How To Have A Grounded Focus In Your Life

I let so many things go over the years due to the toxic marriage I was in, as well as no sense of purpose or vision. Not to mention, the toll having babies took on me with all of the above in mind. In light of that for many years of my life, I was literally stuck in survival mode only.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids and I LOVED the baby years. But the truth was it sucked the life out of me more than I ever could imagine. I lost a lot of my motivation and passion along the way.

Once I was out of that situation, as well as settled on my own with the kids in school, I was able to start to shift my energy and focus. It was time to balance life back out again.

What happens when you end up ‘stuck in the mud’ or ‘survival mode’ is your nervous system ends up stuck too. You can swing too far out of balance and end up in an unhealthy parasympathetic mode. In this case, you may find it harder to shift out of and become motivated.

Let's talk about how your body works for a minute.

Your autonomic nervous system has two sides: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. 

The sympathetic part of the autonomic system prepares your body for emergency situations, also known as fight-or-flight reactions. It increases your heart rate, constricts blood flow to the most peripheral arteries, and raises blood pressure. The point is to supply more blood to the brain, heart, and muscles by reducing blood flow to the skin and to the digestive system.

The parasympathetic part of the autonomic system is active during times of rest and normal conditions by decreasing your heart rate and stimulating your digestive system. This part of the autonomic system helps you rest and digest (and HEAL at a deeper level).

When you spend TOO MUCH time in a sympathetic state or your life consists of a constant barrage of stimuli and not enough nourishment in rest your body has to adapt. It can end up swinging from one branch to the other until it no longer has the adaptive reserve or energy, so it's forced to SLOW THE EFF DOWN.



Burnout is a very real thing my friends. I later learned, through some functional testing, that my minerals had burned out and my cortisol had tanked. I was in adrenal exhaustion. Stuck in the mud into an unhealthy parasympathetic state where I was forced to slow down and nourish myself (mind, body, soul).

Most people have too much stress and are operating more from the sympathetic side of their nervous system these days. Aka: ‘fight or flight’ mode. That was me, out of necessity, for many many years until I no longer had any reserve left.

It’s important to realize this so you can be preventative now and avoid a huge crash to your health like I had.

The good news is, once you become aware of this your body can start to recover when given the right support.

To be honest, I am grateful that I learned this because now I get to choose balance for myself. I get to live a life of prevention. I get to teach this to my kids, as well as my clients.

You see, our culture doesn’t really value preventative medicine or holistic health care which by it’s very nature IS preventative. Modern medicine is set up with solutions that are more like band-aids once someone is already sick or ill.

Not to mention, our culture perpetuates HUSTLE mode. We stay so busy, so stimulated and so stressed, yet we do not nourish ourselves in deep way to handle the demands of every day life.

What I went through all those years of tremendous stress that led to a volatile split and divorce, was that it is IMPERATIVE to build a solid foundation for good health. And that it was up to me to do just that for myself.

It was my responsibility to create and establish basic habits to not only recover my health, but to build a foundation for good health and prevent further illness from setting in.

So, I dug my heels in and got to work researching, reading and eventually chose to go through a nutrition training. The 2 years leading up to attending the Nutritional Therapy Association certification program, I spent establishing the basics for good health.

Creating vibrant health doesn't have to be complicated, consistency is KEY, it's not about perfection or failure, rather it's about learning key healthy habits you can choose to implement and benefit your health and life.

I put this all together in my 30 Days to Vibrant Health program in case you are interested in doing the same. 

To have a healthy balanced nervous system, I focused on good sleep, sleep habits and a routine to make sure I was helping my body have balanced hormones and blood sugar. I learned how to prioritize nourishing meals and figured out how to plan. I learned how to move my body in a way that worked for my current health, just enough, not too much. And so much more, and now I have a very grounded focus in life when it comes to my health.

When you give your body the nourishment it needs, in all ways, not just food, it's bound to shift to a more optimal state of well being.

The same can be true for you as well. Every moment, every season or experience in life gives you the opportunity for a new beginning.

Get comfortable with where you are now, like I had to after my divorce, while having faith that you are progressing. As you take your next steps, cultivate a sense of trust in the process. Things will unfold naturally as you continue to dig deep and do the work.

Now, I'd love to hear from you. What ways have you learned to stay grounded and keep your nervous system from crashing?  Let me know in the comments.