How we as a huge cell community react to stress.
Every cell has the exact function we as human beings have; circulation, digestion, reproduction, respiration, etc. All these 5-6 billion cells will hopefully function in symbiosis and create a community that you see every day in the mirror, you.
With this knowledge in hand, we must ask ourselves how stress affects us as humans (the cell community). Depending on how we perceive / interpret an external stimulus (the situation) we either react in a nourishing or threatening way. Each cell is programmed for either growth or protection. At every single moment, the cells have to make a decision, is this stimuli good or bad for us and our survival and act accordingly.
The gastrointestinal system is responsible for growth while muscles and bones stand for protection. In the growth state we use our gastrointestinal system and everything works on an optimal level, the liver, spleen, kidneys, digestion, and metabolism all function as they should. Health and prosperity flourishes but if you perceive the world as threatening, you must rely on the muscles and skeletons for your protection against this “threatening” situation.
The problem we have today is that our system isn’t built to constantly be in permanent protection mode (against a potential threat). We should either fight or fly away from the Saber Tooth Tiger and then return to our everyday tasks but we can’t outrun the tiger 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, we’ll die in the process. Unfortunately the world we live in today is a very threatening tiger, which we constantly have to flee from. The stress hormone that we produce while perceiving or believing that the world is a threatening place has a serious impact on our cell community.
Firstly, when we’re constantly being exposed to stress, we will shut down the blood supply to the gastrointestinal tract. This means we can fight or flight better, facing whatever danger or negative feeling we perceive. With this decrease of blood to the digestive tract we shut down the growth and prosperity we need for our health and well-being. The more stress (or fear) you are in, the more you have to shut down the growth processes, simple physiology …
When faced with a potential life threatening situation, the body will turn off everything that drains energy from your system. If as a cell community you must protect yourself against a danger (real or imagined) you can’t have parts of the system stealing energy. The body will shut down all the features / functions that aren’t helping with the protection. This means that for example the immune system turns off. You can’t heal from your hemorrhoids and the splint in your thumb and face the tiger at the same time so the healing stops.
