April 20, 2013 My thoughts- Some Valuable Insights!

It is 8:00 pm and I just returned from a 5 mile run.  This was not an ordinary run.  I think it was a breakthrough run and it sure felt good!  What made it different was that it was the first run in over 2 years that felt easier and easier as I ran.  And I felt strong at the end!  It wasn't the usual feeling of "I am sure glad that is over," but instead a feeling of confidence, strength and hope is what I felt.  Maybe even a little feeling of peace, which is a feeling I crave and rarely experience.  I am sure thankful for this run and for the day.

One of the things I believe I have been experiencing for the past 2 years to a pretty severe degree is adrenal fatigue.  I had my neurotransmitters tested recently and my epinephrine levels were practically at 0, and my norepinephrine and dopamine levels were very high.  From my limited study of this those patterns can be caused by way too much stress, both physical and emotional, over a long period of time.  My energy levels and my ability to handle stress over the past 2 years has been very low.  So one of the things I have started doing this week is drinking licorice root tea.  This seems to be helping, along with a strict adherence to my diet, following the www.perfecthealthdiet , including taking a few select supplements that are recommended by the perfect health diet.  I have also been taking magnesium supplements of 200 to 600 mg per day, usually at night before bed, which I think is also helping my tense muscles to some degree.  Today on the run I just had feeling that the magnesium and the licorice root tea are making a difference.

Another thing I am becoming more and more aware of is just how my body reacts and tenses to stimuli in my  environment.  Over the past 20 years of dealing with the public at a retail sales job I have developed some very poor reactions to stress.  I tend to be very sensitive to any negative emotions coming from other people (i.e. angry customers} and I get an overactive adrenaline response.  I have noticed this causes some pronounced physical reactions that have developed into patterns.  I tend to start to almost hold my breath, especially not breathing out fully which causes my diaphragm muscles to tighten.  Then I get stuck in this position where my chest is sticking out and my lower spine is curved way too much causing my pelvis to rotate which puts pressure on my lower back and hips.  My whole way of standing is just exhausting because I am out of alignment.  I really realized this when I was flipping through my Chi Running  book, www.chirunning.com  and looked at a picture of the author, Danny Dryer, doing what he calls the grounding stance. (pg.109).  I tried it and it felt absolutely amazing.  It felt like it was putting my body into a position it hadn't been in for a long time, but which it should be in all the time!  So I have been doing this stance many times each day and I can actually feel my body changing some of the old patterns that have been so ingrained over the past 20 years.  And I am actually feeling this change when I run too.  I have been running all out of alignment too putting pressure on lots of small muscles instead of using my large muscles which naturally happens when you are grounded and alligned!  By using the small muscles it contributes to my exhaustion and low energy levels and is definitely a factor in my health issues.  This is exciting to finally start developing some insight into what is going on with me and to actually see some progress forward.

Those are my thoughts for today.  I just realized I sure do have a lot of realizations while I run and if I sit down right after I run a lot of that insight will just flow out of me.  If I wait for an hour or two I tend to forget that insight.  So I will be writing right after my run from now on!

Now off to eat some salmon, potatoes, salad, and some pumpkin, chocolate, nuts and coconut milk for dessert!

G