The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.
So this is a quote from Aristotle, but I heard it for the first time when Life Coach, David Lee came into work to talk to the team about “Living The Dream”. It’s a big call and I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, but what I found was a really inspiring guy who really appeared to have his sh*t together! And so when he talked about how to make the absolute best of every day, I was sitting forward in my seat, actively listening.
David spoke about balancing our body chemistry to ensure we operate on a constant natural high. Something I was un-blissfully unaware of and so I thought I would share with my City Mum gang. It’s so simple, yet, we don’t know what we don’t know, right?
The Big Five:
Adrenalin: gives you speed and confidence you need in busy times.
Serotonin: serves to make you comfortable, relaxed and happy
Cortisol: is a back up for when we run out of adrenalin and is useful in times of enormous stress
Melatonin: enables deep sleep and restoration of your body’s natural chemical balance
Insulin: is key to controlling your sugar levels
When one or more of these is out of whack it can lead to all those nasty feelings and emotions we tend to think are just part and parcel of everyday life: lethargy, lack-lustre, indigestion, depression, anxiety, paranoia, weight gain… to name a few!
It was nice to hear that in a lot of cases we could try to fix these problems by looking at our body chemistry. Seems simple enough, so how do we start?
There are 5 key lifestyle factors, says David.
The way you manage stress: A little stress can be good, but it’s the way we manage it that dictates how it controls us. Click here for how to help in just 30 mins a day.
How well you sleep: A tough one for us mums, but that time we do actually get to sleep is when our body restores it chemical balance.
How active you are: Among other health benefits, a good fitness level actually allows you to manage pressure with less adrenaline response.
What you think. Body chemistry is influenced by the way we think. Scared? Adrenalin goes up. Sad? Serotonin is decreased. Being mindful of our thoughts is an essential step to the balance of body chemistry, says David. Check out our blog on negativity here.
The food you eat. Check out our post on superfoods that can help relieve stress.
This is a highly condensed version of an hour’s worth of insight, but the takeaway from the session for me was this:
The difference between happiness and unhappiness is choice.
That is both wonderful and terrifying, if you think about it. You can check out more about David’s awesome coaching here