consists of the brain and spinal cord and is responsible for coordinating all of the information from the entire body and sending appropriate signals for motor skills, thoughts, and emotions.
2. The Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) consists of all the nerves that reside outside of our brain and spinal cord and is responsible for connecting our CNS to our limbs and organs, acting as a major communication pathway throughout our body. It can further be broken down into our somatic nervous system, and our autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is especially important for our conscious and unconscious response to stress (including our “fight or flight” response).
3. The Enteric Nervous System (ENS) is primarily located within our gut and gastrointestinal tract and is responsible for motility and secretion (including even our bowel movements). Technically the ENS is a division of the peripheral nervous system, it’s function is extremely important especially as it relates to our stress response and our ability to digest and absorb nutrients.

Although there are three “different” systems in charge of various body functions, they are by no means separate from each other. Each affects the other by way of our emotional state, our diet and gut health, our mental health, and the environmental stressors that we encounter every day.

Read More: 5 Herbs to Support Your Stress Response and Nervous Systems

Why do we need to support the nervous system?

Because our stress response, and stress load, hugely impact the health of our nervous system, and in turn affect our gut health, emotional health, and our ability to self regulate our internal homeostasis (health harmony). When we are highly stressed, we feel the tightness everywhere and become reactive rather than responsive. When we experience a healthy response to stress (when our nervous systems are healthy and supported), we respond much better to stressful situations, therefore lessening systemic inflammation in the body, and supporting all of our organ systems in the process.

So how can we support such complicated systems?

Much of our nervous system supportive therapies are very easy. They require some quiet space, some intentional moments, and sometimes some external supports like bodywork or sound. Here are three simple practices that you can try at home:

1. Sound Therapy: Experiencing deep, enchanting, or rhythmic sounds has a stabilizing effect on us and can be used to help calm and regulate a sensitive or hyperactive stressed state. Sounds like Gregorian chanting, orchestra music, and even just playing your own instrument can have a relaxing effect on the whole body. One of the reasons sound therapy is beneficial is because the ear contains the vestibulocochlear nerve, which connects to the vagus nerve. Sound has a way of immediately getting to our nervous system to calm us. Even in surgery, studies have shown that music assists the nervous system where it is able to keep our heart rate more stable. Music has also been found to improve pain and even assist within NICU for infants where it enhanced their parasympathetic nervous system.
2. Breathwork: Countless studies have all shown that the practice of deep breathing directly calms our central nervous system within a matter of seconds (see here and here). Do you notice that when you’re stressed, or even while you’re just going about your day, you’re not breathing? You can really notice this if you stop right now, exhale, close your eyes, and take a long, deep, slow breath in, hold it for 2-3 seconds, and release it fully. Notice what that just did to your body, and how much you needed it.
3. Vagus Nerve Support: The vagus nerve is a cranial nerve that carries sensory information and efferent signals to many muscles, glands, and internal organs, including the heart and GI tract. It extends from the brain stem, through the neck and thorax, and down into the abdomen. It is the main contributor to the parasympathetic nervous system and a primary communication pathway between the brain and the body. Because of this relationship, the vagus nerve plays a large role in our mood, immune system, stress response, cardiovascular function, and digestion.

Vagus nerve therapy is extremely helpful in unwinding and relaxing a heightened or reactive peripheral nervous system. The vagus nerve can be strengthened through mediation, mindfulness practices, and breathwork. This can be achieved through diaphragmatic breathing: Take a long, slow inhale, hold it slightly, and then release the breath completely. Other helpful practices to increase vagal tone include abdominal massage, singing or vocal expression, writing, laughter, acupuncture, massages, earthing/grounding, laughter, craniosacral therapy, and therapeutic exercise such as swimming, yoga, walking, and gentle resistance training.

Read More: The Vagus Nerve: What is it, and how do we heal it?

Nervous system dysregulation can show up in many ways, including stress, anxiety, insomnia, depression, emotional and hormonal challenges, and even eczema (to name a few). Although these are all fairly common imbalances that may be approached individually, focusing on our nervous system health and our emotional / stress load is extremely helpful in addressing the root cause of our imbalance.

If you need support balancing stress levels, consider scheduling an appointment with one of our naturopathic doctors. Request an appointment here or call our office for more information, (804) 977-2634.