Allostasis

Allostasis is the process of achieving stability, or homeostasis, through physiological or behavioral change. For example, allostasis is our bodies ability to regulate itself. If you go for a jog, your heart rate and blood pressure go up. The body adjusted to match its new environment. If you experience fear, your heart rate goes up, your muscles might stiffen, you might start to breath faster or hold your breath. Your body matches its new environment to achieve stability. Our allostatic systems enable us to respond to our current physical state and to cope with the environment. This means temperature, dangers, noise, hunger, psychological stress, and illness.

Dumb it down for me

There is a whole lot of science behind this with words like hormones, nervous system, and cytokines, and cortisol. To keep it simple, as long as our allostatic response is limited to the period we are challenged, all is well in our world. We return to homeostasis, or equilibrium. It is when we reach allostatic load, or weeks, months or years of exposure to elevated levels of stress hormones that we have a problem. This might come from any combination of anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation or disruption, hectic lifestyles, high stress jobs, shift work, long periods of travel, insufficient exercise, environmental toxins, COVID stress, and much more.

This is where living your yoga comes in. Yoga is not a work out but a work in! The steps we take to reduce stressors and achieve balance in our lives are more helpful when we make them a daily habit.

How do we do that?

Breathing practices, daily meditations, journaling, prayer, movement practices, diet changes, drinking more water, create sacred space, reducing chemical exposures, thinking positive thoughts are all examples of behavioral changes we can make to achieve allostasis.

I can help you reduce stress and find equilibrium again with tele-health private yoga therapy sessions. Get a free 15 minute consult by contacting me today.