Sustainable Living, Sustainable Life

A few weeks ago I managed to get away for a long weekend away in Devon for some much needed down-time on a red hot beach!

Over the past few years, I have worked hard to do more 'being' and less doing, especially after my body began to raise flags and warning signs that I initially ignored.

During this weekend away, as I love to read, I was currently half way through an autobiography by wildlife photographer Jonathon Scott, who began talking about a book by Robert M. Sapolsky called 'Why Zebra's Don't Get Ulcers'.

Obviously, this peaked my attention right away and now sits near the top of my reading pile. The words then went on to say in nature (something the human race is becoming increasingly far-removed from) animals act out their stress responses, flight, fight, freeze or faun, before carrying on as normal. Their response to stress is acute, not chronic, like it is for many horses the world over, and also for people!

Stress is one of the biggest overlooked causes of illness in the world, yet we don't see it or notice it, or if we do, we keep pushing through until something gives; we get medication, then carry on as normal. Humans have been conditioned that living with chronic stress is natural, acceptable and 'just a part of life'. It isn't!

A little stress can be good if it comes and goes, but long term stress makes us ill and effects us in ways that medical science still does not fully understand. Long-term, or chronic, stress can cause and exacerbate a multitude of health issues, both physical and mental, including anxiety, depression, autoimmune diseases and joint issues to name just a few!

Chronic stress doesn't have to be part of your life; each person has the power to pick and choose what they accept and what they allow, including the presence of stressors, and the type of stress management they take to manage certain scenarios.

By all means is not easy to break a pattern of chronic stress, it can even feel a little uncomfortable at first, but it is worth it in the end.

I once spoke to a friend who is a very good psychotherapist about building my mental resilience. I realised that what now presents me with feelings of slight overwhelm, would not of phased me a few years ago. They elaborated that it is not about building my resilience, it was that I am now able to recognise when things were starting to build up; I was able to synchronise with my body more than I had before.

We talk so much about making a sustainable living, and given the recent IPCC report on climate change the time is more crucial than ever to work towards reversing these effects and creating a sustainable living , we forget that we can also make a sustainable life, for us.