March 19, 2018
The Art Of Creating Healthy Boundaries
Writen by Naomi Whittel |
Published on: March 19, 2018
To learn more about my autophagy activating tips for weight loss, tune in to my appearance on The Dr. Oz Show
Inspiring women like you to be their fullest, healthiest and most brilliant self is my passion! Following nature’s wisdom through appropriate targeted exercise, eating a whole foods diet while supplementing with Powerphenols to look and feel your finest, are some of the best ways I know how to turn back the clock in how your cells age. When you give your body the highest quality building blocks, it sets the stage for increased energy, thinking more clearly, and feeling and looking your best. Another way to take care of your health is tending to your emotional wellbeing by creating healthy boundaries. What’s the connection between healthy boundaries and your physical health?
The parasympathetic nervous system.
The parasympathetic nervous system is one part of the nervous system that is referred to as the “rest and digest” system. It slows heart rate and governs processes like healthy digestion, reproductive and immune functioning. When you are in chronic stress, the opposing side of your nervous system, called the sympathetic nervous system is activated. You enter the “fight or flight” stage at this point in an effort to regain homeostasis. Prolonged activation of the sympathetic mode could lead to chronic stress and contribute to a huge cascade of inflammatory illnesses, including everything from cancer to heart disease, autoimmune and neurodegenerative disease. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about the right kind of stress, to learn more about how to activate this healthy stress, click here.
Being unclear about our boundaries creates inner conflict that activates the “fight or flight” mechanism. This shunts blood and vital nutrients away from organs and glands to muscles and the parts of the brain that can help to get us out of the situation the fastest. It’s pretty primal functioning at that level much like your body would respond if you were being chased by a tiger. The thing is most of us aren’t being chased by a tiger but actually our own thoughts and emotions. Psych-emotional stress is one of the key ways our sympathetic stress gets activation and stays activated past the point of being helpful.
Set Boundaries To Slow Aging
Getting clear about your boundaries will help you to reduce the inner conflict, tension and emotional stress that can contribute to activating the sympathetic nervous system. While “good” stress promotes autophagy to slow or even reverse time, “bad” stress accelerates it. If you want to protect your cellular health and longevity, set healthy boundaries. Creating healthy boundaries is similar to how your cells need boundaries. It’s vital for the cell’s functioning to have a firm, yet adaptable structure to let the essential nutrients in and keep the waste and toxicity out. The integrity of your emotional wellness is as vital to your whole health as a strong cell wall is to your biological health. Boundaries are an indispensable part of being a human.
3 Ways To Practice Setting Healthy Boundaries
Say NO
Learn to say “no.” It’s okay; the world won’t stop running if you don’t participate in everything.
Communicate
Practice communicating in ways that uphold your integrity without sounding insensitive to others. Sometimes we fear letting others down but as long as we speak kindly and with awareness of how our words make another feel, you’ll never go wrong speaking your truth.
Meditate
Meditate. The art of getting still and mindful will help you connect with your confidence and self-worth. You deserve to feel good and take time for yourself but sometimes with your life’s business, you might forget to. Meditation can carve out the mental room to understand how to best care for yourself and as importantly, that it matters that you do provide this care. It is an opportunity to slow down and tune in, exactly what you need in order to understand your own boundaries.
My 4 – Step Process To Creating Boundaries
1
Be True to Yourself: Saying yes to a commitment or another person when you are unsure that you want to say yes creates a subtle, or sometimes obvious inner conflict(that’s when your sympathetic nervous system gets activated). There might be fear associated with hearing another person’s response to your truth. It’s important to acknowledge if that’s happening to you, but not to let it guide your decision to do what feels healthy.
2
Pause Before Committing: In our fast-paced and modern lives we are so used to getting fast responses. Challenge yourself to take a pause before saying yes to make sure it’s truly what you want. If you aren’t getting a clear “YES,” respectfully ask for more time before committing to something you are unsure of.
3
Tune into Your Feelings: In conflict, it’s challenging to discern what your feelings are trying to tell you, especially if it concerns someone you love and care about. Getting familiar with bodily sensations will give you clues as to what truly feels best for you. Know what it feels like when your body is relaxed, open and receptive. Know what it feels like to have stress, tension or pressure in your chest, belly or breath. Tuning into the sensations of your body is a powerful way to understand what your intuition is communicating with you.
4
“Own” Your Feelings: Creating healthy boundaries is about your relationship with you. Women can be amazing nurturers, a beautiful and essential evolutionary gift. This can also make us more susceptible to taking on other people’s feelings and getting confused over what is their “stuff” and what is ours. Notice any tendencies to “fix” or “rescue” people from their own feelings of discomfort. This can be a sign to check in with yourself to get clarity about what you are feeling.
It takes practice to build firm, but not rigid and yet adaptable, but not wishy-washy boundaries.
It’s a practice that pays off! Having healthy emotional boundaries creates confidence and self-trust, and creates loving relationships. Set healthy boundaries to build self-worth and confidence that radiates outward. It’s a generous act of self-care that creates loving, trusting and respectful relationships. When you take a little time to care for yourself you create an enormous bounty of energy for others. What feeds you eventually nourishes who and what you love the most.
In Glow15, I share my top ways to infuse self-care into your daily life so that you maintain healthy boundaries around valuing your health and protecting your vitality. In the meantime, catch me on the Dr. Oz Show where I discuss autophagy, AutophaTea and let’s get you on your way to wellness.
Looking for what channel and what time The Dr. Oz Show is on where you live? Check out the station finder in the upper right-hand corner of DoctorOz.com
