THE BIG PICTURE: OXYTOCIN
Now it’s time to balance the love hormone, oxytocin! This hormone is the most fun to balance because it’s the one that floods your body when you are bonding and basking in love. It also revs up when you laugh, play, hug, cuddle your pet, and especially when you give of yourself to other people whether that’s with your time, attention, or monetarily. Remember: the best way to make yourself happy is to make others happy. Another sure-fire way to boost oxytocin.
Cortisol and oxytocin have a relationship much like a seesaw - when one goes up, the other must come down. Think of this: any time you feel stressed, it will be almost impossible for you to feel loved and valuable. All the more reason to get out of stress mode and start enjoying the sweeter things in life.
Oxytocin helps regulate body weight and appetite. If you remember when you first fell in love - you had no appetite. This is because oxytocin is connected to feelings of satiety. And who feels like eating when you are so blissfully in love. All you can think ao but is that other person that’s unknowingly making your oxytocin levels burst.
While there isn’t food you can eat to release it, research shows a diet too high in sugar suppresses oxytocin in your body. Another reason to get that blood sugar balanced. With that being said, there is always a time to indulge - more on that later.
Get out there and boost oxytocin and normalize cortisol through love, bonding, acts of kindness, hugs, gratitude, a positive outlook, close family, and social connections.
Throughout the week we will be showing you natural ways to boost your oxytocin through our 4 pillars of health: EAT. MOVE. REST. DETOX.
Don’t miss the text beneath this video.
A SMALL DETAIL FOR CARVING YOUR MOMBODY - FASCIA
Good job learning how to breathe correctly! Your inner core may have been turned off, thickened, stressed and stagnant for a long time since no one ever tells you how to reconnect to it. Most people in the fitness industry are not talking about your pelvic floor and how to fix it! But it’s amazing what can happen when you loosen up your rib cage, set your diaphragm free, and finally get a fantastic 360 degree breath of fresh air into those lungs. It’s also pretty cool that you know how to train your corset muscle for a slim waistline and that your pelvic floor should be lifted on the exhale. This is the beginning of a strong, flexible core like the one you had when you were born.
In addition, you now have a clear picture of what proper alignment looks like in your mombody. You understand that certain muscle imbalances arise when the bones aren’t stacking up properly. Any time you don’t see (or feel!) three beautiful curves in your spine and a pelvis that has found neutral - you are counter-acting all the hard work you are doing to correct it.
But wait, there’s one more layer holding all of these imbalances in place. Have you ever wondered why you can stretch out your hamstrings and the next day they are tight again? Or, you can stretch out your shoulders and try to put them back into proper alignment but the next time you look, they are rounded and slumped forward again? This is your fascia and it’s really important that you know what it is and how it works.
Fascia is your body’s connective tissue. It looks like a matrix. Some people describe it as a cobweb-like material. It is responsible for your shape and structure. Collagen is literally the “glue” that holds us together. It is a very sticky substance, by nature. Those “knots” you feel in your muscles are technically fascia that is stuck and begins to thicken over time. Fascia literally connects and separates every single thing in your body. You have fascia in your bones, You have fascia that forms the lining in your gut. You have fascia surrounding your corneas in your eyes - it’s everywhere,
For many years, doctors considered this tissue to be like “packing material” and it was treated as such during surgery - it was literally cut through and then thrown aside. But now we know it is a system. A communication system. It is smart. It talks to your entire body and it is responsible for telling you when you are in pain. It also kicks on to keep you safe. You know that feeling when you slip on ice and you are able to self-correct before you actually fall down? That is your fascia talking quickly to the rest of your body and keeping you upright - it protects you.
Fascia is also at work when you hear creaking, cracking noises in your knees (or anywhere else that gets stiff in your body overnight) when you first get out of bed in the morning. I call it the snap, crackle, and pop. That noise relates to fascia that is dehydrated and stiff - but once you learn how to take care of your fascia, you will hear those joints magically become silent again.
Hydrating your fascia is key for living a pain-free life. You can think of your fascia like a sponge - it absorbs the stagnant fluid in your body and then you can wring it out like a sponge to replace it with new, fresh fluid in its place. You do this by foam rolling and using other tools to manipulate your fascia.
Oh, another thing that you’ll love to know is when your fascia is healthy, you don’t have lumps and bumps on your thighs or tummy that appear as cellulite. Say what?! Yes, you can repair your fascia which will make it smoother, more hydrated and more beautiful. Cellulite could be a thing of the past for you and if that’s not the best news ever, I’m not sure what is!
Fascia is your secret weapon. When it is hydrated and smooth, fascia glides easily and is healthy - you will look and feel amazing for the rest of your life when you know how to keep your fascia healthy and happy. Let’s dive in now because this stuff is fascinating!
Don’t miss more text below the video.
I can’t afford a massage everyday so I’m a big fan of buying tools that help me keep my fascia healthy. In the video I mention using all different size balls, a foam roller, the theragun, a drybrush, and the fascia blaster. I’m such a big proponent of the fascia blaster (when used properly) that I decided it makes sense to sell it. If you feel inclined to order one, I would be most grateful if you used my affiliate link.
If you want to see some incredible before and after photos of cellulite reduction and body re-shaping then I recommend you follow Ashley Black’s fasciablasters private group on fb. The testimonials are pretty addictive to watch.
Speaking of before and after photos of healthy fascia, I also recommend following Lauren Roxborough’s Aligned Life Instagram account. Plus I absolutely love her foam rollers but I don’t have an affiliate link for those.
Lastly, I also love the Fascianator foam roller because it is denser, smaller and easier to reach some of the places that a large roller can’t get to. And if you really want to geek out on all things fascia then I recommend reading Sue Hitzmann’s The Melt Method and all her other books and DVDs. She is on youtube and worth checking out - she’s the pro at hydrating fascia to live a pain-free life. She shows you how to hydrate the fascia on your face for plumper skin!
This is just the beginning of what healthy fascia can do for you! New research pops up all the time.