Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome; What Causes it? What are the signs and symptoms?

February 10, 2021

It is February and the Winter Blues seem to be at a peak. Caffeine doesn’t even seem to be working anymore; no matter how many cups of coffee you may consume throughout the day, the dark and heavy funk of low energy is ever present. Does this sound familiar? This constant feeling of exhaustion could be Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome.

Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome can happen when the adrenal glands have become overworked, are out of balance and are not functioning properly.

The adrenal glands secrete many hormones, including one of the most commonly known stress hormones known as cortisol; which is used in the regulation of blood pressure, the way the body responds to stress, the body’s inflammatory response, and the body’s metabolism of glucose.

Potential stressors could be dietary and environmental such as toxicity in the environment. It could also include emotional stressors such as anxiety, trauma, grief, and auto-immune conditions.

Symptoms can include; fatigue and energy crashes, mood dysregulation, compromised stress response, brain fog, dependency on caffeine and simulants, low functioning immune system, sleep irregularities, weight gain, depression, poor circulation, and decreased libido.

Adrenal fatigue is not the same as Addison’s Disease however, it can be considered to be closely related with many of the same symptoms. Addison’s Disease also has insufficient cortisol production affecting the adrenal glands however, it is due to a specific pathology. So it is important to get tested for Addison’s Disease. Adrenal fatigue is considered to be caused by overuse of an otherwise healthy adrenal system.

Polyvagal Theory, Meditation and Nature

January 6, 2021

The polyvagal theory states that the polyvagal system is a third type of nervous system response that is called the social engagement system. This system can intentionally be activated or calmed in response to social interactions. This is how we learn to navigate through both personal and professional relationships with our self and others.

The other two parts of the nervous system are the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and the parasympathetic nervous system (shut down response). These are involuntary responses to perceived life threatening situations. The more that we can shift into the third type of nervous system, the social engagement system, voluntarily, we can learn to have more control of our own sense of safety from a neurological standpoint, more intentional and less reactive.

Meditation and nature become very useful in developing a healthy social engagement system. Think about a nervous system that has habitually been placed into a perpetual state of fight or flight, which in the extreme can be characterized as anxiety; or, the counter opposite, imbalanced in a shut down response that is associated with depression and dissociation. Body awareness activities such as; yoga, meditation, and outdoor activities such as; hiking and backpacking require a presence of self that nourishes a healthy social engagement system through intentionality. This body -mind conscious, intentionality can help to ease sympathetic and parasympathetic over activity and imbalance.

Read more about Polyvagal Theory, Meditation, & Nature here

Our National Park High Light

Capitol Reef National Park

Torrey, Utah

January 9, 2021

Explore the natural beauty of Capitol Reef National Park with a day hike or an overnight backpacking expedition. There are well kept trails that wind through Capitol Reef’s most iconic landmarks including; Golden Throne, Hickman’s Bridge, Goose Necks and Sunset Point, Chimney Rock and Temple of the Sun and the Moon.

Stargazing

Capitol Reef National Park is one of the many International Dark Sky Parks. When stargazing in Capitol Reef’s night skies the star’s seem as though they are close enough to hold.

Register now

Stress Disorders, what are they? Do nature and mindfulness really help?

Our stress response system is shaped through millions of years of evolution. An imbalance in the stress response system, in extreme cases, can lead to psychiatric disorders such as, post traumatic stress disorder. It can also increase the risk of other mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.

In a healthy stress response system, some stress can be healthy as the mental and physical body adapts to homeostatically take control over the perceived life threatening situation. However, when the stress response becomes excessive; the physical, mental, and emotional bodies become flooded with stress hormones such as cortisol. When stress is prolonged over a period of time, or too intense for the body to handle, the fight or flight stress response can take over and lead to compromised health emotionally, mentally and physically.

Coping mechanisms are resources to help an individual adapt when a stress responses is experienced. Self regulation techniques such as; Yoga, Meditation, Hiking, Biking, Canoeing, simply being in nature and many other outdoor activities can help the body and brain rebuild healthy neural connections. How? These activities are experiential in nature giving the body -mind connection opportunities to rebuild new, healthy pathways.

Weekly Self Care Ritual

Outdoor Health and Wellness urge to remind you that taking care of yourself on the inside and out is so important. Each week we will offer a self care ritual to help in the process of nourishing your being.

Herbal Foot Soak

This herbal foot soak is fun to do as a family after a long hike in the beautiful outdoors.

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh or dried herbs; sage, chamomile, lavender, pine, rosemary, elderberry, horsetail, dandelion, juniper or comfrey.

1 gallon of spring water

Steep herbs in boiling water for 20 minutes. Strain liquid and let cool to a luke warm, comfortable temperature. Pour into a foot basin and soak feet.

Time:

Soak feet for 20-30 minutes. Then pat dry.

Benefits:

This herbal foot soak has a calming and detoxifying effect. The herbs have healing properties that affect the immune, nervous and circulatory systems. This helps to soothe mental and physical fatigue and restore a calm balance to the body, mind, and spirit.

*Note this foot soak is simple to do while backcountry backpacking. After a long days hike it is so rewarding to soak in an all natural spring water and herbal remedy. Herbs can be cultivated along the trail (with permission and instruction from your guide), spring water can be collected in an empty water bottle, and a billy bath can is used to heat the water as a foot basin.

Be cautious of extremely hot temperatures.

Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome, How can mindfulness and Nature help?

February 11, 2021

Currently, there are no pharmaceutical treatment modalities for adrenal fatigue. The best recommendation for adrenal fatigue is to decrease stress, since chronic stress is associated with lowered functioning of the adrenal glands.

lifestyle changes in diet and sleep are important as well. This would include increasing hydration, reducing sugar and caffeine intake, avoiding highly processed and refined “junk foods”, and following a healthy sleep routine. Nutritional supplements such as a multi-vitamin and extra vitamin C, magnesium, B vitamins, Coenzyme Q10, Ashwagandha, Rhodiola, and Licorice Root can be helpful in rebuilding the adrenal cortex. Blood sugar can be managed with a well balanced eating schedule.

Meditation and spending time in nature help to decrease stress levels, giving the adrenal glands time to rest and repair themselves providing positive effects on restoring the adrenal glands to optimal function.

January, 2021, Volume 1

Benefits of The Great Outdoors &Mindfulness Meditation

January 7, 2021

When people hear Mindfulness Meditation they may think of the distant, out of reach experiences of Buddhist monks and monasteries in a mysterious land far away. Individuals may never give meditation a chance because it doesn’t fit into their belief system of normative experience. This reality is not their reality, so they pass on the experience.

There are however, many people who are giving this new approach to life a try as the health, wellness, and medical industries are popularizing the practice. Organizations such as UCSD Center for Mindfulness are combining research, medicine, and mindfulness to further findings of the multiple health benefits of Mindfulness Meditation. Some of these benefits include; improved stress management, improved focus, improved emotion regulation, reduced impulsiveness, improved conflict resolution, increased empathy, increased resilience, improved physical well-being, improved creativity and collaboration, and improved expression of self.

For those individuals who find Mindful Meditation too foreign or extreme in belief, there is nature as an alternative. Mindfulness happens naturally when surrounded by beauty in nature. Engaging the body in awareness activities such as hiking, canoeing, snowshoeing, skiing, rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, bird watching, or simply picnicking in nature brings many of the same benefits as Mindfulness Meditation. In fact, many physicians and therapists are prescribing nature as medicine. See what Nature Connected Research Group says about Nature as medicine.

Future Research.

The Art of Hiking

Have you ever been so at peace with where you are; both in the literal sense and the metaphorical sense. Take a moment and imagine the sights, sounds, and smells around you as you sit under a juniper tree nestled atop a red sand rock bluff; overlooking miles and miles of scenic beauty and freedom.

The temperature is perfect and the blue skies make the fluffy white clouds seem soft and within arms reach. The gentle winds bring the scent of juniper berry close; taking in a drink of fresh, cool, clear spring water.

Pure satisfaction!

You stand up, stretch your arms above you, reaching from side to side, inhaling in, the fresh juniper air, looking, optimistically, towards the dreamy skies and the privileged clouds.

The trail is calling your name. You lean forward, lace up your hiking boots, and venture on, towards the open landscapes of limitlessness, breath, and life.

Upcoming Projects

Mindful Mountain Wellness Center is hosting a 10 day yoga, mindfulness, and nature wellness challenge February 19 - 28, 2021.

We will be hosting two exciting guest speakers on the topic of Outdoor Health Care and Wellness and a look towards the future in Value Based Outdoor Health Care Models.

Make certain to subscribe to our magazine and blog to stay current with the latest news and development of Value Based Outdoor Health Care.

Symptom Development and Environmental Impact: how biological, psychological and social processes interact over a lifetime to influence health and vulnerability to disease.

With Daniel V Papero, PhD, LCSW of the Bowen Center in Washington, DC
And Darlene Francis, PhD, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Public Health, University of California, Berkeley

See conference session here

January 8, 2021

When considering the field of neuroscience and an optimistic outlook towards health, this article provides hope in the possibilities of the brain’s capability of changing. Darlene Francis, PhD and Daniel V. Papero, Phd, LCSW specialize in subjects around molecular epigenetics or the way the environment influences how genes are phenotypically expressed and social epidemiology, how the structure of society influences factors of health. The idea that experience and social factors can effect biology is a beginning to understanding the possibility that the expression of genes can change. The example of addiction comes to light. For many years the belief was that addiction is a genetic disorder and if addiction or alcoholism runs in your family you are at risk. Once you are an addict or alcoholic you will always be an addict or alcoholic. While there may be some truth to this, a person’s environment can also change the course of an individual’s struggle with or triumph over addiction. The idea that information from the genes is one directional is not completely accurate, environmental factors are also important indicators of how the gene is expressed. This thought paradigm gives hope to the idea that environmental factors may also be capable of undoing the development of symptoms into more functional behavior.

Future considerations

How can therapeutic modalities such as; adventure therapy, Wilderness Therapy, mindfulness meditation/yoga & nutrition help turn around a devastating diagnosis?

What kind of an Impact will this have on our health systems and economic systems?

Value Based Outdoor Health Care

Sustainable Health care, What is it? How does it work?

Have you heard of the term Value Based Health Care? What is it? How does it work? Who would benefit from Value Based Outdoor Health Care?

Value Based Health Care is a Health Care delivery system where patients health outcomes are the main focus. The goals are to improve health, to reduce the effects and incidence of chronic disease, and generally to live a healthier way of life in an evidence-informed way.

The benefits of a value-based healthcare system includes not only patients, but… providers, payers, and society at large as health and whole person development is improved at the core.

We want to take value based care a step further and implement the outdoors and nature as a treatment modality to bring about even more efficiency in health care delivery through gaining a love for nature and the great outdoors and developing healthy habits and a healthy community along the way.

Learn More about value based health care

Bridging the gap in health disparities through social responsibility

read more

Think Tank

How can the value based outdoor health care community contribute to a decrease in health disparities?

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Favorite Recipe of the Week

Pear and Spinach Salad

From Healthy Family Meals: American Heart Association

Dark-green spinach, rich in vitamins A and K, provides a pretty backdrop for juicy pears slices rich in vitamins C.

Orange Vinaigrette

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon basil (minced)

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Salad

1 large pear, halved lengthwise, cored, and cut crosswise into thin slices

4 ounces baby spinach

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

In medium bowl, whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients.

Add the pear and spinach tossing gently to combine. Sprinkle with the walnuts and orange zest. Serve immediately for the best texture.