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The Connection Between Food & Nervous System Regulation · The MODERN YIN Podcast

• 0:00
  Well, hello and welcome to the Modern Ian podcast.
• 0:05
  I'm your host, Kimberly Roberts of Sulphy in, and I am so glad
• 0:08
  you're here. I want to take a moment to help
• 0:11
  you understand what this space is all about, especially if
• 0:15
  you're new here, and how this podcast can support you.
• 0:20
  This podcast is really geared for busy women, especially over
• 0:25
  the age of 40, who feel like they're constantly on the go,
• 0:29
  taking care of everything and everyone.
• 0:32
  But you know what? Not taking care of themselves.
• 0:36
  And over time, that can start to look like feeling burnt out,
• 0:40
  overwhelmed, tense, tired, but wired or just disconnected.
• 0:47
  What I share here is a different approach.
• 0:51
  Instead of pushing harder or doing more, we focus on slowing
• 0:56
  down, supporting your nervous system, and creating a sense of
• 1:00
  safety in your body. Because here's the thing, when
• 1:05
  your body feels safe, everything starts to shift.
• 1:09
  Your energy improves, your mind becomes clear, your body
• 1:13
  softens, and you begin to feel more like yourself again.
• 1:19
  Inside this podcast, you'll find simple practices using yin yoga,
• 1:23
  acupressure, reflexology, breath work, mindfulness.
• 1:28
  These are all designed to fit into what I call real life, even
• 1:33
  when you only have a couple of minutes.
• 1:36
  And if you're looking for more support, you can come and join
• 1:39
  me inside my Patreon. That's where I share full yen,
• 1:43
  yoga classes, guided practices for emotional support, nervous
• 1:47
  system reset, and even nourishing recipes to support
• 1:51
  your overall well-being. It's really a space where you
• 1:56
  can go deeper at your own pace and in a way that feels
• 2:00
  supportive, not overwhelming. So whether you're listening
• 2:05
  while walking, resting, or just taking a moment for yourself,
• 2:09
  I'm so glad you're here because you've landed in the right
• 2:12
  place. Take a deep breath, let those
• 2:16
  shoulders soften, and let's begin.
• 2:18
  All right, friends, let's talk about something that is really
• 2:24
  fascinating. Well, it's fascinating to me.
• 2:27
  And I'm pretty sure after you listen to this episode, it's
• 2:30
  going to be fascinating for you too.
• 2:33
  The connection between food and nervous system regulation.
• 2:39
  Yeah. Can I be honest here for a
• 2:42
  second? For a long time, I had no idea
• 2:45
  there was any connection at all. I was like, well, OK, I know
• 2:50
  that food effects like my digestion and my energy levels,
• 2:53
  but like my nervous system? No, But it does.
• 2:59
  And that's what I want to talk about today.
• 3:02
  So when we talk about nervous system regulation, honestly,
• 3:07
  including myself, most people think of it like, well, that
• 3:11
  means breath work, meditation, movement.
• 3:16
  But you know what? Nobody's talking about food.
• 3:19
  And I'm not talking about food in a restrictive or complicated
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  way. I'm actually talking about it in
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  a foundational way because you know that expression.
• 3:31
  You know you are what you eat. But you know what?
• 3:36
  You are what you eat. But it doesn't just affect your
• 3:39
  body. It affects your nervous system.
• 3:46
  And The thing is, is that your body needs safety through
• 3:50
  nourishment. The nervous system is always
• 3:55
  asking, am I safe? Am I safe?
• 3:59
  That is the basic role of the nervous system.
• 4:02
  Am I safe? I'm not.
• 4:05
  Oh, OK, Need to be in sympathetic flight or fright
• 4:08
  state. I'm safe.
• 4:10
  Yeah. OK.
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  Chill, rest and repair parasympathetic state.
• 4:17
  But one of the most basic signals of safety is consistent
• 4:21
  nourishment. OK.
• 4:24
  Because if the body is underfed, blood sugar becomes unstable.
• 4:32
  If meals are skipped, the nervous system reads that as
• 4:37
  stress. If you're eating crap processed
• 4:42
  foods all the time, your adrenals aren't going to be
• 4:46
  happy about that because they're going to be pumping up a whole
• 4:48
  lot of extra cortisol to calm your digestive system the F
• 4:53
  down. But you know what?
• 4:56
  Even if your life looks calm on the outside, what's happening on
• 5:02
  the inside where you can't see? So I want to talk about your
• 5:08
  blood sugar and regulation. Now, before I discuss this, I
• 5:14
  want to put in a disclaimer. I am not a medical professional.
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  So if you have concerns with blood sugar regulation, if you
• 5:22
  are diabetic, you want to make sure that you're always checking
• 5:27
  in with your healthcare provider before you make any kind of
• 5:31
  changes at all. OK, but I'm talking basic level
• 5:36
  here, blood sugar and nervous system regulation.
• 5:41
  So here's the basics of what happens when your blood sugar
• 5:45
  spikes and crashes. Your body releases stress
• 5:49
  hormones, your cortisol levels rise, adrenaline increases, and
• 5:57
  suddenly you can feel anxious, shaky, irritable, overwhelmed.
• 6:05
  And it's not because something is wrong with you emotionally.
• 6:10
  It's because your Physiology has changed.
• 6:13
  It's shifted, OK. And that's really important
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  because people just often think, oh, you know what?
• 6:21
  I'm bloated, I'm congested. I ate this and it was just too
• 6:25
  much. No big deal.
• 6:27
  My body will digest it, but it's so much more.
• 6:32
  People are forgetting about what's happening to the nervous
• 6:34
  system. And I want to tie all of this in
• 6:38
  with traditional Chinese medicine.
• 6:40
  So TCM perspective, OK, Because this is super important.
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  In TCM, the spleen and the stomach systems are paired
• 6:51
  together and they are central to your energy, your digestion,
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  your emotional clarity, your emotional stability, your mental
• 7:00
  clarity. So when these systems are
• 7:03
  supported, you feel grounded, clear, you feel stable.
• 7:12
  But when they're not, you're going to feel kind of foggy,
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  tired, worried, dysregulated, and food becomes a daily way to
• 7:25
  support or disrupt that balance. I'm going to say that again, let
• 7:30
  it land. Food becomes a daily way to
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  support and disrupt balance. Now, we're not talking about
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  trying to eat for perfection here, OK?
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  We're talking about eating for regulation.
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  There's no rules per SE. Again, we're not trying to land
• 7:56
  this perfectly, but we're looking at basic principles like
• 8:00
  warm nourishing foods, OK, Especially in GCM.
• 8:06
  Warm is expanding, cold is contracting, OK, And we don't
• 8:11
  want to contract, we want to expand.
• 8:13
  So we want warm nourishing foods.
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  Soups, curries, stews, Even if you're eating like salads and
• 8:21
  stuff, eat them at room temperature, OK Regular meals.
• 8:26
  That means no skipping. No skipping meals, no regular
• 8:30
  meals. Protein and fiber in every meal.
• 8:35
  And here's a big one. Slowing down while you're
• 8:39
  eating. No more hoovering your food
• 8:42
  while you're scrolling through Instagram or watching
• 8:45
  television. Because even the way that you
• 8:49
  eat matters. When you eat rushed, it's a
• 8:55
  stress signal in your body because all of a sudden your
• 9:00
  body's like, whoa, I just got a dump of all this food all at
• 9:03
  once. Woof, OK, I got to hurry to
• 9:06
  process all of this. And again, cortisol rises and
• 9:09
  adrenaline rushes through the body because the body feels like
• 9:13
  it's stressed when you eat slowly, mindfully.
• 9:18
  Like, don't you remember when you're a kid, your parents would
• 9:20
  say, chew your food, slow down, put your fork down between
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  bites? There's a reason because slow
• 9:28
  eating equals safety in the body.
• 9:32
  OK, Slow eating equals safety. Rushed eating equals stress.
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  Scrolling on your phone while eating equals stress.
• 9:44
  Sitting in front of the TV and eating equals stress.
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  Sitting at the table, eating your food slowly putting your
• 9:53
  fork down between bites. You know what?
• 9:57
  Sometimes I even close my eyes when I eat.
• 10:00
  It really gives a very different sensory experience.
• 10:05
  And quite frankly, your food tastes better because you're not
• 10:09
  using your eyes. You're really using, you know,
• 10:14
  your inner mouth senses. And it's just like it just turns
• 10:18
  up the Yum factor when you're eating.
• 10:21
  OK, so if you know me, I'm all about modern yin.
• 10:28
  So I want to talk and tie in about what is the modern yin
• 10:32
  perspective on all of this. Because food is not just fuel,
• 10:38
  it's communication. Every meal that you eat tells
• 10:43
  your body we're either safe or we're under pressure.
• 10:50
  It's one or the other. It's not both.
• 10:54
  And regulation is built in small, consistent moments.
• 10:58
  I want to repeat that again because people often think, oh,
• 11:02
  if I just, you know, do this practice for one hour a week,
• 11:06
  I'm regulated. Or if I just eat this one meal
• 11:10
  really slow and I take my time and it's a really good meal and
• 11:14
  it's not processed, I'm good to go.
• 11:18
  No regulation is built in small, consistent, repetitive moments.
• 11:24
  It's like you want to find biceps.
• 11:27
  You don't just pick up the way it's once.
• 11:29
  You got to do it regularly. And food is honestly one of the
• 11:34
  most frequent opportunities you have every day to regulate your
• 11:38
  nervous system. Is that not wild?
• 11:42
  And honestly, so freaking simple.
• 11:46
  If your day is so busy that you can't sit and you know, spend 5
• 11:52
  minutes doing breath work, at least sit down at the dinner
• 11:56
  table and eat your food slowly and mindfully.
• 12:01
  Chew until it's literally liquid.
• 12:04
  OK, so inside the work that I do on my Patreon, we don't just
• 12:12
  separate practice from lifestyle because it doesn't work that
• 12:17
  way. I love to incorporate yin yoga,
• 12:22
  breath work, acupressure, reflexology, meditation, and
• 12:27
  nourishment all together because they literally do work all
• 12:32
  together. Because your nervous system
• 12:35
  responds to the whole picture and you know, you don't need to
• 12:41
  try and control at all. You just need to support your
• 12:46
  body consistently. I want to say that again, it's
• 12:49
  consistency that matters here. And sometimes the most powerful
• 12:54
  shifts come from the simplest of places.
• 12:57
  This is my modern yin. This is where I say that
• 13:01
  stillness does the work. And it's something that I've
• 13:05
  really been exploring more deeply inside my Patreon space.
• 13:10
  Healthy recipes, nervous system regulation practices like yen
• 13:16
  breath work, acupressure, and reflexology.
• 13:20
  Because inside my Patreon you get all of that.
• 13:25
  You can practice with me in so many different ways.
• 13:29
  You can listen to my podcast episodes.
• 13:32
  You can get supportive, nourishing recipes.
• 13:38
  You can relax, you can focus, you can breathe, you can
• 13:45
  decompress, and it's all about creating a rhythm that supports
• 13:50
  your nervous system consistently.
• 13:53
  And if that's something you're like, you know what?
• 13:55
  I really need that right now. You're you're welcome to come
• 13:59
  and join me there on my Patreon. I will link it all in the show
• 14:02
  notes for you. Today's episode supported you in
• 14:06
  any way. The next best step is to come
• 14:09
  practice with me. Inside my Patreon, I share
• 14:13
  simple yen, yoga, acupressure, reflexology, and nervous system
• 14:18
  practices designed for busy women who want to feel calm,
• 14:22
  rounded, and back in their bodies without needing a ton of
• 14:26
  time. You'll also find full classes,
• 14:29
  guided practices, and even nourishing recipes to support
• 14:33
  your well-being. Until next time, take a deep
• 14:37
  breath, slow things down, and take care of you.
• 14:41
  And I'll see you in the next episode.
• 14:45
  Thanks so much for pressing play today.