<aside> <img src="/icons/light-bulb_blue.svg" alt="/icons/light-bulb_blue.svg" width="40px" /> As an international athlete at 19, I did everything right:

Trained hard, perfect diet, daily cold plunge, optimising sleep, I even wore compression leggings around the house.

My white blood cell count was so low doctors were testing me for leukaemia and bone marrow disease.

I felt like the life has been sucked out of me, and yet, nothing was ever found.

It was at this point that I understood the power of the mind and the nervous system.

When you are chronically trapped in a state of survival, your sympathetic nervous system is tapping into vital resources to keep you functioning optimally.

In this state (know as fight-or-flight) your body neglects “less essential” functions such as immunity, digestive function, and even creativity (with circulation shifting to the hind-brain to prime your instincts).

Stay there for long enough; you start to decay.

Due to our large brains (as humans), we are also capable of thinking about problems, reliving past events, and forecasting future situations—producing mind-created stress.

The kicker: Your body doesn't know the difference between these real and mind-created events.

Together they chain you into a physiological prison. Your life force is draining out of you.

Your destructive thoughts trigger a chemical reaction called an emotion; which furthers feed destructive thoughts.

You're wearing further and further down with each emotional-thought loop.

...

You can't cold plunge your way out of this.

What you need is to step back, to relax, to create an environment of safety...

Enjoy your life a little bit.

This is why, as a health coaching and nutritionist that's published an Amazon Best-Selling diet & nutrition book, helped 1,353 people heal their gut, and more...

I will still tell you:

Sometimes a beer on the beach with your mates is the best thing you can do for your health.

You cannot chase good health.

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