The (Physiological) Art of Good Vibes

Vibe (adj): To chill, be at peace and let life do its thing.
(Source: Urban Dictionary)

Have you noticed yourself and the people around you having a hard time vibing these days? Maybe you’ve noticed that people are a bit more on edge, dealing with countless health problems and that even the smallest of stressors, like basic social interactions, have become increasingly exhausting?

“C’mon bro, just vibe.”

Easier said than done. A lot of us find enjoyment from being able to chill and be at peace with the rhythm of life. However, without the help of drugs, this sense of vibing can be a bit hard to come by these days. And in the rare case it does, it may be short lived and/or followed up with a long period of fatigue.

Over the years, there has been a lot of focus on mental health and the ways it impacts our ability to feel at ease. However, at times, this dialogue has come at the cost of the physiological elements at play in creating the energy necessary to create those “good vibes”. We know both the mental and physical are very closely intertwined - so what role does our physiology play?

We sometimes here the term energy spoken about in a very woo-woo way. Vibes and energy are present around us, we all feel and sense them but talking about them can feel a bit strange or beyond abstract at times. When I speak of energy in my practice, I often am speaking in the very physiological sense of the term: the actual mechanisms in the body that allow our cells to generate ATP. Ultimately, it’s the underlying process that keeps us alive, helps our organs work at their best and allows us to fight disease. But it’s also the process that allows us to be a bit more present in the world, find more joy in the things we love and to be able to take on challenges and grow from them.

When we are not creating ATP efficiently, our bodies have a beautiful mechanism in place that allows the organs to function in this state of absolute survival. But it comes at a huge cost in terms of other aspects of our body that aren’t directly correlated with the immediate goal of staying alive. In this case, our hair may begin to fall out, our libido lowers, fertility becomes more challenging and our lust for life diminishes as all of our energy is spent on just simply getting through each day. In essence, our dependence on stress hormones causes a cascade of health problems that lead us back and forth to the doctor’s desperately trying to feel better - when in fact the answers already lie within us.

So how then do we increase the amount of ATP our cells are creating so that we can ensure fuller buckets of energy and potentially reverse some of the issues noted above?

Nutrition is a crucial starting point and the reason I got into my work as a Nutritional Therapist. The reality is that most people these days are extremely under-nourished - often both in quality and quantity of food that they are eating. Of course, some people do struggle with over-eating, but in many cases, people are often skipping meals and suppressing their natural hunger signals either from lack of time or misinformation around what is “healthy”. Furthermore, the foods they are eating often aren’t getting metabolized properly because the body cannot use them sufficiently for energy (this is often the case in many of the highly processed sugars and oils) or they are lacking in the nutrients, minerals and enzymes they need to properly support the metabolic process.

Of course, nutrition is just one aspect of what supplies us energy. Sleeping, taking time to relax, surrounding yourself with “good vibes”, facing emotional trauma and spending time outside in sunlight are also key components. There are countless things that support our body’s ability to create energy.

The more energy we have, the more we are able to face the inevitable stressors of modern life. And although, avoiding unnecessary stress is a key component to metabolic function, it’s impossible to avoid stress all together. Therefore, finding a balance between the energy we are putting in and the energy that’s being taken out is what allows us to thrive at our best.

Ultimately, there’s no perfect “health” - our body is constantly searching for balance and the best we can do is provide it with what it needs so it can support us in return - both inside and out.

This, in my opinion, is the key to “good vibes”.

Love,
Lainie

Lainie Cassel is available for nutritional therapy and strength training locally in Atlanta, GA and virtually over zoom. If you want to learn how to support your body to create more energy and vibe better, set up a free time to chat with her here!