Yesterday I worked with a client who is feeling a lot of anxiety. She is a manager for her company and there are layoffs coming up. She was told she is safe but her brain is still worried. On top of that she is concerned about the conflict in Israel and Gaza. This anxiety is causing her MS symptoms so flare up and she expressed a lot of frustration about that.
I shared with her a concept I am learning about in my neuroscience course call allostasis, allostatic load or “body budget”.
The term body budget refers to “the cumulative burden of chronic stress and life events. It involves the interaction of different physiological systems at varying degrees of activity. When environmental challenges exceed the individual ability to cope, then allostatic overload ensues.” (nih.gov)
Body budget is how the brain regulates the body according to cost and benefits. You can think of your body budget like a bank account. If the amount of withdrawals exceeds the amount of deposits, you end up with an imbalance. Anything that depletes your energy stores affects your body budget which then affects your mood.
A negative feeling doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong, it might just be taxing your body budget and can be changed by making a deposit. Negative experiences withdraw from your body budget and positive ones make a deposit.
So, how do you keep your body budget balanced? You make at least as many deposits as withdrawals, just like with a bank account! (More is obviously better) The fastest ways are eating and sleeping well. The next most important is exercising.
Some other ways to keep your body budget in good shape include:
- Massage
- Yoga
- Mindfulness/Meditation
- Gratitude Practice
- Pets
- Uplifting music
- Reading novels
- Optimizing your physical environment
- Anything that you consider a deposit 😊
As we spoke, my client realized she hadn’t been doing some of the things she normally does to create more positivity and she recommitted to putting them back into her routine.
What are your deposits? I challenge you to make a list and keep it handy for the next time you feel depleted.
“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.” -Thomas Merton
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